Stagflation Nation?

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"...interest rates marched up steadily -- not down as we have seen for a few years."
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Interest rates went up steadily for a reason, due specifically to Chairman Volcker's disinflationary program. It worked like a charm, although somehow people give the credit to supply-side economics....

Dean Moriarty of CT 2:32PM February 28, 2008

I agree with you that calling this economic slowdown stagflation is silly. Our economic situation is vastly different from the 1970s. The decade of the 1970s had 'average' inflation of 7% with two years of double digit inflation (1974 & 1979). 1980 was another double digit year.
Unemployment was also high and interest rates marched up steadily -- not down as we have seen for a few years. Not to mention the fact that in the 1970s we had the first oil crisis, a war and an impeachment -- not to mention disco. All in all, having lived through both, I'm happy to be here and now
We also had U.S. corporations that were frequently uncompetitive, a factor that led to the takeover craze of the 1980s.

Kurt Brouwer of CA 3:49PM February 21, 2008