& FREE Returns

FREE delivery Thursday, July 14

Or fastest delivery Sunday, July 10. Order within 11 hrs 22 mins

Only 2 left in stock (more on the way).

[{"displayPrice":"$45.00","priceAmount":45.00,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"45","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"00","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"MYMjjCIbnIBBAgqaWD35dAw0RXK2ze1wQCSNVsiS0czr4Ll1KWYTFUrreN4NDWSORdDrTev669RdQrCAN2wZUf1ZtvBx41USs7p6upypMyKBacU1auhb%2FN%2BXDYxGdHQgO78SW%2FpBrJo%3D","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"NEW"},{"displayPrice":"$35.98","priceAmount":35.98,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"35","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"98","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"MYMjjCIbnIBBAgqaWD35dAw0RXK2ze1wFZADmXK0BBFaibKzR9Y3TQ11IuU%2FZP7HPAQY3Bm7rixb9qDWzprS9UROadkJ9Z9pRBuAbQGplkZlz%2B7OciD2YFOlkw1yAZvmARuvGV2NndCMfhFCyF9TfDYdj3dkFx0R7gCQMMpkGzCBLisCQazOCVb4%2BD%2BhCfNH","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"USED"}]

$$45.00 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details

Secure transaction

Ships from

Amazon.com

Sold by

Amazon.com

Details

Ships from

Amazon.com

Sold by

Amazon.com

Return policy: Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt

Add a gift receipt for easy returns

FREE delivery Thursday, July 14

Or fastest delivery Sunday, July 10. Order within 8 hrs 37 mins

Select delivery location

Used: Very Good | Details

Sold by Argonn LLC

Fulfilled by Amazon

Add to List

Added to

Unable to add item to List. Please try again.

Share

Have one to sell?

Sell on Amazon

Flip to back Flip to front

Listen Playing... Paused You're listening to a sample of the Audible audio edition.
Learn more

See all 2 images

Follow the Author

Allen J. Matusow

Nixon's Economy : Booms, Busts, Dollars, and Votes Hardcover – April 24, 1998

by Allen J. Matusow (Author)

5 ratings

See all formats and editions

Price

New from

Used from

Hardcover

"Please retry"

$45.00

$31.94

Hardcover
$45.00

9 Used from $31.94 1 New from $45.00

Enhance your purchase

Though Richard Nixon came to office preoccupied with foreign policy, he soon had to grapple with an economy that threatened him with political defeat. Following the advice of Milton Friedman, the president placed his initial hopes for good times in the economics of caution. But when the economy dipped into recession and cost the Republicans victory in the Congressional election of 1970, Nixon turned for rescue not to his economists, but to a politician, the former Democratic governor of Texas, John Connally, who became Secretary of the Treasury midway through the first term.

"I can play it round, I can play it flat, just tell me how to play it," Connally liked to say. Together, Connally and Nixon set out to save Nixon's presidency by any means necessary. In a televised speech on August 15, 1971, Nixon stunned the world and reversed his political fortunes by announcing a series of measures that contradicted everything he was supposed to believe in-wage and price controls, abandonment of the international gold standard, depreciation of the dollar, and deficit spending. "This will put the Democrats in a hell of a spot, this whole speech," the president exulted. He was right. The economy took off in 1972. Nixon took the credit. And his reelection by a landslide was assured.

Historian Allen J. Matusow now presents the first comprehensive history of Nixon's political economy. He depicts a president who disliked the subject but was forced to pay attention or lose his dream of effecting a historic realignment of the political parties in America. The study derives its authority from extensive archival research in Nixon's presidential papers, including notes by Haldeman and Ehrlichman of crucial conversations in the Oval Office. Matusow shows the poverty of contemporary economic theory, Nixon's willingness to sacrifice the world economy for his domestic political purposes, and his desperate attempts to find something, anything, that might work. Lurching from one set of policies to another, Matusow argues, Nixon achieved only illusory successes that ultimately brought on a decade of economic disaster.

Nixon's Economy will contribute significantly to the emerging reinterpretation of a pivotal presidency. For scholars of the era the book will be required reading. For students and general readers, it will help explain in lucid prose the politics and economics of our own time. Narrative history that tells a good story, this book will reveal yet another Nixon, while offering a compelling case history of how politicians shape and sometimes mis-shape the performance of the American economy.

Print length

323 pages
Language

English
Publisher

University Press of Kansas
Publication date

April 24, 1998
Dimensions

6.34 x 1.09 x 9.32 inches
ISBN-10

0700608885
ISBN-13

978-0700608881
See all details

Products related to this item
Sponsored Hide feedback

Page 1 of 1Start overPage 1 of 1

Paul A Volcker
240
Hardcover
$20.49 List: $28.00 (27% off)
Get it as soon as Thursday, Jul 14
FREE Shipping on orders over $25 shipped by Amazon
Only 10 left in stock - order soon.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Matusow (history, Rice Univ.; The Unraveling of America: A History of Liberalism in the 1960's, 1984) offers the first complete history of Nixonomics. Nixon generally ignored fiscal and monetary matters, preferring to devote himself to foreign policy. George Shultz, Treasury secretary, is lauded as Nixon's finest political appointment; but John Connally, the former Texas governor and a "shameless opportunist," became economic czar by subordinating his responsibilities to Nixon's political agenda. The president's attempt to create a new political majority was dashed almost as much by his failed policies and ineffective responses to the great recession and inflation of 1973-75 as by Watergate. Matusow provides lucid accounts of such complicated issues as wage-and-price controls, dollar devaluation, demise of the gold standard, and the emergence of the global economy. Highly recommended for academic and large public libraries.?Karl Helicher, Upper Merion Twp. Lib., King of Prussia, PA
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"Matusow's monograph is an incisive analysis of a little-known aspect of the Nixon years."--Washington Post

