The Debauchery of Currency and Inflation: Chile, 1970-1973
In this essay, I analyze Salvador Allende’s economic policies in Chile during the early 1970s. I argue that the explosion of inflation during his administration (above 1,500% on a six-month annualized measure) was predictable, and that the government’s response to it, through massive and strict price controls, generated acute macroeconomic imbalances. I postulate that the combination of runaway inflation, shortages, and black markets generated major disaffection among the middle class and that that unhappiness reduced the support for the Unidad Popular government.
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