Debunking our narratives of the late 70s and early 80s
In fact, inflation was pretty bad under Nixon (5.8%) and Ford (11.05%) with some up and down. Nixon even instituted price controls in 1970. Carter inherited that economy. He didn't fix it (well, arguably his Fed Chair Paul Volcker did) but he inherited it.Carter and Reagan were polar opposites. Carter was a fiscal conservative and Reagan was a spendthrift. Reagan was when the deficit floodgates opened. We've repeated this fiscally conservative Democrat followed by spendthrift Republican ever since.  Carter  $70B deficit
  Reagan  $175B
  Bush    $350B
  Clinton $0B
  Bush    $1.4T
  Obama   $600B