# Volcker *Paul Volcker and the 1979–83 disinflation, set against the targets of the Full Employment and Balanced Growth Act of 1978.* Paul Volcker enters this record through the 1979–83 disinflation that the project's research dossier calls "Volcker's 1979–83 disinflation." The dossier sets it against the numerical targets of the Full Employment and Balanced Growth Act of 1978, known as [[Humphrey-Hawkins]]. One at-issue pair in the record names him.[^1] The Act set an unemployment target of three percent for adults and an inflation target of three percent, then zero percent by 1988.[^1] The dossier records that the two enforcement mechanisms Humphrey sought did not pass into law, and that the targets were not met on the Act's timetable.[^1] During the disinflation, unemployment rose above ten percent. Inflation fell from over 13 percent to roughly 3 percent by 1983.[^1] ## Who The record identifies Volcker only through the 1979–83 disinflation attributed to him. It does not establish the office he held during that period.[^1] ## What The Full Employment and Balanced Growth Act of 1978 is Public Law 95-523, 92 Stat. 1887. It set unemployment at no higher than 3% for adults 20 and over and 4% overall. It set inflation at 3%, then 0% by 1988.[^1] ## When President Carter signed the Act on October 27, 1978.[^1] The disinflation ran from 1979 to 1983, and the Act's zero-inflation target fell due in 1988.[^1] ## How The dossier cites the [[Federal Reserve]]'s own institutional history for two provisions Humphrey wanted that did not pass into law. One would have had the government provide jobs if the employment goals were not met. The other would have required the Federal Reserve Board to respond within fifteen days to explain any deviation from the President's monetary recommendations.[^1] According to the dossier, that history describes no consequence for missing the targets.[^1] ## How much According to the dossier, unemployment rose above 10% during the 1979–83 disinflation. Over the same period, inflation fell from over 13% to roughly 3% by 1983.[^1] ## In the at-issue record - Pair AI-Humphrey-094 (rank 94) sets the Act's 1988 targets of three percent adult unemployment and zero percent inflation beside the disinflation. It records unemployment above ten percent and inflation cut to about three.[^1] The pair's framing holds that the two goals were reached in sequence rather than together. It also holds that they were reached by a party the statute did not name and could not compel.[^1] The pair's anchor is a 2025 presidential action on federal payments. The pair offers it as an operative mechanism, in contrast to an unenforceable target.[^2] ## In the Minnesota record ### Where The dossier records that the Act was signed nine months and fourteen days after Humphrey died at [[Waverly]]. It also records that Humphrey is buried in [[Minneapolis]] and lived in Wright County.[^1] ## Notes [^1]: Minnesota wiki research dossier, *HHH Waverly Apex Dossier*, §IV.7 (2026-09-02) — the Act's public-law and Statutes at Large citations, signing date, targets, the two mechanisms that did not pass into law (per the Federal Reserve's institutional history), and the 1979–83 unemployment and inflation figures; validated dossier text with no source URL in this pack. [^2]: The White House, *Modernizing Payments To and From America's Bank Account* (March 2025) — the presidential action named as the anchor for at-issue pair AI-Humphrey-094. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/modernizing-payments-to-and-from-americas-bank-account/