The New York Times analyzed the successes and failures of “Reaganomics,” and it was clear then that deficits were a critical problem: Even prominent Republican economists see ominous portents in the deficits. “The biggest mistake so far,” said Rudolph G. Penner, who was the chief economist in the Ford Administration’s budget office, “was to urge this tremendous cut in taxes without reducing spending sufficiently. That is a major mistake that will have profound long run costs.”