"A very readable and insightful study of a critical period in American economic history."--Wall Street Journal

"Matusow provides lucid accounts of such complicated issues as wage-and-price controls, dollar devaluation, demise of the gold standard, and the emergence of the global economy."--Library Journal

"Matusow's important study of Richard M. Nixon's economy fills a gap in the historical literature. A gracefully written work, it is replete with penetrating and often startling insights, sharp analysis, and impressive research, and it offers a fresh account of how economic policy was shaped in accordance with the political objectives of the Nixon presidency."--American Historical Review

"We shall not soon find an account of policy making in the White House that throws so much light on the way in which the thirty-seventh president of the United States conducted the country's economic business--nor one that illuminates Mr. Nixon's understanding and practice of politics--as Professor Matusow's."--Journal of American History

"A fascinating book. Matusow writes very well and manages to make complicated economic ideas very clear. His portraits of major players such as Herbert Stein, John Connally, and George Shultz are extraordinarily shrewd. The result is a history of presidential mismanagement that reveals a great deal, not only about the Nixon years, but also about the formidable obstacles that block the making of well-informed and coherent federal economic policy."--James T. Patterson, author of Grand Expectations: The United States, 1945-1974

"An important and stimulating book that contributes substantially to the ongoing reinterpretation of Nixon's presidency, vividly demonstrating how Nixon's quest for a new majority animated and gave coherence to his economic policy choices."--Bruce J. Schulman, author of Lyndon B. Johnson and American Liberalism

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ University Press of Kansas; 1st edition (April 24, 1998)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 323 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0700608885
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0700608881
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.5 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.34 x 1.09 x 9.32 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,925,301 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1,714 in Development & Growth Economics (Books)
- #3,161 in United States Executive Government
- #3,174 in Democracy (Books)

Customer Reviews:
5 ratings

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Help others learn more about this product by uploading a video!

Upload video

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.

Allen J. Matusow

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read author blogs and more

Products related to this item
Sponsored Hide feedback

Page 1 of 1Start overPage 1 of 1

Customer reviews

5 star		100%
4 star 0% (0%)		0%
3 star 0% (0%)		0%
2 star 0% (0%)		0%
1 star 0% (0%)		0%

How customer reviews and ratings work

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Philo

Great detailed look at trying to steer the vast US economy

Reviewed in the United States on October 22, 2017

Verified Purchase

This book fills a vital space in my understanding -- between the 30,000 foot broad overview typical in popular works, and the ultra-tedious analyses of dry, pure, technical economists. The portrayals of all the actors are fleshed out nicely, as they elbow into and out of the oval office and the public eye, even as economic goals overshoot and undershoot.
Rather stunning to me was the intensity of this Republican administration putting its thumb heavily on the scales, manipulating wages and prices. This was part of a full-press effort to manipulate the economy going into Nixon's reelection, and thereafter (the "before" phase working seemingly well, until the wheels came off in the "after" phase, and quickly). All this helped to steer us into an era of ruinous inflation. confounding politicians and the public for years. This is a good illustration of the unintended consequences and frustrated (questionably) good intentions of legions of economists and other swell heads, nudging things around. As this book shows, there is plenty of federal manipulation of markets such as commodity markets (farm price supports and so on) to this day, but an administration (even a Democrat one) trying to manipulate basic wages and prices at this (very public) level would seem unthinkable today, widely decried as the worst sort of socialism. Nixon was, in some ways, as I've heard it said somewhere, the last New Deal president. After LBJ's debacles, these runaway economics really sealed the fate of the old order, pre-Reagan. Ford and Carter, I think, just wallowed in the wake of this.

3 people found this helpful

Helpful

M. Livshutz

An excellent history -- well written

Reviewed in the United States on February 7, 2000

This book fills a big gaping hole in economic history. There are probably hundreds of books on Nixon and Vietnam, China, and Watergate. But very few exist on his other policies, including his economic policies. This is especially strange considering that his Administration presided over the final destruction of the gold standard, first sustained budget deficits, and the beginning of the Great Recession of 1970s.

Thus, this book is extremely useful. Almost month-by-month it describes the swinging pendulum of booms and busts that resulted from Nixon's economic mismanagement and the world economy's response to it. This is a very thorough work, meticulously documented. The author carefully documents endless cases of sacrifice of economic policies to blatantly short-term political goals.

It's also a good narrative, it weaves all the facts and explanation together, and it's organized very well. I found it very easy to read and understand it. It sheds much light on the economic causes of all those strange events of the 1970s. It's also a great companion to a more general history of USA during those years.

15 people found this helpful

Helpful

Abolina

The messed up economy of the 70’s

Reviewed in the United States on August 16, 2020

Excellent book on the economic upheaval of the 70’s. I worked in a grocery store at the time. Back when prices were put on with stickers. Every week they were repricing everything. This book has some specific economic details but don’t let it deter you from finding out about this, and how we dumped the gold standard.

Helpful

Jane Russell/Klem

Action Packed Economics

Reviewed in the United States on December 28, 2010

Nixon's Economy is a fast paced, action packed account of Nixon's economic policy decisions and the politics that drove them. The author does a fine job of explaining the competing economic options, the politics that eventually determined how those choices were implemented and the resulting consequences on the domestic economy and foreign relations. It's a lot of material to fit into such a thin book making it a quick and exciting read.

4 people found this helpful

Helpful

Follow the Author