Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 560 › Conversation 560-006
Nixon & Shultz on Wage and price freeze and Inflation
Tuesday, August 10, 1971 · 6:01 PM–6:14 PM ET · Oval Office
AI Summary
President Nixon and George Shultz met to evaluate the current state of the national economy and assess the feasibility of implementing a wage and price freeze to combat inflation. They discussed various economic indicators, including retail sales and GNP, while considering the necessity of a dramatic policy shift to stabilize the business environment. Additionally, the pair coordinated on administrative matters, specifically the postponement of federal pay increases and staffing levels for the Jobs for Veterans program.
- Wage and price freeze
- Inflation
- National economy
- GNP
- Jobs for Veterans program
- Federal pay
Audio
This conversation has not yet been cut into its own clip, so the player above contains the full tape segment shared with neighbouring conversations. It begins about 01:45:41 into the tape and ends around 01:57:49.
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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.
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NARA Description
On August 10, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and George P. Shultz met in the Oval Office of the White House from 6:01 pm to 6:14 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 560-006 of the White House Tapes.
Nixon Library Finding Aid
Conversation No. 560-6
Date: August 10, 1971
Time: 6:01 pm - 6:14 pm
Location: Oval Office
The President met with George P. Shultz.
National economy
-Indicators
-Retail sales
-Council of Economic Advisors [CEA]
-Evaluation
-Unknown person’s view
-Automobiles
-Profits
-First quarter compared to second quarter
-First National City Bank survey
-Ezra Solomon's views
-Herbert Stein
-Psychology
-Businessmen
-Lender class
-Wage and price spirals
-Indicators
-Retail sales
-Gross National Product [GNP]
-Inventories
-GNP
-Retail sales
-Opinion poll
-July
-Compared to June
-Prospects
-Possible expansion
-Arthur F. Burns
-Alan Greenspan's prediction
-Possible wage and price freeze
-Solomon
-Stein
-Plan
-Effect
-Inflation
-Import tax
-Burns' conversation with Shultz
International economy
-Gold
-Burns' views
-Possible negotiations
-Exchange rates
-Problem of disclosure
-Possible Administration actions
-Timing of possible action
-Closing gold window
-Closing of gold window
-Wage and price freeze
-Compared to closing gold window
National economy
-Federal pay increase
-Comparability
-Postponement
-Letter to Congressional clerks
-Timing
-Jobs for Veterans program
-Defense Department
-Poll
-Slots
-Number
-Melvin R. Laird
-Directives
-Personnel
-Presidential
The President and Shultz left at 6:14 pm.Also recorded on August 10, 1971
- 559-022 3:19 PM · 13 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 3:19 pm and 3:21 pm.
- 559-023 3:21 PM · 53 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Thomas R. Shepard, Jr., H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, and White House photographer met in the Oval Office of the White House from 3:21 pm to 4:14 pm.
- 560-001 4:14 PM · 1 hr 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Paul W. McCracken, Herbert Stein, Stephen B. Bull, George P. Shultz, and White House photographer met in the Oval Office of the White House from 4:14 pm to 5:19 pm.
- 560-002 5:19 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at 5:19 pm.
- 560-003 5:20 PM · 23 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Stephen B. Bull, Harry S. Dent, William F. ("Billy") Graham, Roy Gustafson, Arthur Smith, Fred Rhodes, Paul Harvey, David McConnell, Nelson Bell, George Rideout, Porter Routh, Tom Phillips, Robert Van Kampen, Charles Crutchfield, Bill Mead, Ben Hayden, Ed Johnson, Stan Mooneyham, Tom Lake, Alan Bell, W. A. Criswell, Theodore Epp, Pat Zondervan, Alan Emory, Bill Walton, Maxy Jarman, Bill Bright, Robert Denny, James Jeffrey, T. W. Wilson, Harold Lindsell, Don Gaeblein, White House photographer, and Rose Mary Woods met in the Oval Office of the White House from 5:20 pm to 5:45 pm.
- 560-004 5:45 PM · 16 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Stephen B. Bull, Peter M. Flanigan, and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House from 5:45 pm to 6:00 pm.
- 560-005 6:00 PM · 1 min — Stephen B. Bull and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House from 6:00 pm to 6:01 pm.
- 560-007 6:14 PM · 39 sec — Unknown person(s) [likely custodial staff] met in the Oval Office of the White House on an unknown date, sometime between 6:14 pm on August 10, 1971 and 8:53 am on August 11, 1971.
Cite this conversation
Conversation 560-006, August 10, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/560-006 (accessed October 9, 2026).