''Whip Inflation Now'' (''WIN'') was a 1974 attempt to spur a

grassroots A grassroots movement is one that uses the people in a given district, region or community as the basis for a political or economic movement. Grassroots movements and organizations use collective action from the local level to effect change at t ...

movement to combat

inflation In economics, inflation is an increase in the general price level of goods and services in an economy. When the general price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services; consequently, inflation corresponds to a reductio ...

in the US, by encouraging personal savings and disciplined spending habits in combination with public measures, urged by

U.S. President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...

Gerald Ford Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. ( ; born Leslie Lynch King Jr.; July 14, 1913December 26, 2006) was an American politician who served as the 38th president of the United States from 1974 to 1977. He was the only president never to have been elected ...

. The campaign was later described as "one of the biggest government public relations blunders ever". People who supported the mandatory and voluntary measures were encouraged to wear "WIN" buttons, perhaps in hope of evoking in peacetime the kind of solidarity and voluntarism symbolized by the V-campaign during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Campaign

Ford had taken office in August 1974 amidst one of the worst economic crises in US history, marked by high unemployment and inflation rising to 12.3% that year following the

1973 oil crisis The 1973 oil crisis or first oil crisis began in October 1973 when the members of the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC), led by Saudi Arabia, proclaimed an oil embargo. The embargo was targeted at nations that had supp ...

. As a Republican, Ford favored the WIN campaign's emphasis on addressing the problem through voluntary actions of citizens, instead of price restrictions imposed centrally by a big government bureaucracy. The campaign began in earnest with the establishment by the

93rd Congress The 93rd United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from January 3, 1973, ...

of the National Commission on Inflation, which Ford closed with an address to the American people, asking them to send him a list of ten inflation-reducing ideas. Ten days later, Ford declared inflation "public enemy number one" before Congress on October 8, 1974, in a speech entitled "Whip Inflation Now", announcing a series of proposals for public and private steps intended to directly affect supply and demand to bring inflation under control. Suggested actions for citizens included

carpool Carpooling (also car-sharing, ride-sharing and lift-sharing) is the sharing of car journeys so that more than one person travels in a car, and prevents the need for others to have to drive to a location themselves. By having more people usi ...

ing, turning down thermostats, and starting their own vegetable gardens. "WIN" buttons immediately became objects of ridicule; skeptics wore the buttons upside down, explaining that "NIM" stood for "No Immediate Miracles," "Nonstop Inflation Merry-go-round," or "Need Immediate Money."

Alan Greenspan Alan Greenspan (born March 6, 1926) is an American economist who served as the 13th chairman of the Federal Reserve from 1987 to 2006. He works as a private adviser and provides consulting for firms through his company, Greenspan Associates LLC. ...

, as the Chairman of the

Council of Economic Advisors The Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) is a United States agency within the Executive Office of the President established in 1946, which advises the President of the United States on economic policy. The CEA provides much of the empirical resea ...

during the Ford administration, went along reluctantly with the "Whip Inflation Now" campaign, but would later recall in his book ''

The Age of Turbulence ''The Age of Turbulence: Adventures in a New World'' is a 2007 memoir of former Chairman of the Federal Reserve Alan Greenspan, co-authored by Peter Petre, a former executive editor at Fortune magazine. Published on September 17, 2007, the book de ...

'' that he was thinking, "This is unbelievably stupid" when the concept was first presented to the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...

. According to historian Yanek Mieczkowski, the public campaign was never meant to be the centerpiece of the anti-inflation program.

Gallery

File:"I can WIN" button.JPG, "I can WIN" button File:"Plant a WIN garden" button.JPG, "Plant a WIN garden" button File:"WIN" bag.jpg, "WIN" bag File:"WIN" button.JPG, "WIN" button File:"WIN" campaign tab.JPG, "WIN" campaign tab File:"WIN" earrings.JPG, "WIN" earrings File:"WIN" football.jpg, "WIN" football File:"WIN" patterned sweater.JPG, "WIN" patterned sweater File:"WIN" stickers.JPG, "WIN" stickers File:"WIN" wristwatch.JPG, "WIN" wristwatch File:"WIN"sign.JPG, "WIN"sign File:WIN needlework picture.JPG, WIN needlework picture File:WIN pin.JPG, WIN pin File:WIN t-shirt.JPG, WIN T-shirt

References

External links

"Whip Inflation Now" speech by Gerald Ford
Miller Center of Public Affairs. Includes transcript and video. *

James D. Hamilton James Douglas Hamilton (born November 29, 1954) is an American econometrician currently teaching at University of California, San Diego. His work is especially influential in time series and energy economics. He received his PhD from the Univer ...

''WIN buttons and Arthur Burns''
Econbrowser blog, December 29, 2006 {{Gerald Ford American political catchphrases Presidency of Gerald Ford 1974 in American politics Inflation 1974 in economics Public awareness campaigns 1974 neologisms

Campaign

Gallery

See also

References

External links