East Michigan News

After decades of falling or stable consumer prices, inflation came as a surprise to Americans in 1910. A new book by retired Central Michigan University history faculty member David I. Macleod portrays what followed.

"Inflation Decade, 1910-1920: Americans Confront the High Cost of Living" (Palgrave Macmillan, 2024) shows that modest increases in living costs spurred mass protests and myriad—sometimes odd—remedial schemes between 1910 and 1914. Then as now, consumer discontent hurt the incumbent president, William Howard Taft, and his party. Republicans lost control of Congress and the White House by 1912.

Macleod says Democrats soon faced worsening problems. Wartime demand and inflationary fiscal policy doubled consumer prices from 1915 to 1920, triggering waves of strikes, food riots by immigrant housewives, middle-class resentment of falling real incomes, and elite fears of revolution. Food prices dominated consumer concerns; yet farmers wanted high commodity prices. Accordingly, both sides excoriated meat packers, wholesalers, and retailers.

Fumbling responses by Woodrow Wilson’s administration and the newly formed Federal Reserve led to hesitant wartime price restraints, punitive postwar raids and prosecutions, and a now-familiar fallback—high interest rates in 1920. Political disaster for Democrats and deep recession in 1921 followed.

The book includes an epilogue that traces continuing cost-of-living issues and changes in the consumer price index down to 2020.

Macleod retired from the Department of History, World Languages, and Cultures after 42 years in 2012. He says the book follows from teaching and research he did while still at CMU.

"Thanks to the CMU library's excellent microfilm and book holdings, online sources available through the library, and help from the interlibrary loan staff," Macleod said. "I was able to do a remarkably large share of the research right here in Mt. Pleasant."