The Politics of Inflation and Economic Stagnation

The Politics of Inflation and Economic Stagnation PDF Author: Leon Lindberg
Publisher: Brookings Institution Press
ISBN: 9780815723677
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 646

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Book Description
The inflation of the 1970s represented the greatest peacetime disruption of the Western economies since the Depression. Even as inflation receded, the recession in its wake brought more joblessness than at any time since the 1930s. The governments of industrialized nations found that the economic policies they had developed since World War II no longer assured price stability or high employment. What are the lessons of over a decade of economic difficulty? In this conference volume, which focuses on aspects of the crisis that economists often presuppose to be beyond control, the authors analyze the political and social underpinning of inflation and recession. Part 1 places the economic problems of the 1970s in the historical context of postwar development and then compares economic and political science analyses of inflation. Part 2 examines how rivalries between social groups affect inflationary processes. One chapter draws on the history of Latin American inflation to suggest the conflicts in play. Two others weigh the role of labor and industry in the formation of economic policy. And another shows how rivalry between countries, like rivalry between classes at home, permitted inflation to rise. The chapters in part 3 contest the claim that big government or big labor causes inflation. Two studies emphasize that a high degree of public expenditure does not itself lead to inflation. Further contributions explore the role of central banks and subject such concepts as the political business cycle to critical analysis. Part 4 comprises case studies about macroeconomic policymaking in four nations: Italy, Germany, Japan, and Sweden. The studies reveal what institutional attributes rendered those countries resistant to inflation or vulnerable to economic setback. In the last part, the editors pull together the findings and lay out the contemporary political feasibility of alternative approaches to macroeconomic management.

The Politics of Inflation and Economic Stagnation

The Politics of Inflation and Economic Stagnation PDF Author: Leon Lindberg
Publisher: Brookings Institution Press
ISBN: 9780815723677
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 646

Get Book Here

Book Description
The inflation of the 1970s represented the greatest peacetime disruption of the Western economies since the Depression. Even as inflation receded, the recession in its wake brought more joblessness than at any time since the 1930s. The governments of industrialized nations found that the economic policies they had developed since World War II no longer assured price stability or high employment. What are the lessons of over a decade of economic difficulty? In this conference volume, which focuses on aspects of the crisis that economists often presuppose to be beyond control, the authors analyze the political and social underpinning of inflation and recession. Part 1 places the economic problems of the 1970s in the historical context of postwar development and then compares economic and political science analyses of inflation. Part 2 examines how rivalries between social groups affect inflationary processes. One chapter draws on the history of Latin American inflation to suggest the conflicts in play. Two others weigh the role of labor and industry in the formation of economic policy. And another shows how rivalry between countries, like rivalry between classes at home, permitted inflation to rise. The chapters in part 3 contest the claim that big government or big labor causes inflation. Two studies emphasize that a high degree of public expenditure does not itself lead to inflation. Further contributions explore the role of central banks and subject such concepts as the political business cycle to critical analysis. Part 4 comprises case studies about macroeconomic policymaking in four nations: Italy, Germany, Japan, and Sweden. The studies reveal what institutional attributes rendered those countries resistant to inflation or vulnerable to economic setback. In the last part, the editors pull together the findings and lay out the contemporary political feasibility of alternative approaches to macroeconomic management.

Monetary Regimes and Inflation

Monetary Regimes and Inflation PDF Author: Peter Bernholz
Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing
ISBN: 1784717630
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 311

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Book Description
Exploring the characteristics of inflations and comparing historical cases from Roman times up to the modern day, this book provides an in depth discussion of the subject. It analyses the high and moderate inflations caused by the inflationary bias of

The American Political Economy

The American Political Economy PDF Author: Douglas A. HIBBS
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674038630
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 422

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Book Description
Here is the most comprehensive and authoritative work to date on relationships between the economy and politics in the years from Eisenhower through Reagan. Extending and deepening his earlier work, which had major impact in both political science and economics, Hibbs traces the patterns in and sources of postwar growth, unemployment, and inflation. He identifies which groups win and lose from inflations and recessions. He also shows how voters' perceptions and reactions to economic events affect the electoral fortunes of political parties and presidents. Hibbs's analyses demonstrate that political officials in a democratic society ignore the economic interests and demands of their constituents at their peril, because episodes of prosperity and austerity frequently have critical influence on voters' behavior at the polls. The consequences of Eisenhower's last recession, of Ford's unwillingness to stimulate the economy, of Carter's stalled recovery were electorally fatal, whereas Johnson's, Nixon's, and Reagan's successes in presiding over rising employment and real incomes helped win elections. The book develops a major theory of macroeconomic policy action that explains why priority is given to growth, unemployment, inflation, and income distribution shifts with changes in partisan control of the White House. The analysis shows how such policy priorities conform to the underlying economic interests and preferences of the governing party's core political supporters. Throughout the study Hibbs is careful to take account of domestic institutional arrangements and international economic events that constrain domestic policy effectiveness and influence domestic economic outcomes. Hibbs's interdisciplinary approach yields more rigorous and more persuasive characterizations of the American political economy than either purely economic, apolitical analyses or purely partisan, politicized accounts. His book provides a useful benchmark for the advocacy of new policies for the 1990s--a handy volume for politicians and their staffs, as well as for students and teachers of politics and economics.

