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Yesterday we heard part 1 of my interview with William Kleinknecht about Ronald Reagan’s economic legacy and how it relates to the financial state of the country today. William Kleinknecht is a veteran reporter and crime correspondent for the Newark Star-Ledger. He is the author of “The Man Who Sold the World: Ronald Reagan and the Betrayal of Main Street America.” Yesterday Kleinknecht explained how Reagan wooed working class and middle class America, how he mis-diagnosed America’s economy as being stifled by regulation and taxes, how he deregulated the financial industry, how he enabled broadcast media limitless advertising, and essentially changed the business ethic in the country. Today we play you part 2 of my interview with William Kleinknecht, focusing on how the Reagan presidency has become mythologized despite much evidence to the contrary, and how in fact Reagan turned back the clock on FDR’s New Deal and the welfare state. We also hear about how things are faring today in Reagan’s own home town of Dixon, Illinois as a result of his policies.

GUEST: William Kleinknecht, veteran reporter and crime correspondent for the Newark Star-Ledger, author of “The Man Who Sold the World: Ronald Reagan and the Betrayal of Main Street America.”