The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 75, No. 17, Ed. 1 Friday, January 29, 1988 Page: 9 of 24
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THRESHER Feature Friday, January 29,1988 9
New York Times columnist
Economist Leonard Silk delivers Presidential lecture
by Lisa Gray and Eric Salituro
Economist Leonard Silk offered
his view&on "The Economic State of
the Nation" Tuesday in the first
speech of the 1988 President's Lec-
ture Series. An economics columnist
for the New York Times, Silk has
published ten books, including Capi-
talism: A Moving Target and Ethics
and. Profits.
In describing the economy. Silk
characterized the post-Black Monday
Wall Street as being in "a state of con-
fusion" and a "great deal of jitter-
iness."
He observed as somewhat para-
doxical the economy is really in good
shape with respect to consumer
spending after the stock market crash.
Normally after a sharp decline in
the stock market, consumers may
perceive themselves as poorer and
will cut back on their personal spend-
ing. This has not been the case.
He named the interrelated budget
and trade deficits as the United States'
greatest economic problems. "First,
and most clearly, we need to deal with
our budget deficit," he told the packed
Grand Hall.
"It was interesting listening to
President Reagan last night," he said,
referring to die President's annual
State of the Union address. "His main
preoccupation was the budget deficit.
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'Not in my most partisan moment would I want to put
all the blame on Ronald Reagan...Congress, the Presi-
dent, we as taxpayers—we are all responsible'
He clearly feels bad about it...but is
unwilling to admit his own part in it."
Silk pointed out that when Reagan
took office in 1980, the total deficit
was slightly below $1 trillion. The
Carter legacy of tax laws and budget-
ing still played a part in the budget in
1981, Silk said, when the annual defi-
cit climbed by only $4 billion from
Leonard Silk speaks in the RMC
-D. Kelley
NROTC commissions
$850 million cruiser
by Kurt Moeller
Rice's Navy ROTC helped
commission the USS San Jacinto at
Pier 32 of the Houston Ship Channel
last Saturday. Later this semester,
NROTC's drill team will march in
parades at two different festivals.
Texas A&M's NROTC color
guard, Prarie View A&M's NROTC,
and local high schools' Junior ROTC
units also attended the commission-
ing ceremony. Guests of honor in-
cluded Governor Bill Clements,
Senator Phil Gramm and his wife, and
Vice-President George Bush.
This warship is the third to bear the
name of the famous 1836 batde in the
Texas-Mexican war. The new ship,
built for $850 million, is a guided
missile cruiser.
Rice NROTC's Commanding Of-
ficer, Captain Michael Sullivan, said
the new ship is a "state of the art
fighting machine...very full of high-
tech electronics."
The NROTC will also march in
both New Orleans' Mardi Gras pa-
rade next month and San Antonio's
Fiesta Flambeau in April. It will also
compete in Austin against other uni-
versities' drill teams.
In civilian parades, only the drill
team appears. The drill team appears
as a marching unit on a voluntary,
non-competing basis and consists of
one-third of NROTC's members.
According to Hanszen sophomore
Brady Bartosh, a drill team member,
one NROTC stunt crowds love most
consists of a line three people across,
with the two outside tossing their drill
sticks to each other over the head of
the middle person.
This school year, the color guard
has performed at Rice and Houston
Oilers football games, Rockets bas-
ketball games, and at the ground-
breaking for a new Navy port.
1980.
Now, nearing the end of the Reagan
administration, the budget deficit
stands at $2.6 trillion. But "not in my
most partisan moment would I want
to put all the blame on Ronald Re-
agan," Silk said. "It is really quite
astounding that we as a nation have
allowed this to happen...Congress,
the president, we as taxpayers—we
are all responsible."
To cut the budget, he said, the U.S.
must cut spending in both military
and civilian programs. To do so,
government must deal with "the big
problems" such as Social Security
and other entitlement programs. "I
felt the President tried to finesse the
issue [in his State of the Union ad-
dress] by treating all but three pro-
grams—the military, the space pro-
gram, and aid to the contras— as
inessential."
Silk said that the waste Reagan
pointed out in last year's massive
appropriations measure—support for
programs such as research on cran-
berries and blueberries and the com-
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mercialization of wildflowers—
"doesn't add up to real money, what I
as an economist think of as real
money. Four million is not even big
money by Houston standards."
But just as the president avoids the
issue, he said, so do presidential can-
didates. None of the candidates, he
said, are espousing any truly major
cuts in spending. "The problem is
more than interest groups. It is our
concept of national security, embed-
ded in our consciousness since World
WarH."
After that war, "we became a little
bit too big for our own boots," taking
on financial responsibility for the
defense of countries in Europe and
Southeast Asia. "We took on these
responsibilities, I think, not out of
imperialism, but from pride, do-
goodism," he said. Such military re-
sponsibility, he said, is characteristic
of a country which has become a
"hegemonic power," a world leader.
"It was only natural that America
was tempted beyond the bounds of
what was reasonable," he said, draw-
ing the parallel between post-war
America and former world powers,
including France.
Referring to a tendency for world
powers to collapse under their own
debts and obligations, he showed
little optimism for our currentplace in
the global economy. "I don't see how
[the U.S.] can fail to be one more
example of a failed great power if we
continue along the course we've been
following."
Silk recommended that the U.S.
begin asking its NATO allies to pay
more to m^ntain European defense.
Such a move, he said, "will meet with
resistance here. Americans don't like
having to rely on someone else for our
mutual defense."
After his speech. Silk answered
questions from the audience. Asked
which of the presidential candidates
had the best grasp on economic mat-
ters, he said that of the Republicans
both Robert Dole and George Bush
were "viable," though he detected "a
bit more toughness and determination
to deal with the problem on the part of
Mr. Dole."
He named Michael Dukakis the
best Democratic candidate. "I think
he has a pretty good grasp on the
issues, and he did do a good job in
Massachusetts. He has the sense to do
it, and all those economists from
Harvard and M.I.T. to help him."
He even went so far as to suggest
Sen. William Bradley (D.-N.J.) be-
cause of the former New York
Knickerbocker's jump shot and
NewYork Governor Mario Cuomo
whom he termed "very much a New
Deal Democrat."
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Wucker, Michele. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 75, No. 17, Ed. 1 Friday, January 29, 1988, newspaper, January 29, 1988; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth245683/m1/9/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.