Inflation and the cost of living
The History Hour27 Aug 2022

Inflation and the cost of living

A compilation of witness accounts from when inflation and the cost of living were seriously affecting people's lives, among other topics.

In 1971, inflation was a huge problem in the USA so the President, Richard Nixon, made one of the most drastic moves in economic history; abandoning the Gold Standard. It became known as the 'Nixon Shock' and nearly caused a trade war between America and its allies. But, it also saved the US economy from a crisis. Ben Henderson spoke to Bob Hormats, an economic adviser in the Nixon administration, who was at the heart of decision-making.

In 1997, Bulgaria was in financial meltdown with hyperinflation making money worth a lot less. The country had emerged out of communism following the fall of the Soviet Union in 1989. Like other post-Soviet regimes, the country found the transition from communism to capitalism harder than expected. The President of Bulgaria, Petar Stoyanov, knew he had to do something and a recovery plan from one of Ronald Reagan’s key economic advisers was on the table. But would it work? Matt Pintus has been speaking to Steve Hanke, an economics professor.

In January 1980, Indira Gandhi's Congress (I) party was voted into power in India. Before the election, inflation meant that the cost of onions was unaffordable for many Indians. The price of the vegetable became a political hot potato in the election campaign. Reena Stanton-Sharma spoke to Suda Pai, a former Professor of Political Science at Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi.

In 2012, Syrian government soldiers surrounded Darayya, a suburb of Damascus, bombing buildings and searching for people who had spoken out against President Assad. Hundreds of people died over four days in what was described by activists as a “massacre”. Mohamad Zarda has been speaking to Laura Jones.

It has been 40 years since the first Gay Games were held in San Francisco in 1982. Attracting a large crowd and featuring more than 1,000 athletes from more than 100 countries, the event was organised by a group of LGBT activists, including former Olympians, to raise awareness of homophobia in sport. The Gay Games are now held every four years at venues around the world. In 2019, Ashley Byrne spoke to organiser Sara Waddell Lewinstein and athlete Rick Tomin. A Made in Manchester production for BBC World Service.

(Photo: President Richard Nixon with his economic advisers in 1971. Credit: Bettmann via Getty Images)

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Drama in the British parliament

Drama in the British parliament

Prime Minister Jim Callaghan's desperate attempts to survive a no-confidence motion in 1979, the record-breaking 20-day balloon flight around the world; plus the Nazi past of Kurt Waldheim, mindfulness and the first home pregnancy test.Picture: James Callaghan outside 10 Downing Street (Fox Photos/Getty)

30 Mars 201949min

Autism and the MMR vaccine

Autism and the MMR vaccine

How a British doctor misled the world by linking the MMR vaccine to autism; the early rise of Hungary’s Viktor Orban also what it was like to contest the Soviet Union’s first multi-party elections plus the exposure in the 1970s of a Nazi criminal in Holland and uncovering Mexico’s Aztec past.Photo: Dr Andrew Wakefield arrives at the General Medical Council in London to face a disciplinary panel, July 16th 2007 (Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images)

23 Mars 201954min

China's breakthrough malaria cure

China's breakthrough malaria cure

How an ancient Chinese remedy provided a 1970s breakthrough in the fight against malaria; the bombing of Dresden in the Second World War that inspired Kurt Vonnegut's anti-war novel Slaughterhouse Five; the fall of Singapore; plus the town that America built in Afghanistan's south-western desert, and 'was Lenin a mushroom' - a satirical re-writing of Soviet history.Photo: Professor Lang Linfu (Family archives)

16 Mars 201950min

I was abused by a President

I was abused by a President

How allegations of child abuse engulfed Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, the campaign to return the Elgin marbles to Greece, Britain's first black headteacher, the origins of the Barbie doll and how Baroness Warsi made history.Photo: Zoilamerica Narváez announces in a press conference that she is filing a law suit against her stepfather Daniel Ortega, March 1998 (RODRIGO ARANGUA/AFP/Getty Images):

9 Mars 201950min

Venezuela's oil bonanza

Venezuela's oil bonanza

When Venezuela was rich; surviving a mid-air airline disaster; Japan's Red Army militants of the 1970s, the origin of the swine flu epidemic and Iceland's Beer Day. Photo: Seidel/United Archives/UIG via Getty Images

2 Mars 201950min

The curse of Agent Orange

The curse of Agent Orange

Millions left dead or deformed because of chemicals used in the Vietnam war, UK cigarette smoking warnings ignored, remains of the Nazi 'Angel of Death' discovered in Brazil, the Columbia Shuttle disaster which led to huge questions about American space safety and the unrest featured in the Oscar-nominated film, Roma, where Mexican students were killed by government-trained paramilitary troops.Photo: Child suffering from spinal deformity in rehabilitation centre in Saigon.

23 Feb 201950min

Iceland jails its bankers

Iceland jails its bankers

Why Iceland jailed 40 bankers after the 2008 financial crisis, how the Maastricht Treaty gave birth to the EU, plus America's first female airline pilots, Cameroon's historic referendum and homeless, drunk and yet a genius in the USSR.(Photo: Protesters on the streets of Reykjavik demand answers from the government and the banks about the country's financial crisis, Nov. 2008. (Halldor Kolbeins/AFP/Getty Images)

16 Feb 201950min

The last days of Hitler

The last days of Hitler

Hitler's secretary on the last days in the bunker; a CIA operative on the killing of Che Guevara, remembering the US invasion of Iraq, a child of the Soweto Uprising and the tricky task of bringing Disneyland to France. Photo: Getty Images

9 Feb 201950min

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