At 06:17 PM Friday 8/29/2008, Doug Pensinger wrote: > Ronn! wrote: > > > > > Being there. > > > > A faulty memory is a poor cite.
That is an obvious statement with which anyone would have to agree. ;) > Not only wasn't inflation anywhere near >20% during the Carter administration, Somebody has already mentioned a possible explanation for that number. > it wasn't anywhere near 4% immediately >prior to his election. The "4% inflation is unacceptable" statement was the Democrat's ridicule of Ford's "Whip Inflation Now!" campaign and it's "WIN" buttons. I'm sure they picked the worst figure they could find, just as whoever from the other side who came up with the "Carter said 4% inflation was unacceptable, then he got into office and ran it up to 20%" statement back then probably picked the worst spot figure they could find or fudge. >Here's another cite to go with the ones already posted: > >http://inflationdata.com/inflation/Inflation_Rate/HistoricalInflation.aspx?dsInflation_currentPage=3 > >And here's a quote from William's reference: > >Carter cannot be blamed for the double-digit inflation that peaked on his >watch, because inflation started growing in 1965 and snowballed for the next >15 years. To battle inflation, Carter appointed Paul Volcker as Chairman of >the Federal Reserve Board, who defeated it by putting the nation through an >intentional recession. Once the threat of inflation abated in late 1982, >Volcker cut interest rates and flooded the economy with money, fueling an >expansion that lasted seven years. Neither Carter nor Reagan had much to do >with the economic events that occurred during their terms. One of the things we learn from observing American politics is that the then-current administration can expect to be blamed for bad economic news that happens on its watch regardless of how much actual control they had or even conceivably could have had over the circumstances that led to the bad economic news. (Of course, we also learn from observing American politics that the then-current administration is likely to claim credit for any good economic news regardless of whether they were responsible for the good economy or not. :P) Certainly the big problem for most ordinary citizens in 1979-80 was the rapid increase in the price of gasoline at the pumps (like it has been in recent years) and the actual causes (primarily instability in the Middle East) were largely beyond the control of the President (as that part of the recent increase due to increased demand for gasoline in China and the loss of refinery capacity due to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita were not under the direct control of the current President, although there seem to be some folks willing to count those among his multitude of sins :P). That's why we pay him the big bucks . . . . . . ronn! :) _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
