That was a time of high and rising inflation, booming commodity prices, OPEC's success as a cartel and the Iran-Iraq war.
Thus almost all conservatives, including many regional Federal Reserve bank presidents, believe the Fed should raise interest rates soon to prevent a reemergence of inflation, another boom and, inevitably, another bust that may be even worse than the one we have yet to emerge from.
The biggest distinction between the British and Continental European economies, however, lies in Britain's overriding dependence on consumer spending, which, coupled with a still-buoyant housing market, has left economists concerned about runaway inflation as boom gives way to bust.
Yet after years of being blamed for double-digit inflation and booms and busts, and ridiculed for their experiment with monetarism, central bankers now seem (at least on the surface) to be doing a better job.
A Gordian Knot is cut: the government arranges for an inflation-free boom, of an enlightened variety, by greatly expanding its reach in both monetary and fiscal policy.
Saudi Arabia, despite higher inflation from booming oil exports, has tackled inequities in its markets, expanding investor rights as it evolves from an oil state to a center for investment in the Middle East.
The data supports what the Austrians teach - monetary inflations create booms which result in deflationary busts once the rate of monetary growth turns down in a significant and sustained manner.
So we had a terrible inflation, a building boom that collapsed, and acute shortages of food.
The ostensible cause, analysts said, is a shortage of low-income housing that has been exacerbated by high inflation and a boom in immigration.
Steven W. Lawitts, the acting commissioner of the city's Department of Environmental Protection, said that the initial estimates had been based on "a conceptual design" and that the cost escalated mostly because of high inflation during the boom years in the construction business.
