utah.bank 2 The Bottom Line Howard Headlee President and CEO Utah Bankers Association THE BOTTOM LINE Recently, I was rummaging through my mother’s basement when I found a fascinating letter to my father from the White House, signed by Bill Seidman. I guess I never knew of their relationship. The letter began, “The President and the Congress have agreed to hold a Conference on Inf lation. They would appreciate your participation ...” It concluded with, “The Conference on Inf lation is a bipartisan national effort to deal with our number one domestic problem. Your participation will be a real service to our country, and I do hope that you will be able to give us the benefit of your thinking.” That was pretty cool! And very relevant to today’s economic circumstances. I vaguely remember our country’s last big fight with inf lation; the year was 1980, and I was 16 years old. Ronald Reagan had just been elected with a mandate to fix the problem, which he did by working with Tip O’Neill and Howard Baker to implement some very tough economic measures. This led to a devastating election for Republicans in 1982, the year my dad just happened to be running for Governor of Michigan. But by 1984, inf lation was whipped, and Reagan was overwhelmingly reelected. So, imagine my confusion – and stunned disbelief – when I looked at the date on the White House letter: Sept. 24, 1974! I had no idea that our last big battle with inf lation lasted almost TEN YEARS! This makes today’s situation seem so much more daunting. It’s not that we don’t know what causes inf lation and what it takes to get it under control. But whipping inf lation requires political will, discipline, and bipartisan resolve. It took 10 years to muster those resources back in the ‘70s. Today, I wonder if it is even possible. Republicans are poised to make gains in the upcoming election, and perhaps they will take control of the House and even the Senate. Democrats will be desperate to retain the White House in 2024 and will have little incentive to help a Republican Congress whip inf lation. Rather, they will likely focus their efforts on shifting blame for inf lation onto Republicans. If you don’t believe me, just look at immigration. Building a world-class immigration system is not rocket science, so why have we had to endure a broken system for decades? Because it’s a great political weapon both parties use to try to win elections, there is little incentive to actually fix it.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTU2Mjk4Mw==