Inflation

In recent years central banks round the world have been successful in keeping inflation to such low numbers that it is no longer regarded as a problem.This book charts the progress of inflation from before it got away from the authorities in the 1960s till it came back under control, contrasting the theories that were advanced at the time with the policies that were applied. Traditional Keynesian and monetarist theories were discarded along the way.

While focusing on the UK it also documents the experience in North America, elsewhere in Europe, Japan and Australasia. It shows that there was a complex interaction between the experience and the theories advanced to explain it. In many respects the practitioners got ahead of the theorists both on the way up and the way down. The book ends by considering whether the 'New Consensus' on monetary policy is likely to be an enduring state or just another step in the journey.