Editing 1960s (section)

===The United States===

During the 1960s the United States was in the [[Post–World War II economic expansion|postwar economic boom]]. The 1960s are remembered as a time period of rapid workforce growth (roughly 33% between February 1961 and December 1969),<ref>U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, All Employees, Total Nonfarm [PAYEMS], retrieved from FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis; https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/PAYEMS, January 3, 2024.</ref> [[Revenue Act of 1964|tax cuts]], low unemployment,<ref>Holland, Susan S. “Long-Term Unemployment in the 1960’s.” Monthly Labor Review, vol. 88, no. 9, 1965, pp. 1069–76. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/41836225. Accessed 4 Jan. 2024.</ref><ref>U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Unemployment Rate [UNRATE], retrieved from FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis; https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/UNRATE, January 3, 2024</ref> rapid GDP growth, gains in productivity and generally low inflation. After the [[Recession of 1960–1961]] the United States experienced sustained rapid economic growth which began in February 1961 and ended with the [[Recession of 1969–1970]]. It lasted a total of 106 months, which made it the longest recorded economic expansion in the history of the United States until the [[1990s United States boom]].

On January 20, 1961, John F. Kennedy became the president of the United States. In his campaign, John F. Kennedy promised to "get America moving again." His goal was economic growth of 4–6% per year and unemployment below 4%.{{citation needed|date=January 2024}}To do this, he proposed a wide range of policies which embraced [[Keynesian economics]] (which he is the first president to do so). Among these policies included a 7% tax credit for businesses that invest in new plants and equipment,{{citation needed|date=January 2024}} Income [[Revenue Act of 1964|tax cuts]] and an increase in the federal minimum wage.

In contrast however, the government routinely produced fiscal deficits (as a result of the tax cuts and increased expenditure embarked under Kennedy), with only one surplus during this time period (as opposed to the 1950s which produced 3).<ref>U.S. Office of Management and Budget and Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, Federal Surplus or Deficit [-] as Percent of Gross Domestic Product [FYFSGDA188S], retrieved from FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis; https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/FYFSGDA188S, January 3, 2024.</ref> Furthermore, by 1966 inflation began to climb, which is a general trend that continued into the [[Stagflation|1970s]]. By the end of the decade under Nixon, the combined inflation and unemployment rate known as the [[misery index (economics)]] had exploded to nearly 10% with inflation at 6.2% and unemployment at 3.5% and by 1975 the misery index was almost 20%.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://inflationdata.com/articles/inflation-cpi-consumer-price-index-1960-1969/|title=Inflation and CPI Consumer Price Index 1960–1969|website=InflationData.com|access-date=9 October 2020|archive-date=9 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201009192240/https://inflationdata.com/articles/inflation-cpi-consumer-price-index-1960-1969/|url-status=live}}</ref> By the end of the decade, median family income had risen from $8,540 in 1963 to $10,770 by 1969.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://elcoushistory.tripod.com/economics1960.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070606123915/http://elcoushistory.tripod.com/economics1960.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=6 June 2007|title=U.S. History – 1960s}}</ref>