4 ms·
Also don't forget, Carter was brave enough to get the fed to kill the inflation monster by forcing high interest rates which he knew would tank the economy into
by rnk 4y ago
Also don't forget, Carter was brave enough to get the fed to kill the inflation monster by forcing high interest rates which he knew would tank the economy into recession. It was a terrible price to pay on the economy but seems like the right idea in retrospect. Then the next president benefited a few years later when inflation ended (and took credit for it of course). Not many presidents would be willing to do that.
- nwah1 4y agoHe didn't have power over the Fed, but he did nominate a wise man to lead it. He would've come out looking tarnished under any circumstance, regardless of what the Fed did. Either inflation or high interest rates eventually result in bad times, because that is the nature of the business cycle.
- ls612 4y agoThe Volcker shock was in 1981-1983, Reagan was incredibly unpopular before the summer of 84 because of the severe recession it caused.
- dventimi 4y agoSome people paid that price more than others, and some not at all. Those who paid the most might say that it wasn't worth it to them, and you're in no position to say they're wrong.
- rnk 4y agoI was referring to the people who said it was a bad move politically. I was like 5 years old then. But it looks like the right thing looking back historically and politically in reality, except that it lead to Reagan winning.
- dventimi 4y ago> But it looks like the right thing looking back historically and politically in reality to you
- rnk 4y agoThis is a week old, but in retrospect what would you have done at that time? I don't know, I was fortunate as a child that my parents remained employed during that time. I wonder what they thought might happen. There must have been people that lost their jobs and then lost their houses, just like in 2008 and maybe even now with interest rates going up, one can't afford a new house. Everything's more expensive.
- dventimi 4y agoPeople lost their jobs at that time not because of inflation, but because of Volcker's efforts to reign in inflation. Throwing people out of work was a feature not a bug. Raising unemployment was his objective, and he achieved that. That's certainly one way to go, but it's not the only way to go. It's not the way I would have gone.
- dventimi 4y ago"rein in" not "reign in"...typo