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In the end, it was inflation. It was mentally exhausting to go shopping every week and see prices creeping up. He refused to implement wage and price controls as gas prices rise due to the Middle East crisis and food prices rose as the USSR's grain production failed to grow (in 1979 it fell by 26%) creating a world wide shortages. On Jan. 10, 1981 in an exit interview, Stuart Eizenstat (Carter's chief domestic policy person) said not putting in wage and price controls was Carter's biggest mistake. But Carter wanted less government, hence the deregulation and did not want to go the route Nixon went with the controls.
All I have to say is "20% APR prime interest rate."
Companies were driven out of business all over the place. Workers became unemployed. Families broke apart.
I worked for an auto manufacturer, and I was shutting down car dealerships every week. It was the worst of times economically.
That's so interesting, because Carter's second run for the Presidency was done in part on the platform of addressing the serious issues in the economy. Reagan waved away his concern, and made him look like a worry-wart. Reagan told the American people everything was ok. Then after he got into the Presidency, he had to recant.
That's so interesting, because Carter's second run for the Presidency was done in part on the platform of addressing the serious issues in the economy. Reagan waved away his concern, and made him look like a worry-wart. Reagan told the American people everything was ok. Then after he got into the Presidency, he had to recant.
There you go again.
You've made this claim before in this thread, and I called you out for it, yet here you are doing it again. So I would refer you to Mr. Reagan's own words, from his own mouth, as to how he described the economy. Note that this speech was made on October 24, 1980, shortly before the election.
In the end, it was inflation. It was mentally exhausting to go shopping every week and see prices creeping up. He refused to implement wage and price controls as gas prices rise due to the Middle East crisis and food prices rose as the USSR's grain production failed to grow (in 1979 it fell by 26%) creating a world wide shortages. On Jan. 10, 1981 in an exit interview, Stuart Eizenstat (Carter's chief domestic policy person) said not putting in wage and price controls was Carter's biggest mistake. But Carter wanted less government, hence the deregulation and did not want to go the route Nixon went with the controls.
Its much easier said than done. America was not at war and its questionable if the president would have the constitutional authority to implement wage and price controls on his own. Congress was not going to pass legislation allowing him to do so and that was a certainty.
Carter was a bright man who was simply president at the wrong time. People here can ***** about him all they want. The problem was not him. It was inflation he had not caused, the taking of our hostages, and a belief that America was being pushed around by other countries.
Presidents win reelection based not so much on their performance as on conditions prevailing in the country at the time. Whether they are responsible for those conditions is unimportant. They get the responsibility for them if not the blame.
Carter's deregulation model was for less govt. control, not more. Carter would have had plenty of precedent for wage and price controls; provided there was legislative authority, but as Eizenstat said, Carter would not ask for it.
Nixon instituted them under EO 11615; In WW1 and WW2 - admittedly a different set of circumstances - they were implemented; in WW1 the War Industries Board instituted price controls on industrial products related to war production; in WW2 the War Labor Board and Office of Price Administration instituted controls. (Local controls of prices have remained; for example, rent controls in NYC. In VA, Dominion and other energy companies have to have their rates approved by the State Corporation Commission.)
Carter apparently did not consider how the Union and Confederate governments handled inflation; for a short time each issued interest bearing currency.
That's so interesting, because Carter's second run for the Presidency was done in part on the platform of addressing the serious issues in the economy. Reagan waved away his concern, and made him look like a worry-wart. Reagan told the American people everything was ok. Then after he got into the Presidency, he had to recant.
What alternative history are you talking about? You keep making the claim that Reagan ignored the economy during the 1980 campaign, and people keep proving you wrong.
“Recession is when your neighbor loses his job. Depression is when you lose yours. And recovery is when Jimmy Carter loses his.” - Ronald Reagan, September 1980
You've made this claim before in this thread, and I called you out for it, yet here you are doing it again. So I would refer you to Mr. Reagan's own words, from his own mouth, as to how he described the economy. Note that this speech was made on October 24, 1980, shortly before the election.
I'm going by what he said in the debates. When Carter would talk about the need to fix the economy, Reagan would respond with the bolded. You captured him perfectly in your quote.
I'm going by what he said in the debates. When Carter would talk about the need to fix the economy, Reagan would respond with the bolded. You captured him perfectly in your quote.
"There you go again" was a quote that arose in the context of a discussion about Medicare. But it seemed prefect for the context in which I used it.
Here is the Carter-Reagan debate. Take a listen to the three minutes between 17:40 and 20:40. This does not sound like someone who is pooh-poohing the economy. Quite the opposite, actually.
It wasn't a huge landslide. Only 25% of registered voters bothered to vote. Reagan won a majority of that 25%. Not really much to brag about. But Ronnie was a consummate actor. He could get a lot of people to believe almost anything, including that the economy was fine. He cast Carter as a worry-wart, for saying the economy was the #1 issue.
Reagan certainly did not indicate that the economy was fine. He asked "are you better off now than four years ago?"
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