Well, given the rate of price inflation indicated in the diagram, perhaps we should say 'a picture worth a billion words'! It appeared on Zero Hedge which is lucky because I have been meaning to bookmark that always interesting and perceptive site and now I have done so.
The author reminds us that the first ominous rise in price inflation began with the creation of the Federal Bank, the equivalent of the Bank of England 'over there'. However, the rocket fuel was injected when Nixon took the USA off the gold standard in 1971.
Yes, as I've said for ages the problems go back to LBJ and Nixon. LBJ was the root - he spent madly on expanding JFK's little war in Vietnam and also spent madly on introducing an extravagant welfare state. But he didn't do it honestly by raising taxes to pay for these baubles. So Nixon had a choice: go into reverse, or raise taxes to pay for it all, or accommodate in some other way. He chose the latter, with the consequences shown on the plot.
Posted by: dearieme | Wednesday, 09 January 2013 at 14:04