Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 273 › Conversation 273-050
Nixon alone in his EOB office on New Economic Policy
Sunday, August 15, 1971 · 7:36 PM–8:55 PM ET · Old Executive Office Building · 7 min
AI Summary
President Richard Nixon met to finalize and rehearse his upcoming televised address announcing the 'New Economic Policy.' The discussion focuses on his decision to impose a 90-day freeze on wages and prices to curb inflation, as well as his plan to end the dollar's convertibility into gold. These drastic measures were intended to stabilize the U.S. economy, combat international currency speculation, and boost domestic employment.
Audio
This clip was extracted from the full tape recording by Easy Nixon.
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Position in tape: 04:43:37 – 04:50:32
part C, 39:02
273a.mp3
273b.mp3
273c.mp3
NARA Description
On August 15, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 7:36 pm and 8:55 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 273-050 of the White House Tapes.
Nixon Library Finding Aid
Conversation No. 273-50 Date: August 15, 1971 Time: Unknown between 7:36 pm and 8:55 pm Location: Executive Office Building The President rehearsed a speech. [See Public Papers of the Presidents, Richard M. Nixon, 1971, pp. 886-891]
Transcript (AI-generated)
This transcript was generated automatically by AI (WhisperX) and has not been reviewed for accuracy. Names and numbers are often wrong; speakers are not identified. Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.
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In addition, since the Congress has already delayed action on two of the great initiatives of this administration, I will ask Congress to amend my proposals to postpone the implementation of revenue sharing for three months and welfare reform for a year.
In this way, I am reordering our budget priorities to concentrate more on achieving full employment.
... prosperity is to stop the rise in the cost of life.
One of the cruelest legacies of this artificial prosperity is reduced by wars and inflation.
Inflation rots everywhere.
20 million who are retired living on fixed income are particularly hard hit.
Homemakers find it harder than ever to balance the family budget.
And 80 million wage earners have been on a treadmill.
For example, in the four war years between 1965 and 1969, their wage increases were completely eaten up by price increases.
Their paychecks were higher, but they were no better off.
We have made progress against the rise in the cost of labor.
From the high point of 6% in 1969, the rise in consumer prices has been cut to 4% in the first half of 71.
But just as the fight against unemployment, we can and we must do better.
The time has come for decisive action to break the vicious circle of spiraling prices and costs.
I order in today a freeze on all prices and wages throughout the United States for a period of 90 days.
In addition, I call on corporations to extend the wage-price freeze through all deadlines.
I have deified the cost-of-living council within the government.
I have directed this council to work with leaders of labor and business to set up the proper mechanism for achieving continued price and wage stability after the 90-day freeze is over.
Let me emphasize two characteristics of this action.
First is temporary.
to put the strong, vigorous American economy into a permanent straitjacket that would lock in unfairness and stifle the expansion of our 300-mile chain.
Our wage-price freeze will be backed by government sanctions as necessary.
It will be accompanied by the establishment, not be accompanied by the establishment, of a huge price increase in office.
I am relying on voluntary computer cooperation, borrowers, workers, employers, consumers, all of you, to make this freeze short.
Working together, we will break the back of inflation, and we will do it without the mandatory wage and price controls that crush economic and personal freedom.
The third inexpensive law for building new prosperity is closely related to creating new jobs and all this inflation.
We must protect the position of the American dollar as a pillar of monetary stability throughout the world.
In the past seven years, there has been an average of one international monetary crisis every year.
Who gains from these crises?
Not the working man, not the investor, not the real producers of wealth.
The gainers are the international monetary speculators.
Because they thrive on crises, they help to create them.
In recent weeks, the speculators have been waging an all-out war on the American economy.
The strength of a nation's currency is based on the strength of that nation's economy.
And the American economy is by far the strongest in the world.
Accordingly, I direct to the Secretary of the Treasury to take the action necessary to defend the dollar against the spending.
I direct to Secretary O'Connell to suspend temporarily the convertibility of the dollar into gold or other reserve assets, except in amounts and conditions determined to be of the interest of monetary stability and the best interest of the United States.
Thank you.
So I have another thought that it seems to me might, you know where we talk about this convertibility thing, and it occurs to me that we just assume that, naturally, when we say I'm directing technical economies to spend temporarily and convertible to developable, except on conditions of employment, everybody knows that's international transactions.
You get what I mean?
The average person, of course, the average person may think, my God, I can't, my God, no matter what you say.
I'm wondering if the Chairman's Bank C, or the I, or both of them, the right sector, are to suspend temporarily international transactions.
Do you see what I mean?
There's no comparability.
I guess, I guess it is just important.
Is that just going to be hard for people to understand?
Yeah, I agree.
Yeah.
Yeah, all right.
Suspend temporary the credibility of the dollars and the rules of the reserve asset.
That was confusing.
Okay, thank you.
It's 4 o'clock.
We're taking a trip abroad.
Parking conditions may go under development by the 22th.
But if you were among the overwhelming majority,
The majority of Americans who buy American-made products in America, your dollar will work just as much tomorrow as it is today.
The effect of this action will be to stabilize the dollar.
This action will not waste any funds from the international monetary traders and actual money traders.
But our primary concern is with the American workers and the fair competition around the world.
To our friends abroad, including the many responsible members of the international banking community who are dedicated to stability and the flow of trade, I give this assurance.
The United States has always been and will continue to be a forward-looking and trustworthy trading partner.
And the unfair treatment is ended.
I call for operation.
With the International Monetary Fund in which we trade with this, we will press for the necessary reforms to set up an urgently needed new international monetary system.
Stability and equal treatment is in everybody's best interest.
I am determined that the American dollar must never again be a hostage in the hands of international speculators.
I am taking one further step to protect the dollar, to improve our dollars and payments, to increase jobs for Americans.
A temporary measure by today imposing an additional tax of 10% of goods imported to the United States.
This is a better solution for international trade that directs controls on the amount of imports.
This import tax is a temporary action, not directed against any other country, but an action to make certain that American products will not be a disadvantage because of unfair exchange rates.
When the unfair treatment is ended, the import tax will end as well.
As a result of these actions, the product of American labor will be more effective.
And the unvarying some of our foreign competition has had to do with it.
That is a major reason why our trade bonds have risen for the past 15 years.
At the end of World War II, the economies of the major industrial nations of Europe and Asia were shattered.
To help them get on their feet, to protect their freedom, the United States provided 143 billion dollars for aid.
Also recorded on August 15, 1971
- 273-046 7:14 PM · 7 min — President Richard M. Nixon and William L. Safire met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 7:14 pm to 7:24 pm.
- 273-047 7:24 PM · 8 min — President Richard M. Nixon met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 7:24 pm and 7:34 pm.
- 273-048 7:24 PM · 6 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 7:24 pm and 7:34 pm.
- 273-049 7:34 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and William L. Safire met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 7:34 pm to 7:36 pm.
- 273-051 7:36 PM · 15 min — President Richard M. Nixon met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 7:36 pm and 8:55 pm.
- 273-052 7:36 PM · 38 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 7:36 pm and 8:55 pm.
- 273-053 7:36 PM · 33 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 7:36 pm and 8:55 pm.
- 273-054 7:36 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 7:36 pm and 8:55 pm.
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- Nixon, Haldeman & Connally on New Economic Policy and Wage and price controls August 17, 1971 · 58 min
- Nixon phone call with Colson on Phase II and New Economic Policy October 7, 1971 · 15 min
- Nixon phone call with Connally on Gold standard and Wage-price freeze August 12, 1971 · 5 min
Cite this conversation
Conversation 273-050, August 15, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/273-050 (accessed November 2, 2026).