US Presidency
1984

But we now have an economy that, for the first time, well, let's put it this way: In the first half of 1980, gross national product was down a minus 3.7 percent. The first half of ' 84 it's up 8 1/2 percent. Productivity in the first half of 1980 was down a minus 2 percent. Today it is up a plus 4 percent. Personal earnings after taxes per capita have gone up almost $ 3,000 in these 4 years. In 1980, or 1979, a person with a fixed income of $ 8,000 was $ 500 above the poverty line, and this maybe explains why there are the numbers still in poverty. By 1980 that same person was $ 500 below the poverty line. We have restored much of our economy. With regard to business investment, it is higher than it has been since 1949. So, there seems to be no shortage of investment capital.