Nixon’s the One: More on Why He Sucked
16th August 2011
David Henderson celebrates an anniversary.
Today is the 40th anniversary of President Nixon’s announcement of price controls on the American economy. He imposed an immediate freeze on all wages and prices that lasted for 90 days. Then he went through the various phases of control, leading to decontrol by 1974. With one main exception: oil and gasoline. Controls remained on oil and gasoline and these controls led to a lot of damage.
We can also blame Nixon for the 55-mph speed limit and the CAFE standards that have screwed up the auto industry from that day to this. (On top of the EPA and Food Stamps.) It’s hard to think of what a Democrat President would have done differently, or worse.