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Twenty years ago, one of the most lionized American presidents left office: Republican Ronald Reagan, whose legacy conservatives cite as quintessentially in favor of working Americans. Reagan still enjoys vast popularity in the American imagination, despite the fact that his economic policies, shorthandedly referred to as Reaganomics, set in motion today’s financial collapse. In the latest disturbing news, the US unemployment rate jumped to 8.1% in February, the highest level in 25 years, and higher than economists predicted. The jobless rate has already reached the average rate that the White House projected for the whole year. William Kleinknecht is a veteran reporter and crime correspondent for the Newark Star-Ledger. He is also a staunch critic of Reagan’s policies and has a new book called “The Man Who Sold the World: Ronald Reagan and the Betrayal of Main Street America.” In it Kleinknecht argues that Reagan’s tax, regulatory and anti-trust policies are directly responsible for the current economic climate, and that his massive cuts to government programs have destroyed both small towns and urban centers.

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.”