1970's

  • Inflation

    Inflation reaches 6.1 percent, the highest rate since the Korean War
  • Postal Workers Strike

    The first major postal workers' strike in American history ends after seven days.
  • Unleaded Gas

    The federal government mandates the use of unleaded gasoline in federal vehicles.
  • Unemployment

    The federal government announces that unemployment has risen to 5.8 percent. In response, officials reduce interest rates.
  • Twenty Year Trade

    President Richard M. Nixon ends a twenty-year trade embargo against Communist China.
  • Tax Cut

    President Richard M. Nixon signs a $25-billion tax cut.
  • Trans Alaska Pipeline

    A U.S. federal court lifts an April 1970 injunction banning the construction of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline.
  • War between Israel and Arab States

    Following the beginning of the war between Israel and several Arab states, some members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) begin an embargo of oil exports to the United States and other Western nations.
  • Mandatory Wage

    The Nixon administration ends mandatory wage and price controls, except in the food, construction, and health-care industries.
  • Impeachment of Nixon

    The impeachment of nixon all started because of the watergate scandal. The Watergate scandal happened in June 17,1972. It started with a robbery at the Democratic National Committee. The burglars were connected to Nixon’s reelection campaign, they stole documents and wiretapped phones. After this incident happened he tried to cover it up. People found out and wanted to impeach him so instead he resigned in August 1974.
  • Price Controls

    President Richard M. Nixon's authority to impose wage and price controls on the American economy ends with the expiration of the 1970 Economic Wage Stabilization Act.
  • Recession

    President Gerald Ford announces his program to control inflation, called Whip Inflation Now (WIN). Despite a denial by President Ford, Federal Reserve Chairman Arthur Burns states that a recession has begun.
  • Trade Deficit Swelled

    Until the 1970’s people enjoyed spending their own money and getting excess of many things just like the rest of the world. But, oil prices started spiking and there was a trade deficit that jumped at a rate of 30$ billion a year at the end of the 1970’s, due to the oil prices and people wanting to buy what they wanted and needed.It started increasing yearly in the 1980’s.In 1983, the trade deficit was 75$ billion dollars and in 1984 it was supposed to reach 100$ billion.
  • Unemployment

    The federal government reports January unemployment at 8.2 percent, the highest level since 1941.
  • Unemployment Benifits

    The U.S. Supreme Court rules unconstitutional a Utah law denying unemployment benefits to women in the third trimester of pregnancy.
  • Deceptive Selling

    The federal government accuses the Encyclopaedia Britannica company of deceptive selling and other practices.
  • American Bank

    American Bank and Trust Company fails, the fourth largest banking default in history.
  • Briberies

    More than 175 U.S. companies admit to offering over $300 million in bribes since 1970.
  • Highest Trade Deficit

    The United States posts the highest trade deficit in history: $31.1 billion.
  • President Carter Pardons Vietnam era draft evaders

    In 1977 President Jimmy Carter made his campaign fulfilled. His campaign consisted of forgiving the men who evaded the draft when the Vietnam War occured. Gerald Ford proposed that those men get conditional pardons. Although Carter wanted no conditions. Some people ran away and that caused them to get prison sentences. Some people did not agree with this campaign because they believed it encouraged people to evade but others thought it was beneficial, Therefore this makes it an economic event.
  • Civil Rights Settlement

    Three hundred American Airlines female flight attendants, fired for becoming pregnant between 1965 and 1970, receive a $2.7-million civil rights settlement.
  • Inflation

    Due to inflation, goods costing $100.00 in 1967 now cost $200.09.
  • U.S joins 14 other countries in signing the Nuclear Proliferation pact

    The Nuclear Proliferation Pact is an agreement to stop or lower the spead of nuclear weapons/ technology. This act was also signed by 14 other countries to help it come into action. They still let people get the nuclear energy the need but in a safer, more controlled way. This is an economic events because the cut back could have been from a shortage of the nuclear energy.
  • Coal Miners Strike

    A 110-day coal miners' strike, the longest in the U.S. history, ends with the signing of a new three-year contract.
  • Bankruptcy

    The Chrysler Corporation, the third largest automaker in the United States, requests a $1-billion federal loan to prevent bankruptcy. On November 1, the federal government guarantees a $1.5-billion loan to Chrysler.