Inflation
I Remember 1970s Inflation. Politicians Should, Too
While economists and policymakers argue about the causes and duration of the price surge, average Americans worry about its impact.
Ellis’s house in Stone Mountain, Ga.
Courtesy: James EllisThis article is for subscribers only.
Shakespeare wrote that past is prologue. If that’s true, then there are plenty of lessons to be learned from the 12.5% mortgage I wrestled with on my three-bedroom home in suburban Atlanta back in the bad old days of the early 1980s.
That rate sounds like an exaggeration today, when a home loan above 4% seems outlandish. But my struggle to shoulder a mortgage with an interest rate almost double that of the one I’d had on my previous home in Chicago just three years earlier left a painful memory I’ll never shake.