IESET.
Movements·us_carter_stagflation_era_1977_1981

Carter deregulation + stagflation-era adjustments

USA·1977 – 1981·Democratic (Carter) + Democratic-majority Congress; heterogeneous policy mix
Leaders: Jimmy Carter (President) · Alfred Kahn (CAB chair; inflation czar 1978-80) · Charles Schultze (CEA) · W. Michael Blumenthal (Treasury 1977-79) · G. William Miller (Treasury 1979-81, Fed Chair 1978-79) · Paul Volcker (Fed Chair from Aug 1979, appointed by Carter)
positionsempirical_pragmatistchicago_monetarismclassical_liberalpost_keynesian

Doctrine — stated goals and content

Mixed-direction programme dominated by three strands: (1) sectoral deregulation — Airline Deregulation Act 1978 (ADA) dissolved CAB route / fare control, the Motor Carrier Act 1980 (MCA) and Staggers Rail Act 1980 freed trucking and rail, the Natural Gas Policy Act 1978 began price decontrol, and the Depository Institutions Deregulation and Monetary Control Act 1980 (DIDMCA) phased out Regulation Q deposit-rate ceilings; (2) energy policy — creation of the Department of Energy (1977), the National Energy Act 1978, the Energy Security Act 1980 with synthetic-fuels programme, and a windfall-profits tax 1980; (3) monetary response to stagflation — appointment of Paul Volcker as Fed Chair (Aug 1979) and tolerance of the ensuing rate shock. Stated case: attack 1970s stagflation by removing regulatory rents that amplified cost pressures and restoring monetary credibility. Political cost high — the 1980 election broke on inflation (13.5% CPI) and the Iran hostage crisis.

Policy-content fingerprint — how the framework codes this movement on its axes

↑
product market competition
regulatory.product_market_competition
Product-market regulation, entry barriers, licensing burdens, network-industry regulation, price controls.
increased · strong
more competition-friendly (lower entry barriers)
ADA + MCA + Staggers collectively ended fifty-year-old network-industry cartelisation.
↓
sectoral licensing
regulatory.sectoral_licensing
Sector-specific licensing regimes, concentration / quota allocation, state-controlled entry (energy, telecoms, healthcare, banking).
decreased · strong
looser licensing, more open entry
Dissolution of CAB; ICC authority narrowed; Reg Q phased out.
↓
financial deregulation
regulatory.financial_deregulation
Financial-sector regulation — banking separation, capital requirements, cross-border activity rules, derivatives oversight.
decreased · moderate
looser financial regulation
DIDMCA 1980 removed interest-rate ceilings — looser financial regulation by axis semantics.
↓
monetary expansion direction
monetary.monetary_expansion_direction
Direction of monetary-base expansion decisions relative to trend. Separate from fiscal.transfer_expansion even when correlated.
decreased · moderate
contractionary (balance sheet shrink, rates above Taylor)
Volcker appointment + initial October 1979 reserves-targeting shift.
↑
energy supply security
regulatory.energy_supply_security
Policy posture toward energy supply security — domestic production capacity, import diversification, strategic reserves, nuclear stance, fossil-fuel mix discipline.
increased · moderate
higher supply-security posture (diversified, strategic reserves)
Strategic Petroleum Reserve build, synthetic fuels programme, DOE coordination.

Policies enacted

What the data says — linked outcome hypotheses

The movement's outcome claims are tied to these hypotheses. Verdicts update as models run.

not yet written
deregulation_productivity_growth_effect
not yet written
stagflation_policy_response_effectiveness

Schools of thought aligned or opposed

aligned
empirical_pragmatist
Issue-by-issue deregulation decisions, many since vindicated in IO literature.
partial
chicago_monetarism
Kahn + Schultze were economist technocrats; Volcker appointment central.
partial
classical_liberal
partial
post_keynesian
Windfall-profits tax + energy programme are demand-management-adjacent; deregulation is not.

References