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The Great Inflation in the United States and the United Kingdom: Reconciling Policy Decisions and Data Outcomes

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  • Riccardo DiCecio
  • Edward Nelson

Abstract

We argue that the Great Inflation experienced by both the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1970s has an explanation valid for both countries. The explanation does not appeal to common shocks or to exchange rate linkages, but to the common doctrine underlying the systematic monetary policy choices in each country. The nonmonetary approach to inflation control that was already influential in the United Kingdom came to be adopted by the United States during the 1970s. We document our position by examining official policymaking doctrine in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1970s, and by considering results from a structural macroeconomic model estimated using U.K. data.

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  • Riccardo DiCecio & Edward Nelson, 2009. "The Great Inflation in the United States and the United Kingdom: Reconciling Policy Decisions and Data Outcomes," NBER Working Papers 14895, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:14895
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    Cited by:

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    2. Davide Furceri & Prakash Loungani & John Simon & Susan M. Wachter, 2016. "Global food prices and domestic inflation: some cross-country evidence," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 68(3), pages 665-687.
    3. Philip Liu & Haroon Mumtaz, 2011. "Evolving Macroeconomic Dynamics in a Small Open Economy: An Estimated Markov Switching DSGE Model for the UK," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 43(7), pages 1443-1474, October.
    4. Michael Bordo & Pierre Siklos, 2014. "Central Bank Credibility, Reputation and Inflation Targeting in Historical Perspective," NBER Working Papers 20693, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Julio J. Rotemberg, 2013. "Shifts in US Federal Reserve Goals and Tactics for Monetary Policy: A Role for Penitence?," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 27(4), pages 65-86, Fall.
    6. Aurélien Goutsmedt, 2021. "From the Stagflation to the Great Inflation: Explaining the US economy of the 1970s," Revue d'économie politique, Dalloz, vol. 131(3), pages 557-582.
    7. David Archer & Andrew T Levin, 2018. "Robust Design Principles for Monetary Policy Committees," RBA Annual Conference Volume (Discontinued), in: John Simon & Maxwell Sutton (ed.),Central Bank Frameworks: Evolution or Revolution?, Reserve Bank of Australia.
    8. Kevin L. Kliesen & David C. Wheelock, 2023. "The COVID-19 Pandemic and Inflation: Lessons from Major US Wars," Review, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, vol. 105(4), pages 234-260, October.
    9. Michael D. Bordo & Mickey D. Levy, 2021. "Do enlarged fiscal deficits cause inflation? The historical record," Economic Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(1), pages 59-83, February.
    10. Suda, Jacek & Zervou, Anastasia S., 2018. "International Great Inflation And Common Monetary Policy," Macroeconomic Dynamics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 22(6), pages 1428-1461, September.
    11. Edward Nelson, 2012. "A Review of Allan Meltzer’s A History of the Federal Reserve, Volume 2," International Journal of Central Banking, International Journal of Central Banking, vol. 8(2), pages 241-266, June.
    12. Kapetanios, George & Masolo, Riccardo M. & Petrova, Katerina & Waldron, Matthew, 2019. "A time-varying parameter structural model of the UK economy," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 1-1.
    13. Rancan, Antonella, 2022. "The "place of the Phillips curve" in macroeconometric models: The case of the first Federal Reserve Board's model (1966-1980s)," Economics & Statistics Discussion Papers esdp22080, University of Molise, Department of Economics.
    14. Aurélien Goutsmedt, 2017. "Stagflation and the crossroad in macroeconomics: the struggle between structural and New Classical macroeconometrics," Documents de travail du Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne 17043, Université Panthéon-Sorbonne (Paris 1), Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne.
    15. Michael D. Bordo & Mickey D. Levy, 2020. "Do Enlarged Fiscal Deficits Cause Inflation: The Historical Record," NBER Working Papers 28195, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    16. Hendrickson, Joshua, 2010. "An Overhaul of Fed Doctrine: Nominal Income and the Great Moderation," MPRA Paper 20346, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    17. Laura Liu & Christian Matthes & Katerina Petrova, 2022. "Monetary Policy Across Space and Time," Advances in Econometrics, in: Essays in Honour of Fabio Canova, volume 44, pages 37-64, Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
    18. Hendrickson, Joshua R., 2012. "An overhaul of Federal Reserve doctrine: Nominal income and the Great Moderation," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 34(2), pages 304-317.
    19. Rancan, Antonella, 2021. "The “Place Of The Phillips Curve” in Macroeconometric Models: The Case of the First Federal Reserve Board’s Model (1966-1980s)," OSF Preprints t5jrx, Center for Open Science.
    20. Goutsmedt, Aurélien, 2019. "Macroeconomics at the Crossroads: Stagflation and the Struggle between "Keynesian" and New Classical Macroeconometric Programs," OSF Preprints y364t, Center for Open Science.
    21. Philip Liu & Haroon Mumtaz, 2011. "Evolving Macroeconomic Dynamics in a Small Open Economy: An Estimated Markov Switching DSGE Model for the UK," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 43(7), pages 1443-1474, October.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • E31 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Price Level; Inflation; Deflation
    • E52 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - Monetary Policy
    • E58 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - Central Banks and Their Policies

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