without a totally planned economy the incomes policy can never work, the excess money in the economy greatly distorting other areas, exempt from the policy. Examples France During the French Revolution in the 1790s, "The Law of the Maximum" was imposed in an attempt to decrease inflation. It consisted of limits on wages and food prices. Many dissidents were executed for breaking this law. The law was repealed 14 months after its introduction. By turning the crimes of price gouging and food hoarding into crimes against the government, France had limited success. With respect to its overt intention, that of ensuring the people were able to purchase food at a reasonable rate, the Maximum was mostly a failure. Some merchants having found themselves forced into a position to sell their goods for a price below cost (e.g. cost of baking bread or growing vegetables) chose to hide their expensive goods from the market, either for personal use or for sale on the black market. However, the General Maximum was very successful in deflecting a volatile political issue away from the Committee of Public Safety and Maximilien Robespierre, enabling them to focus on larger political issues more closely related to completing the French Revolution. By creating the General Maximum, Robespierre shifted the attention of the French people away from government involvement in widespread shortages of money and food to a fight between consumers and merchants. The text of the General Maximum was written towards businessmen who were profiting on a large scale from the demise of the French economy. However, in practice, the law ultimately targeted local shopkeepers, butchers, bakers, and farmers-the merchants who were profiting the least from the economic crisis. With the General Maximum, Robespierre offered the people an answer regarding whom to blame for their poverty and their hunger. Furthermore, considering its association with the Law of Suspects, when a citizen informed the government about a merchant who was in violation of the law, they were considered to have done their civic duty. United States During World War II, price controls were used in an attempt to control wartime inflation. The Franklin Roosevelt Administration instituted the OPA (Office of Price Administration). That agency was rather unpopular with business interests and was phased out as quickly as possible after peace had been restored. However, the Korean War brought a return to the same inflationary pressures, and price controls were