| − | With the [[Cold War]] over, the economy proved highly prosperous, and after the [[Republicans]] won control of Congress the budget was not only balanced but a surplus was produced for the first time in memory. The reasons include reduction in defense spending after the Cold War (from 5% of GDP to 3%), a revenue burst from the dot-com bubble (the short-lived overexpansion of high tech), restraints on spending imposed by [[Newt Gingrich]] and the GOP Congress, and the fruition of Reagan era tax cuts for business research and development in the consumer electronics (computer and cell phone) industry. | + | With the [[Cold War]] over, the economy proved highly prosperous, and after the [[Republicans]] won control of Congress the budget was not only balanced but a surplus was produced for the first time in memory. The reasons include reduction in defense spending after the Cold War (from 5% of GDP to 3%), a revenue burst from the [[dot-com bubble]] (the short-lived overexpansion of high tech), restraints on spending imposed by [[Newt Gingrich]] and the GOP Congress, and the fruition of Reagan era tax cuts for business research and development in the consumer electronics (computer and cell phone) industry. |