Last year marked a transition for the economy, for the direction of monetary policies, and for the implementation of these policies. At the beginning of 1970, the nation was suffering from the continuation of inflation caused by the excesses of 1965 through 1968, as well as weakness in production resulting from the corrective steps taken in 1969. Monetary policymakers were faced with the question of whether a growth rate of total spending could be achieved which would be conducive both to reduction of inflation and to renewed growth in production.