Down the ages there has been no shortage of central bankers intent on squeezing inflation out of the system, but Paul Volcker is in a class of his own.
Appointed by Jimmy Carter in 1979 when the US annual inflation rate was well into double digits, Volcker administered brutal shock treatment to the world’s biggest economy, at one point pushing official interest rates above 20%. Fans of the 6 ft 7in (2.04m) chairman of the Federal Reserve continue to be in awe of his single-minded approach to price stability. Volcker is the inflation hawks’ hawk.
Judged by its own lights, the strategy worked. Inflation peaked in 1980, and was one of the reasons Carter lost the presidency to Ronald Reagan that year, but then started to fall rapidly as sky-high
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