A Letter From The Publisher, Sep. 9, 1974

The problems besetting the U.S. economy these days are global in scope—and so, necessarily, was the reporting for this week's cover story. In response to detailed queries prepared by Business section Senior Editor George Church, who wrote the main story, staffers from nearly all of TIME's 27 bureaus around the world fanned out to take the measure of the general economic malaise. In addition, TIME's domestic correspondents were asked to add a personal dimension to the story by finding out how individual Americans are coping—or not coping—with inflation. The resulting vignettes, which accompany Church's piece, amply illustrate the truth of President...