"In the fall of 1972, President Nixon announced that the rate of increase of inflation was decreasing. This was the first time a sitting president used the third derivative to advance his case for reelection."
- Civ5
- Civ5
"rate of increase of inflation" (RII) = d inflation / dt
"decreasing rate of increase" = d RII / dt
So the 'rate of increase' of inflation is the second derivative. And to say that the second derivative is decreasing is another way of saying the third derivative is negative
I guess first, does he mean that y, the rate at which x increases is going down by z? or that y is down, but z is not its rate?
And second, if you see inflation here as a derivative or not.
Take that with a grain of salt, I'd welcome any corrections if some one sees fit.
The suggestion seems to be "yes", and that he was playing a game of telling a literal truth that was not however the good news 99.9% of the electorate would take it to be.