Jimmy Carter's Economy

“W. Carl Biven offers a deeply researched, fine-grained history of policy-making in the Carter administration . . . [and] makes a valuable contribution to the history of public policy and economic thought in this crucial period. . . . [Biven’s] book puts important evidentiary flesh on what had remained a skeletal interpretation of the Carter administration as a transitional presidency.”—Journal of Southern History

“A nicely detailed and thoughtful account of economic policy during the Carter administration. . . . A much more nuanced and ultimately accurate portrait of the Carter years than presented by those who perceive the former president as politically unskilled and incapable of developing sound policy. . . . Highly recommended.”—CHOICE

“Biven has provided us with an insightful study of Carter’s long-term significance for American political economy that should be welcomed by everyone with an interest in American economics and politics in the late twentieth century.”—Economic History Review

“Biven provides a cogent and compelling interpretation that is more a critical lamentation than an exercise in special pleading. The result is a first-rate piece of scholarship.”—Georgia Historical Quarterly

“Carl Biven has written the definitive account of how inflation helped to destroy the presidency of Jimmy Carter. Biven knows his economics and his politics. He handles the complex issues of money, energy, and the international economy with clarity and grace. And he has mastered a vast body of archival evidence. One of the best case studies we have of policy making in the White House, Biven’s book will be indispensable reading for policy analysts, students of the Carter presidency, and anyone interested in the recent history of the American economy.”—Allen J. Matusow, Rice University, author of Nixon’s Economy