Saturday, October 09, 2004

An interesting take on Carter's presidential legacy

From yesterday's Kansas City Star business section:

"One of the most critical moments in America's economic history occurred 25 years ago this week. Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker unveiled what proved to be his highly successful plan to slay the hyperinflation dragon.
The resulting agony doomed Jimmy Carter to a one-term presidency, which Carter probably sensed was his fate when he chose Volcker to be his general in the war against inflation. Thus, Carter deserves much more credit than he gets for his political courage in the name of ridding the economy of hyperinflation's curse.
Unless Carter had chosen a person with the strength of Volcker's convictions, it's unlikely the past two decades of prosperity would have been possible."

No comments: