The Post-War Brakes Tap Recession (nov 1, 1948 – oct 1, 1949)
Description:
Duration: 11 monthsGDP decline: 1.7%
Peak unemployment rate: 7.9%
Reasons and Causes:
The first phase of the post-war boom was in some ways comparable to the economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. Amid a backlog of consumer demand suppressed during the war and a shortage of production capacity, the collapse of wartime price controls fueled an abrupt surge of inflation by mid-1946.18 The annualized inflation rate rose from 3.3% in June 1946 to 11.6% two months later and 19% at its peak in April 1947.19 Policymakers only responded in the second half of 1947, and when they did their efforts to tighten credit ultimately led to a relatively mild recession as consumers and producers retrenched.20
Added to timeline:
Date:
nov 1, 1948
oct 1, 1949
~ 11 months