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This is not accurate. When Carter appointed Volcker, inflation was a dire problem, having reached upwards of 20%. He hiked the fed fund rates in full point in

by starkd 4y ago

This is not accurate. When Carter appointed Volcker, inflation was a dire problem, having reached upwards of 20%. He hiked the fed fund rates in full point increments, provoking howls of protest because it sent the economy into a full recession. But it took over a decade for inflation to come down to near zero range. (That's where the term stagflation comes from. There was zero GDP but high inflation.) Volcker could very easily have succumbed to the pressure and reversed course, but he did not. Reagan refused to criticize him, because there was general agreement that high inflation was just not tenable. It is the cruelest tax because it affects the low-income the most. President Carter did not solve inflation. He appointed Vocker towards the end of his term, and it was not the priority it should have been throughout his term. Inflation had been festering since the Nixon administration. Nixon confronted the problem with his disastrous use of price controls. Gerald Ford tried combatting it with his WIN (Whip Inflation Now) campaign. By the time Volcker was appointed, he was able to hike rates because he was given the political space to do so. But he had to endure a lot of nasty criticism at the time.

Maursault 4y ago
> President Carter did not solve inflation. He appointed Vocker towards the end of his term, and it was not the priority it should have been throughout his term. This statement is self-contradictory. President Carter solved inflation by appointing Volcker. Period. He sacrificed the his presidency to do it, thus he took it seriously. No president gets anything done in during their first term, but President Carter's decisions not only solved inflation, it turned the economy around.
- starkd 4y ago
  Way to pull out one sentence while ignoring the rest of the comment. Inflation had been a problem long before Carter. Neither Nixon (with his disastrous price controls) nor Ford (with his WIN campaign) was able to solve it. Volcker was appointed in 1979 to the end of Carter's term. He encountered fierce resistance when he jacked up rates the way he did (in full point incremenents), because the economy tanked. He would not have been able to hold the coarse had he not been given the room to do so. It took a good decade before inflation reached anywhere near zero. It was not easy, because the fed fund rates is a coarse instrement to use to bring inflation. It's not a dial that can be dialed up and down. You are merely waving a tribalistic flag while ignoring the details.
  - Maursault 4y ago
    And what if President Carter had not appointed Volcker Fed chair? President Carter appointed Paul Volcker specifically to end inflation. That was the entire reason for his appointment. You're suggesting it is just a happy coincidence that Volcker completed the task? What you are obsessing about, the timeline, is entirely irrelevant, except for the fact that Carter likely knew very well it would cost him the White House, and yet he appointed Volcker anyway. So your insistence on fallacy that the timing is paramount only speaks against your argument.

by starkd 4y ago

Maursault 4y ago

> President Carter did not solve inflation. He appointed Vocker towards the end of his term, and it was not the priority it should have been throughout his term. This statement is self-contradictory. President Carter solved inflation by appointing Volcker. Period. He sacrificed the his presidency to do it, thus he took it seriously. No president gets anything done in during their first term, but President Carter's decisions not only solved inflation, it turned the economy around.

starkd 4y ago
Way to pull out one sentence while ignoring the rest of the comment. Inflation had been a problem long before Carter. Neither Nixon (with his disastrous price controls) nor Ford (with his WIN campaign) was able to solve it. Volcker was appointed in 1979 to the end of Carter's term. He encountered fierce resistance when he jacked up rates the way he did (in full point incremenents), because the economy tanked. He would not have been able to hold the coarse had he not been given the room to do so. It took a good decade before inflation reached anywhere near zero. It was not easy, because the fed fund rates is a coarse instrement to use to bring inflation. It's not a dial that can be dialed up and down. You are merely waving a tribalistic flag while ignoring the details.
- Maursault 4y ago
  And what if President Carter had not appointed Volcker Fed chair? President Carter appointed Paul Volcker specifically to end inflation. That was the entire reason for his appointment. You're suggesting it is just a happy coincidence that Volcker completed the task? What you are obsessing about, the timeline, is entirely irrelevant, except for the fact that Carter likely knew very well it would cost him the White House, and yet he appointed Volcker anyway. So your insistence on fallacy that the timing is paramount only speaks against your argument.