ABSTRACT
As for all areas of intellectual inquiry, economics responds to contemporary events. Rising price levels in most developed countries characterized the 1970s, something not experienced since immediately after World War II. This inflationary period was associated with the end of the international system of fixed exchange rates and dramatic increases in petroleum prices. As a result, macroeconomic textbooks published in the late 1970s and 1980s for the first time included lengthy presentations on inflation.