Making Thatcher's Britain

Making Thatcher's Britain PDF Author: Ben Jackson
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107012384
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 369

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Book Description
This book situates the controversial Thatcher era in the political, social, cultural and economic history of modern Britain.

Political Business Cycles

Political Business Cycles PDF Author: Thomas D. Willett
Publisher: Duke University Press
ISBN: 9780822308423
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 554

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Book Description
"A Pacific Research Institute for Public Policy book." Includes bibliographies and index.

Political Control of the Economy

Political Control of the Economy PDF Author: Edward R. Tufte
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 9780691021805
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 196

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Book Description
Speculations about the effects of politics on economic life have a long and vital tradition, but few efforts have been made to determine the precise relationship between them. Edward Tufte, a political scientist who covered the 1976 Presidential election for Newsweek, seeks to do just that. His sharp analyses and astute observations lead to an eye-opening view of the impact of political life on the national economy of America and other capitalist democracies. The analysis demonstrates how politicians, political parties, and voters decide who gets what, when, and how in the economic arena. A nation's politics, it is argued, shape the most important aspects of economic life--inflation, unemployment, income redistribution, the growth of government, and the extent of central economic control. Both statistical data and case studies (based on interviews and Presidential documents) are brought to bear on four topics. They are: 1) the political manipulation of the economy in election years, 2) the new international electoral-economic cycle, 3) the decisive role of political leaders and parties in shaping macroeconomic outcomes, and 4) the response of the electorate to changing economic conditions. Finally, the book clarifies a central question in political economy: How can national economic policy be conducted in both a democratic and a competent fashion?

The Politics of Economic Adjustment

The Politics of Economic Adjustment PDF Author: Stephan Haggard
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 9780691003948
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 380

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Book Description
This is a collection of essays offering comparative analysis of the divergent experiences of developing countries responding to economic crises by adopting macroeconomic stabilization and structural adjustment policies.

Paper and Iron

Paper and Iron PDF Author: Niall Ferguson
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521894227
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 560

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Book Description
Few economic events have had a more profound or enduring impact than the German hyperinflation of 1923, still remembered popularly as a root cause of Hitler's rise to power. Yet many historians have argued that inflationary policies were, on balance, advantageous to post-1918 Germany, both boosting growth and helping to reduce reparations. The scholarly consensus is that there was no viable alternative to inflation. In Paper and Iron Niall Ferguson takes a different view. He argues that inflation was indeed an economic and political disaster, and further that there were alternative economic policies which could have stabilised the German currency in 1920. To explain why these were not adopted he points to long-term defects in the political institutions of the Reich which went back as far as the 1890s and which persisted beyond 1918. The book therefore reveals the Wilhelmine origins of Weimar's failure, as well as casting light on the origins of the Third Reich.

The Politics of Inflation

The Politics of Inflation PDF Author: Richard Medley
Publisher: Elsevier
ISBN: 148318921X
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 262

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Book Description
The Politics of Inflation: A Comparative Analysis is a collection of papers that covers the inflation trend of various countries. The emphasis of this title is on the domestic and international causes of each country's level and duration of inflation. The text first covers the aspects of the interplay among economic and political systems and processes, and then proceeds to tackling the politics of inflation in historical perspective. Next, the selection talks about the transatlantic aspects of inflation, along with the inflation fighting in Britain, Italy, and Portugal. The book also details the politics of inflation in the U.S. and the inflation policy in Germany. Chapter 7 tackles the inflation and politics in U.K., while Chapter 8 covers the political causes and effects of Argentine inflammation. The last chapter deals with inflation and democratic transition in Spain. The book will be of great use to economists, political scientists, and individuals concerned with the global economy.

Economic Politics

Economic Politics PDF Author: William R. Keech
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521467681
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 260

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Book Description
This book raises and addresses questions about the consequences of democratic institutions for economic performance.