Conversation 283-023

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Well, I think we're good.

Let's start here.

And referring to the first page, referring to the international front.

Then on the domestic front, then it's going to come down there.

There may be a figure on a wholesale index.

The next step is stabilization.

I don't think it's too much.

I don't know.

Stabilization is a big word.

When you get to the bottom of the page, I would like to, rather than we will have a board to hold down prices, I'd put in a price board right there.

In other words, you can get a price board to hold down prices.

Now.

rather than to enable business to major necessary increases in prices and rents.

Prices, and to restrain price and rent increases.

Part of the goal, I'm surprised that science has warned me, I'm not predicting, but that was the basic big argument we all had yesterday, and everybody's come down and put out two or three plans.

What the hell, the way I would put it, rather than that,

Uh, we, our goal, a goal which can be achieved only if we have the cooperation of business, the cooperation of labor, the cooperation of Congress, and most of all, the overwhelming support of the American people, will be to drive inflation down to a range between two and three percent by the end of 1972.

That's pretty much what it is.

But I put it in there, and you put the confidence that we have the cooperation to do it.

Well, go for it.

It's going to be sick.

I didn't say the 1065.

I'm going to have another one.

And then you go to the department.

The department.

So we don't want to say we're 100% healthy.

But he said the comments of it.

All right.

Our goal is to understand.

Understand.

I appreciate the point.

All right, fine, and I won't put in the 2% or 3%.

Anyway, it's not a good point to make.

Let's leave it out and let them make it.

But I'm going to be stuck with it.

Then we'll take out the whole thing out.

Fine.

I only said that that's our increase in pressure.

But I say our goal will be to drive inflation down.

We'll be able to continue to drive inflation down until we...

You can see what I mean.

I think he's got a good one.

On page three, the same thing.

I shall have another quarter rather than that.

I shall apply a wage for it.

We'll start an inflationary wage and salary increase.

Possibly the council will record the suggestions, the recommendations.

I have a point.

The profit thing is that it doesn't come at the right place in Washington.

It really, you see under the pay board, under the price board, there will be a rent board, there will be a profit board, there will be a, and I think the profit board sort of stands with the profit and the bank is on the other side.

And I think that's what we really have to work on a little more.

I don't want to make sure everybody profits.

I don't want to put in quite a specific way.

First, I want to be sure that we categorize our system

We cannot have more jobs.

We can only have more jobs.

We can only have the Native American good market.

Our program, the government program, we have problems.

On the other hand, you must recognize that wages are controlled.

We do not want, we want our, we do not want our ceiling

seen it on prices to become a four.

We have got to get back to the tradition that some of the debt and some of the increased productivity, some of which were late, and some of course were different, but some of the increased productivity could go to

consumer in reduced prices so rather than just talking about a ceiling on prices our goal is to see i want to put this whole thing in the context of prices rather than

than profits, you see what I mean?

The ringing endorsement of profits, by God, we want the businessmen, this board is going to be concerned not simply with putting a ceiling on prices, which will be a board, but we are, it will be concerned in finding areas where increases in productivity and windfall profits

are passed on in price reductions to the people.

This, of course, as you say, encourages business to pass on part of their cost savings.

You've got that in there.

And you've got an idea that Peter Sharpe might have a possibility to bring about crime.

And it's all there, but I sort of want to say it a little bit differently.

And so just put your mind where you will.

Now, here we've got the stuff of stabilization.

If it has to stay stabilization, don't worry too much about it.

Maybe enough people are trying to .

We talk about we will directly restrain a large enough part of the economy to be affected by .

I don't think that's the way to say it.

We will concentrate on those major parts of the economy that are the primary causes of

inflation home, but all parts of the economy.

Because we do not want to set up a U-3 rocket, we will concentrate our efforts on those major parts of the economy, which is the primary cause of inflation, but we will count on public support.

but all parts of the economy will be expected to comply.

See what I mean?

I think leaving the fact that there are numbers of parents out there where they go out and screw the public, all they're expected to do, but it's got to be moral suasion, more or less.

So we can do that.

Now, the setup of the will and the will not.

Set up a bureaucracy, by the way.

Yeah, we will commit to the will, but we'll never commit to that.

I want to get at it in a different way than that.

But I think getting in again, I can't ever get across to the writing staff.

If you've got a good sense, repeat it.

Fighting in place and everybody just go down there.

Basically, what we're doing, we're going to permit adjustments for the techniques.

We're going to concentrate on that.

I think your idea of a great year is very good.

I think that's a new thrust, which will be a good lead.

I have found...

Here's what I have in mind.

I would not use the box today.

I don't want to fight...

I'm sure that I like it right here.

That's very nicely done.

You've done that very nicely.

I hear a great gear.

It's a great gear that I didn't want to know.

I didn't feel it before at all.

But I'm just saying that I think that your idea of the great year is good.

How do you feel about it?

Well, I was nervous about it.

But it can be if.

Oh, I know.

It has to be with all of us.

It can be.

It can be determined.

We've got to bet on it.

We've also got to say with regard to war, you can't say you don't want to lead others to be at war.

It can be a year.

But we can have prosperity.

As you said, it's very easy.

You see, what I am just giving you is different from that.

I am not just talking about 72 being good here.

Maybe at this point, I guess, there's a little couple of people who come before me looking for the future.

We're looking at a very exciting, and we are witnesses of a great time.

When events are occurring that are not going to be like this year, you see, let's be all going to our strength, all going to our strength.

And then, of course, I have said, I think your idea will be a good year.

That's the price to have his voice go through the mail.

To see if they can find three or four one-sentence examples where people say, I gave up my wages.

My God, I was glad to do it, but I'm supporting him.

