The problem of inflation in America has been recurrent since early colonial days, and the history of governmental attempts to cope with this problem by imposing direct controls is equally long. Today, as this is being written, our most recent inflation is abating, each month bringing news that the rate of price increase is still lower than that of the month before. But it is too much to hope that the problem has permanently receded. We will encounter inflationary pressures again and again in the years ahead, and during the current interval of relative price stability it behooves us to learn as much as possible about the nature of inflation and the devices for keeping it under control.

Hugh Rockoff's book is thus timely and important. The author tells the story of American price controls from colonial times up to the Nixon price freeze. He describes the systems of control, placing each in its special historical setting. He appraises carefully the degree of success attained in bringing prices under control and weighs the benefits of each experience against the probable costs. Rockoff includes the direct and obvious costs, such as those associated with the government's administrative apparatus and private compliance; the less obvious costs, such as those incurred in the policing of the laws and in handling the added judicial burdens generated by noncompliance; and the indirect and pervasive costs of the misallocation of resources arising out of the suppression of the normal operations of the price system.