Waves of inflation that have swept over the U.S. since 1965 have been answered each time, by design or accident, with substantially lowered monetary growth. Each time, however, political pressures or serious misconceptions deeply embedded in the policymaking procedures of the Federal Reserve System produced a reversal in policies. The author contends that these reversals ended in every case the gradual decline of inflation and initiated a new surge of prices with a deeper commitment to permanent inflation.