The 1973 Food Price Inflation

This study analyzes the major causes of the food price inflation of 1973. In the approximate order of their importance, those causes were found to be domestic monetary policy, government acreage restrictions, the Soviet grain deal, world economic conditions, devaluation of the dollar, and price freeze II. Econometric models of the livestock and feed grains and meal economies were used to decompose the price increase into the various causes given above. The study also details and analyzes events and policy actions taken during the 1971–74 period.