
Arthur Laffer Receives the Presidential Medal of Freedom
WASHINGTON — President Trump bestowed the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor, on economist Dr. Arthur Laffer. He has been a champion of low taxes and tax cuts, and earned a reputation that has made him one of America’s most noted economic advisers to several U.S. presidents, including President Trump. The President praised him for policies that he said brought “greater opportunity for all Americans.” In the 1980’s, Dr. Laffer spearheaded President Ronald Reagan’s economic agenda to chop federal income tax rates, which at the time topped out at 70 percent. He is credited for the “Laffer Curve” and “supply-side economics” that served as the foundation for Reaganomics in the 1980s which brought greater prosperity to the Nation during Ronald Reagan’s two terms as President. Dr. Laffer served on the President's Economic Policy Advisory Board from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Executive Committee of the Reagan/Bush Finance Committee in 1984 and was a founding member of the Reagan Executive Advisory Committee for the presidential race of 1980. He also advised Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher on fiscal policy in the U.K. during the 1980s.