Source: Town Hall
by Stephen Moore
“Everything that is happening in our fractured nation today seems so worrisomely reminiscent of America’s last lost decade — the 1970s. For those who don’t remember, the late 1970s under part-time President Gerald Ford and then much worse under President Jimmy Carter was one economic and national security setback after another. The witches’ brew of high inflation of 7% to 10% by 1979 and ever-increasing tax rates — which rose as high as 70% — drove the economy into a ditch. Real family incomes cratered under Carter because inflation rose so much faster than family take-home pay. Homes became unaffordable, with interest rates on mortgages skyrocketing up to 17%. Gas prices tripled. Carter blamed ‘Big Oil’ and ‘invested’ in pipe-dream green energy alternatives that all went bankrupt. Every time inflation rose, the economic whiz kids in Washington assured us the high prices were just temporary.” (05/08/24)