Ronald Reagan

"Students at elite law schools, especially Yale and Harvard, sprang up to act. Students founded environmental organizations around the rallying cry of “[Sue the bastards!](private://read/01k3jwt46q240aq6fe12mqkyr0/16_Notes.xhtml#_idTextAnchor287)” (referring to government agencies). Through the 1970s, both the American left and the right worked harmoniously to constrain government effectiveness. Liberal activists like Ralph Nader declared themselves to be watchdogs of government, constantly filing lawsuits. Ronald Reagan returned the compliment when he replied, “Government is the problem, not the solution.” The lawyerly society grew out of a necessary corrective to the United States’ problems of the 1960s. Unfortunately, it has become the cause of many of its present problems."

"Xi has forcefully pushed back on the idea that China needs more generous welfare. In a major speech in 2021, he said, “⁠[Even when we have reached](private://read/01k3jwt46q240aq6fe12mqkyr0/16_Notes.xhtml#_idTextAnchor318) a higher level of development . . . we should not go overboard with social transfers. For we must avoid letting people get lazy from their sense of entitlement to welfare.” Worrying that welfare could make the people lazy is one of those instances when a Communist Party leader sounds like Ronald Reagan.⁠"

"Obviously, the rise of the American currency, boosted by Ronald Reagan, should allow it to better navigate the situation. The exports of the European subsidiaries to the United States were planned, at the beginning of the seventies, based on a dollar oscillating between four francs eighty cents and five francs. By the end of 1980, the American currency was at four francs twenty cents. In January 1981, it oscillates around five francs eighty (after nearing six francs twenty in August). On the other hand, the investment program—which luckily was carried out with an undervalued dollar—is, if not completed, at least largely underway. In the units of Greenville, Anderson, Spartanburg, the break-even point has already been reached. In Dothan, it is approaching. Only the Lexington plant, which has just been commissioned, weighs on the results. In the current state of affairs, the creation of three new plants in Texas—and for which land has been purchased in Austin, Midland, and Temple—can wait. If the American automobile market picks up, the third Canadian plant in Waterville, also in Nova Scotia, which will be commissioned at the end of 1982—the largest, it is said, that Michelin has ever built in the world—could suffice to bridge the gap[47](private://read/01jkqdqdgs7t399cyecbezrhj0/#ftn_fn47)."

"The handcuffs finally came off the industry when President Ronald Reagan signed the Cable Communications Policy Act of 1984 into law, the first national legislation establishing the federal government’s authority over cable TV. Its biggest impact was the deregulation of monthly cable rates where there was “effective competition” from at least three over-the-air broadcast signals in the market, which included most markets. Cable operators could now charge what the market would bear. Cities could still grant franchises, but fees paid to government were capped at 5 percent. Incumbent cable operators, usually the ones who had laid down the wire, were favored in franchise renewals. And phone company giants like AT&T were forbidden from owning cable operators, removing a competitive threat."

"But one man's death is another man's bread. For Røkke, it meant one less competitor in the fields. He obviously felt sympathy for his old partner, but now he was occupied with entirely different things: American authorities were beginning to get worried that the pollock stock was declining. Additionally, employees in the shipyard industry were raging against the import of ships from Norway, and President Ronald Reagan cut through and enacted "The Anti-reflagging Act," which prohibited the rebuilding of old, American wrecks. But as is known, Røkke just managed to slip through the gate before the door slammed shut behind him and simultaneously locked out any potential competitors."

"He quoted Ronald Reagan’s famous remark: ‘The nine most terrifying words in the English language are, “I’m from the government and I’m here to help,”’ – because, as Reagan said, ‘“the government is not the solution to our problems, the government is the problem.”’"

"Ronald Reagan loved, “There’s no limit to what you can do if you don’t mind who gets the credit.”"