Economic History · 20th-century economies
1970s Stagflation & Volcker
How the US got double-digit inflation with stagnation: guns and butter, the end of Bretton Woods, oil shocks, wage-price controls and a timid Fed, then Paul Volcker's 1979–82 shock: 20% rates, two recessions and the end of the Great Inflation.
Step 1 of 6 · Overview30 min read ·
Key idea
Prereqs: Inflation; Central banks. Next: Japan's bubble; The euro crisis. Sources: Federal Reserve History, 'The Great Inflation' and 'Volcker's Announcement of Anti-Inflation Measures'; Paul Volcker, *Keeping At It* (2018); Allan Meltzer, *A History of the Federal Reserve*.Next: 1. How inflation took hold