Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 921 › Conversation 921-006
Nixon & Shultz on Economic policy and Inflation
Thursday, May 17, 1973 · 9:58 AM–10:05 AM ET · Oval Office · 9 min
AI Summary
President Nixon and George P. Shultz met to discuss the urgent need to address economic instability, specifically rising inflation and public concern regarding economic confidence. The President tasked Shultz with convening a group of economic advisors—including Herbert Stein, Roy Ash, and others—to evaluate potential policy responses and determine if they would be politically and practically viable. Nixon emphasized his refusal to pursue any policy measures that he deemed a guaranteed failure, directing the team to rigorously assess whether a new initiative could genuinely restore confidence.
- Economic policy
- Inflation
- Economic confidence
- George P. Shultz
- Economic advisory team
Audio
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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.
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And I thought that it would be interesting, and it's probably a good time anyway, to open everybody's schedules.
If you, it may be at three o'clock Friday, I think we've got a captain meeting in the morning.
If you, Dr. Locke, is signed, will you be back by then?
Yeah, well then, you'll be gone too.
ignore what I say about meeting Friday and uh then let's let's meet uh early next week at a time and I have to spend this with you, Gunnlaug and Stein and uh I think Ash uh aren't very thankful to be useful to you.
and then be ready to meet with me.
Now the purpose of it really is to sort of go a little further and discuss this.
And there's this sort of help that's very negative, very negative about the confidence in our economic policies and anything possible about that inflation.
just because of inflation and a lot of cheddar on the city.
Hard thing to figure, isn't it?
Hard thing to figure.
Yeah.
Right, right.
You think some of this, you're all, yeah.
Now, in your views in the present time, as I said first, that despite the fact that I pray for a lot of other people to reflect this as well as the politicians, that even if all that excitement is sort of changed in mind now, is that right?
Yeah.
Yeah.
He said yes.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Now, there's that dilemma there.
There's a lot of other things.
But the point is that there may be a reason for it.
You know, very strong political reasons to it.
which overrides, and when I say political, I'm not referring to partisan, but it's a move called, quote, conscience, and quote, reason, to maybe do something, and then take the downside that is involved in oil and gas and a lot of other things that are being raised up with, or even in a setting or, you know, in a couple of places.
I don't, you know what I mean?
Those are things, but if you put them on, we're going to work on that.
Let's see if we, what we can do.
Tom, I know you've all been thinking about it, but the consensus at the moment, what is his view apart from the fact of getting off the interest panel?
About whether or not this freaks.
The purpose of this call is not to tell you, develop a free program.
The purpose of this call is to indicate that I want you to weigh in to a meeting, the back of the line of confidence and so forth and so on, on the economic side, and the question as to whether, under those circumstances, even though we have grave misgivings in some areas, we crack it or not.
Now, 30 days won't do it.
Well, you know, I mean, I think that looks like a tip, and it's going to work.
And I know that, frankly, when I look at some of the things, you know, the way the economy is moving, it's cool in the areas that we want, the settlements and labor that you referred to, other things George could caution, just one of those things where I feel like the explosion is over, and now we're just having a lot of flow down the Nantucket, not about any
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Well, I'm not second-guessing your economics, you understand, or our economics.
So they're basically ours.
But it really gets down to this question.
I just want to be sure we've looked at it all, and then the police starts deciding whether we'll cover it or not.
Do you understand?
Because if it's just going to be a loser, George, I'm not going to do it.
I'm not going to do it.
And your present feeling is it's going to be a loser.
No, he didn't.
We didn't get much into that.
No, no, no, no.
He and John are just sort of, sort of crashing around in terms of, well, he got this, well, he got this, some, some, some, well, he got this, some, some, you know what I mean?
So, but, you know what I mean?
So, but, you know what I mean?
So, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but,
Rejoice in that.
No, no, no, no.
We have heard all of this.
Rejoice in that.
No, no, no, no.
Rejoice in that.
No, no, no, no.
We have heard all of this.
This is for every man and woman.
This is for every man and woman.
Mr. Sartre.
Mr. Sartre.
Yeah.
You see, uh, this does not prove that weed does not demonstrate disabundance.
We're not going to weed does not demonstrate disabundance.
We're not going to demonstrate the fall of the pole sounds wrong.
Disabundance.
We're not going to fall of the pole sounds the wrong road.
Fall of the pole sounds the wrong road.
I'm a lady.
We're not in the middle of Georgia.
We're not in the middle of Georgia.
I'm a lady.
We're not in the middle of Georgia.
If we determine that we can do something with
Okay.
NARA Description
On May 17, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon, George P. Shultz, and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House from 9:58 am to 10:05 am. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 921-006 of the White House Tapes.
Nixon Library Finding Aid
Conversation No. 921-6
Date: May 17, 1973
Time: 9:58 am - 10:05 am
-15-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Location: Oval Office
The President talked with George P. Shultz.
[See Conversation No. 46-90]
An unknown person entered at an unknown time.
Delivery [?]
The unknown person left at an unknown time before 10:05 am.Also recorded on May 17, 1973
- 921-002 8:40 AM · 10 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 8:40 am and 8:44 am.
- 921-003 8:44 AM · 1 hr 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and J. Fred Buzhardt, Jr. met in the Oval Office of the White House from 8:44 am to 9:36 am.
- 046-089 9:36 AM · 11 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 9:36 am and 9:59 am.
- 921-004 9:36 AM · 8 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and White House operator met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 9:36 am and 9:58 am.
- 921-005 9:36 AM · 11 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 9:36 am and 9:58 am.
- 046-090 9:58 AM · 8 min — President Richard M. Nixon and George P. Shultz talked on the telephone from 9:58 am to 10:05 am.
- 921-007 10:05 AM · 20 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 10:05 am and 10:31 am.
- 921-008 10:31 AM · 58 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Ronald L. Ziegler, Alexander M. Haig, Jr., and J. Fred Buzhardt, Jr. met in the Oval Office of the White House from 10:31 am to 11:30 am.
Cite this conversation
Conversation 921-006, May 17, 1973. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/921-006 (accessed October 12, 2026).