Explanations for inflation had for a long time been ceded to the
purview of economists. The acceleration in rates of inflation
within advanced economies during the 1960s and 1970s, however,
prompted sociologists and political scientists to attempt their own
accounts for this phenomenon.
There are two major competing explanations of the postwar
inflation. One, most commonly held by economists, is that inflation
has been produced by governments through a combination of policy
errors and cynical manipulation of policy for electoral purposes.
The other, often advanced by sociologists and political scientists
as an alternative, is that inflation has been an outcome of class
conflict. In his study that ranges widely over the literature in
the relevant disciplines, Smith examines the strengths and
weaknesses of each account, with particular attention to the
evidence presented in support of class-conflict explanations. He
concludes that, on balance, the policy-error/cynical-manipulation
explanation is better supported than its class-conflict rival.
The clarity with which Smith presents these rival accounts and
the critical rigor of his scrutiny make this a work of interest to
advanced students in macroeconomic theory and to policy makers.
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