Nice piece. One factor in the inflation of the 70's that economists NEVER mention is the demand push of we baby boomers entering into our major household formation years. U.S. production had become moribund with corporate bottom line stupidity and Union workrule entrenchment, housing starts had failed to ramp up in anticipation and had actually cratered in the early '70s, and while demand for durable goods continued to grow right through the '80s it took Volker's draconian interest rates to kill the inflationary spiral.