Word: bert
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...reason: the shift by Federal Reserve Board Chairman Arthur Burns to a tighter monetary policy. Burns fears that an overly rapid expansion of the money supply might fuel inflation (TIME, June 6). His view was disputed last week by Budget Director Bert Lance, who complained that the Fed's stinginess has prompted major banks to raise lending rates for their best customers to 6.75%, up from 6.25%. Lance believes that the increases could worsen inflation and weaken the recovery by pricing loans out of many businessmen's reach...
...Bert Lance, the amiable Georgia banker and longtime friend of Jimmy Carter who is director of the White House's Office of Management and Budget, has become one of the new Administration's strongest advocates for conservative fiscal policies. But Lance's own financial position is far from conservative; he is, in fact, hip deep in debt. Says Dan Pattillo, one of Lance's banking and personal friends in Georgia: "I couldn't sleep nights if I had to service debts like Bert...
...same time, his income has been cut drastically since he took his Washington job. How he can meet the estimated $370,000 in interest payments on his various loans this year and maintain his lavish living style mystifies his friends. It may turn out, says Pattillo, that "Bert just can't afford to stay in Washington...
...President for some relief" -meaning a waiver of his pledge to sell the stock. Lance's trustee, Thomas Mitchell, says flatly: "I am not going to dispose of that stock at current market value come Dec. 31 or any other time. I'm not going to drop Bert a million dollars for going to Washington. He'll have to get another trustee to do that...
...least, Lance's financial position contrasts sharply with the balanced-budget goals Carter has set for his Administration. Says Lance's Georgia friend Presley: "There were some smiles down here when Bert was selected to run OMB. That's not the Bert we know. He'll have to change his philosophy...