Greed is Good

Ronald Reagan's introduced the "Greed is Good" paradigm in 1980. By slashing top tax rates he incentivized greed among the richest Americans. An article by Robert Parry sums it up well:

The idea – once famously sketched out by right-wing economist Arthur Laffer on a napkin – was to slash the tax rates on the rich to spur a “supply side” bonanza of economic growth and higher tax revenues for the government.

Before becoming Reagan’s vice presidential running mate, George H.W. Bush labeled this tax strategy “voodoo economics,” and Reagan’s first budget director David Stockman warned that, without severe spending cuts, it could create a sea of red ink as far as the eye could see.