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Ghostbusters
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=== Capitalism and private industry === [[File:President Ronald Reagan addresses the nation from the Oval Office on tax reduction legislation.jpg|thumb|alt=A photograph of President Ronald Reagan presenting tax reduction legislation|President [[Ronald Reagan]] addressing the nation in 1981 on tax reduction. ''Ghostbusters'' has been analyzed as promoting Reagan's political policies, espousing limited regulation and a pro-business agenda.]] As described by academic Christine Alice Corcos, ''Ghostbusters'' is "a satire on academia, intellectuals, city government, yuppies, tax professionals, and apathetic New Yorkers".{{Sfn|Corcos|1997|p=232}} It has also been analyzed as an era-appropriate example of [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]], [[right-libertarian|libertarian]], or [[neo-liberal]] ideology, in particular, [[Reaganomics|Reagan-era economics]] popularized by United States President [[Ronald Reagan]].{{efn|Attributed to multiple references:{{sfn|Clare|2014|pp=76, 93}}<ref name="VoxJul16" /><ref name="SalonFeb14" /><ref name="WashExamJun16" />}} Reaganomics focused on limited government spending and [[deregulation]] in favor of a [[free market]] provided by the [[private sector]] of entrepreneurship, profit motives, and individual initiative.<ref name="VoxJul16" /><ref name="SalonFeb14" /><ref name="WashExamJun16" /> Analysts point to the premise of a small private business obstructed by an arrogant, incompetent bureaucrat (Walter Peck) from a government agency. Peck's interference compromises the Ghostbusters' ghost containment unit, unleashing spirits upon the city and ushering in Gozer's arrival.<ref name="VoxJul16" /><ref name="SalonFeb14" /> When Peck arrives to shutter the Ghostbusters, Egon affirms "this is private property".<ref name="WashExamJun16" /> In this sense, it is Peck, not Gozer, who represents the true villain.<ref name="SalonFeb14" /><ref name="WashExamJun16" /> Others note that after losing their university jobs, Aykroyd's character is upset because their public sector funding required little of them. He had worked in the private sector where "they expect results".<ref name="WashExamJun16" /> Reitman considered himself a "[[Conservatism|conservative]]-slash-[[Libertarianism|libertarian]]".<ref name="WashExamJun16" /><ref name="GameSpotJun19" /> The ''[[Washington Examiner]]'' wrote that the private sector arrives to combat the supernatural activity in New York, for a fee, while the government is incapable of doing anything.<ref name="WashExamJun16" />{{sfn|Clare|2014|p=96}} As ''[[Vox (website)|Vox]]'' notes, the mayor, a government representative, is motivated to release the Ghostbusters after being reminded that their success will save the lives of "millions of registered voters", a cynical view of an official who is motivated by what allows him to retain his position.<ref name="VoxJul16" /> The mayor's choice is ideological: the privatized free market of the Ghostbusters or the government agency Peck represents.{{sfn|Clare|2014|pp=99β100}} Even the police are forced to take Louis/Vinz to the Ghostbusters because they are incapable of dealing with him.{{sfn|Clare|2014|p=96}} Author Ralph Clare highlights that the Ghostbusters reside in a disused firehouse and drive an old ambulance, each sold off as public services fail.{{sfn|Clare|2014|p=100}} Corcos suggests the Ghostbusters are an example of the [[Freethought#United States|American free-thinker]], representing vigilantes fighting against government overreach that is worsening the issue.{{Sfn|Corcos|1997|p=233}} Clare wrote that ''Ghostbusters'' embraces the free market in the aftermath of American financial despair in the 1970s, particularly in New York City that led to films set in a gritty, collapsing, crime-ridden, and failed New York, such as ''[[Taxi Driver]]'' (1976), ''[[The Warriors (film)|The Warriors]]'' (1979), and ''[[Escape from New York]]'' (1981).{{sfn|Clare|2014|pp=76, 93, 95β96}} ''Ghostbusters'' was created at the beginning of an economic recovery that Clare described as "pure capitalism", focused on the privatization and deregulation to allow the private sector to supplant the government.{{sfn|Clare|2014|pp=76, 93}} The necessity of the mayor outsourcing the ghost problem mirrors the real New York government ceding vast areas of real estate to corporations to stimulate renewal.{{sfn|Clare|2014|pp=95β96}} The use of capitalism can be further seen in how Ray, tasked to empty his mind, is incapable of recalling anything but a consumerist mascot; in another example, Dana's refrigerator, which stores consumerist icons, is where she witnesses Zuul.{{sfn|Clare|2014|pp=100β101}}
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