inflation

Examples of inflation in the following topics:

• Nixon and the Economy

  • At the time Nixon took office in 1969, inflation was at 4.7 percent—its highest rate since the Korean War.
  • The primary goal of Nixon's economic policy was the reduction of inflation rates.
  • The most obvious means of reducing inflation was the cessation of the Vietnam War.
  • Nixon's policies dampened inflation through 1972, although their after-effects contributed to inflation during his second term and into the following Ford administration.
  • After the 1972 elections, which Nixon won handily, inflation began to rise again.

• Silverties Versus Goldbugs

  • They referred to this act as "The Crime of '73," as it was judged to have inhibited inflation.
  • The "silverites" argued that using silver would inflate the money supply and mean more cash for everyone, which they equated with prosperity.
  • They wanted to lower the gold standard of the United States to silver, which would have simultaneously allowed more money to be printed and made available to the public which would cause inflation.

• Economic Stagnation

  • As both inflation and interest rates rose, economic growth, job creation, and consumer confidence declined sharply.
  • William Miller had already contributed to somewhat higher inflation, rising from 5.8% in 1976 to 7.7% in 1978.
  • The sudden doubling of crude oil prices by OPEC, the world's leading oil exporting cartel, forced inflation up even higher, averaging 11.3% in 1979 and 13.5% in 1980.
  • Volcker pursued a tight monetary policy to bring down inflation, which he considered his mandate.

• Confederate Finances

  • The Southern economy was crippled during the Civil War by a self-imposed cotton embargo, Union blockades, and inflation.
  • The blockade largely reduced imports of food, medicine, war materials, manufactured goods, and luxury items, resulting in severe shortages and inflation.
  • The resulting inflation remained a problem for the Southern states throughout the remainder of the war, collapsing the South's financial infrastructure and forcing a move to a barter economy for civilians.

• The Populist Party and the Election of 1896

  • They were opposed by banks and bond holders who feared inflation, and by urban workers who feared inflation would further erode their purchasing power.

• Peacetime Economy

  • The president was faced with the renewal of labor-management conflicts that had lain dormant during the war years, severe shortages in housing and consumer products, and widespread dissatisfaction with inflation, at one point hitting 6% in a single month.
  • During this time as well, Congress created the Council of Economic Advisors, to promote high employment, high profits, and low inflation.

• The Recession

  • By 1992, interest and inflation rates were the lowest in years, but by midyear the unemployment rate reached 7.8%, the highest since 1984.
  • It soon turned out that the quick recovery was illusory, and by 1990, economic malaise had returned with the beginning of the Gulf War and the resulting 1990 spike in the price of oil, which increased inflation (albeit to less of a degree than did the oil crisis of ten years earlier).

• The Nixon Administration

  • In these difficult years, America has suffered from a fever of words; from inflated rhetoric that promises more than it can deliver; from angry rhetoric that fans discontents into hatreds; from bombastic rhetoric that postures instead of persuading.
  • During this era, Nixon contended with budget deficits and high inflation.
  • He made controlling inflation a priority, experimenting with price controls with mixed success.

• The Politics of Inflation

  • The skyrocketing inflation was a hardship on the few people who had fixed incomes, but 90 percent of the people were farmers and were not directly affected by that inflation.
  • Soldiers of the Continental Army suffered the most under the high inflation of the Revolutionary War.

• The Farm Problem and Agrarian Protest Movements

  • According to one early platform, its purpose was to "unite the farmers of America for their protection against class legislation and the encroachments of concentrated capital. " Their program also called for the regulation—if not the outright nationalization—of the railroads, currency inflation to provide debt relief, the lowering of the tariff, and the establishment of government-owned storehouses and low-interest lending facilities.
  • Convinced that their troubles stemmed from a shortage of money in circulation, they argued that increasing the volume of money would indirectly raise prices for farm products and drive up industrial wages, thus allowing debts to be paid with inflated dollars.
  • Conservative groups and the financial classes, on the other hand, believed that such a policy would be disastrous, and they insisted that inflation, once begun, could not be stopped.