But, at the same time, I do think that policymakers need to be careful in how they use history. The monetary history of the 1970s is a great example of this need for care. I’m sure that some of you in this room remember that inflation – the rate of growth of prices – rose to disturbingly high levels in the 1970s.
Faced with this challenge, President Ford launched a national campaign to “Whip Inflation Now” – WIN for short. The famous Broadway composer Meredith Willson wrote a song for the WIN campaign in which he summarized the economic situation in these catchy lyrics: “Who needs inflation? Not this nation! Who’s going to pass it by?