Former US President Jimmy Carter dies

December 29, 2024 at 09:07PM
Former US President Jimmy Carter died today, he was 100.

Chip Carter, a son of the former president, said his father died about 3:40 p.m. on Sunday in his Plains home. Carter had been in declining health for some time. He was US President from January 20, 1977 – January 20, 1981.

Typically, a sitting US President declares a national day of mourning after the death of a former President and non-essential Federal workers are given the day off and stock and bond markets are closed.

Typically, this is 5-7 days after the death of a President so it could be somewhere in the Jan 3 – Jan 7 range. This last happened on On December 5, 2018, when markets were closed in observance of the national day of mourning for George H.W. Bush.

Carter lived longer than any other former US president. He was born on Oct. 1, 1924. and was elected Governor of Georgia in 1970 then switching to Federal politics and defeating Gerald Ford to win the Presidency in 1976.

In his retirement he worked extensively with Habitat for Humanity building homes.

In terms of markets, stagflation was the main theme of his Presidency and why he was defeated in 1980. Ultimatley, though, he appointed Paul Volcker in 1979 who hiked rates to 20% and broke the back of inflation.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average began Carter’s term at around 963 points and ended his term at about 950 points

Gold rose from $135 per ounce in 1977 to $850 per ounce in early 1980

The dollar suffered during his term forcing the 1978 Dollar Rescue Plan that included higher interest rates and non-USD denominated bonds along with coordinated intervention

This article was written by Adam Button at www.forexlive.com.