Word: almost
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1960-1969
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...measure for the magnitude of the Depression of the 1930s. Partly because so many banks failed between 1929 and 1933, the U.S. supply of money shrank by 33%?and that compounded a worldwide economic collapse. The Federal Reserve, which took a narrow view of its responsibilities, felt itself almost powerless to reverse the tide of events. Not really understanding what should be done, it did practically nothing to offset the contraction of the money supply...
...inflation was on the rise. Too late, says Friedman, the board reversed itself too emphatically, and caused the "credit crunch" of August 1966. In 1968, the board, fearful that the tax surcharge would overburden the private economy, increased the money supply at an average annual rate of 10%?almost twice the rate that the economy could absorb without inflation. Then, a year ago, the board switched to its restrictive money policies. Six to nine months after these gyrations occur?and sometimes much later?they significantly affect the performance of the whole U.S. economy...
Friedman and some other forecasters believe that the U.S. next year will go through an "inflationary recession." There is almost no way that the U.S. can avoid simultaneous increases in both prices and unemployment; the question is just how bad those rises will be. "Never has a U.S. inflation of the present intensity?5% to 6% a year?been controlled without a recession," says Economist Beryl
ECONOMICS is the perilous profession, whose leading practitioners put their forecasts on the record in hard numbers almost every year. Members of TIME's Board of Economists, who met this month with the editorial staff in Manhattan and supplied much of the material for the accompanying cover story, made the following first predictions...
FOOD. The Department of Labor food-price index jumped 5% from January to October. In Pittsburgh, the price of eggs almost doubled overnight from 43? to 83? per dozen. The price of pork chops in Boston increased from 99? to $1.39. One shopper in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, Mrs. Richard Davis, protested: "This can of soup had four prices on it when I bought it." The final price was 11? more than the first. The nickel Hershey bar vanished, and practically nobody could find a 10? cup of coffee...