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Comment by pastor_bob | Hacker News Reader

> appoint an inflation hawk to the Fed

Carter didn't create the inflation crisis (hint it was Nixon who did), so yes having to appoint Volcker was due to a bit of being president during a unluckly economic time.

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If there was inflation crisis, it was probably less of a crisis than was reported at the time. At the time, the annual average inflation rate was reported to be 13%. In hindsight, it was probably more like 10%.

One of the thing that blows my mind is that Nixon unilaterally declared a price and wage freeze in an attempt to combat inflation. Ignoring whether it was a good or bad move, I can't imagine what would happen if Biden did that today. There would be bloodshed.

Thankfully, inflation isn't bad enough to warrant any drastic action like that.

Nixon was to the left of modern Democrats on most issues.

With a notable exception being the whole "when the President does it, that means it's not illegal" thing that Nixon had.

> One of the thing that blows my mind is that Nixon unilaterally declared a price and wage freeze in an attempt to combat inflation.

Reminds me of "Deep Impact", where President Morgan Freeman tells the world that an asteroid is coming, and by some sort of Presidential Decree he orders all prices fixed to avoid mass hoarding and price gouging. I wasn't around during the Nixon years, but the writers of that screenplay must have been.

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