If he comes up with that, we'll find a neat place to put it in.

If he doesn't, we'll, I quote him, if he doesn't, we won't put it in.

But that, I have found that that type of anecdotal material is different about all anybody ever remembers.

I mean, you can find a good one.

You know who I am.

They don't see price stabilization, wage price restraint, a pay board, a price board, and all the rest.

They see that.

Very intensively see like that.

to see some poor damn school teacher get 50 bucks a month or more a year.

This is just the right hall and the right kind of a thing.

I think either the left or the right.

I like them, but I don't think we got room.

I think I'd rather stick to this, make another crack at it.

It's sort of a feel that, I'll tell you what,

that are very profound.

There may be, if they do occur, people remember this.

That's why I want you to, you're great here to instruct me immediately, and I thought maybe that you were sort of guessing for the events where you may, and of course, and of course you should be.

Well, I guess you're trying to jigger them up.

You know, you were on the news last time.

You were on the news last time.

We've got crisis, and crisis is going on here.

We've got crisis.

I mean, everybody's going to be lying down.

This is why I'm dead.

And it's mainly because of those things.

My daughter's been in this indefinite change in world order.

It was all for months of tough, hard negotiating to get back into my house.

What I'm getting at is a very, very, very, very good deal.

you're not in a great year, a great year.

No, I don't run a fine, but I think we're just saying it can be a year.

It's a great year.

It's the best I've seen.

and then write about it if they i had understood when we talked to our meeting yesterday oh yeah people well manning is now uh working on that uh and i also i like the idea of

They said, being very categorical, I am naming a price board.

I am naming it, rather than another board, another board of people of various, very sensitive about the board, people of Christ.

A price board, the chairman will be blank.

That price board will do this.

Pay board, pay board, pay board.

It's very strong.

I have that feeling.

I feel that the price for it, you said, will have jurisdiction over rents, and what you're looking at about rents and that, prices, and profits.

I feel that's where it belongs, rather than down at the end there, bucked up.

My experience is, in my present presentation,

Well, then when you mention prices, maybe the compromise is the price board will have jurisdiction over rents.

The price won't have profits.

Then we'll have a pay board.

Now, I want to address myself to the subject of profits.

If you could do it that way,

And for a second, will they be honest with me?

Pay up, pay up.

Too far away, I can see the point.

But I'm sure it is up there where they know that the price board has something to do with what they're doing.

And I want them sure to make the point that what we are attacking here is not profits.

The way to attack, which of course means pass profits, and get it to the folks.

But we're attacking prices.

We're saying pass on your profits to the folks.

We believe that profits should be passed on

Excessive profits be passed off on the price reductions.

Where there are excessive, where there are windfall prices, that they should be passed on to the people of Christchurch.

Windfall prices are the result of wage restraints.

They should be passed on to the people of Christchurch.

In the history of the past, we can say, too, you can say, we have lived too long

This is another mind you might have.

We have lived too long with the psychology, with an inflation psychology, that prices, all prices, inevitably have to go up.

That is what made America great.

It is time for a restoration of the American spirit, of the American competitive ethic, or whatever you want to call it, where let's...

Let's have my call upon our great businesses and so forth, where they can, to reduce prices.

In other words, we have no competition anymore in reduction of prices.

It's a question of who's raising the least.

Let's get away from this idea that prices always have the inflation psychology.

It's time to have the price reduction psychology.

Let's have a little of that.

We're gonna restrain wages.

restrained costs particularly they'll have a few lost leaders and they'll have sales

And if you get the idea, we're reducing our pressures.

We're not just holding the line, we're reducing them.

So we're, maybe we can get a little psychology going.

I'm in no hurry.

I'm in no hurry now.

I would rather have you now take a lot of time.

So,

Now, let's say we're talking about something around 4.30, 5.30, 6.30, 7.30, 8.00, 9.00, 10.00, 11.00, 11.00, 12.00, 13.00, 13.00, 14.00, 15.00, 16.00, 17.00, 18.00, 19.00, 20.00, 21.00, 22.00, 22.00, 23.00, 23.00, 24.00, 24.00, 25.00, 26.00, 27.00, 28.00, 28.00, 29.00, 30.00, 31.00, 31.00, 32.00, 32.00, 33.00, 33.00, 34.00, 34.00, 35.00, 35.00, 36.00, 37.00, 38.00, 38.00, 39.00, 39.00, 40.00, 41.00, 41.00, 42.00, 42

then I'll have an hour and a half before I have to go over to the house.

It's 4.35, I think you're ready to come home.

Don't get up before, and do all your thinking, fiddling around with me.

I'm inclined to think I would not show it to others.

You could read a paragraph or two,

You know, the average person that feels he's got to go in and say, well, that's the wrong way to look at the heart of something.

I don't know what the hell we're going to do with it.

We've got a lot of work to do.

We want to change it.

Except that I... What do you want to do?

You prefer to show it to others?

All right, yeah.

I don't feel it, it's much too simple, but you could point out.

Stein is the perfect man for the brief, as he knows, and he's smart as hell.

I really do.

Stein is fine.

I have no problem with him anyway, because he's part of the writing himself.

Why don't you show it to Stein?

But I wouldn't go to Schultz, and I wouldn't go to somebody and say, well, why don't you put in something about the budget,

I would say, I'll leave it to you.

I thought he was actually looking to do it in the morning.

Just to let them just see it and say, look, you can tell them about that, which will be the case.

Anything of substance, of course, is always going to be different.

Substance can change and feel different.

That's one thing.

I don't want to bother with that.

The other thing I don't want to bother with is the nature of the recommendation about, well, I think this is all wrong.

We ought to start over here.

That's my point.

Okay.

Back to point three.