Over the past 20 years, the search for a new magic in the American economy has created a distinctive cycle. In the 1980s, Milton Friedman and conservative academic economists found their work hijacked by Ronald Reagan's administration and the nation was left mired in debt. Now academic economists from the Left have developed new theories that challenge the faith in unregulated markets. However, with Clinton's administration, another group has rushed into power, preaching an overly simple message of competitiveness.