Word: humphrey
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Dates: during 1950-1959
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Secretary of the Treasury Humphrey and the Federal Reserve Board had to move swiftly because, in an economy freed of direct controls, the burden of curbing inflation fell upon indirect fiscal controls, chiefly the restriction of credit. Though Eisenhower's moneymen have moved with seeming sureness, even they know that they are sailing, uncharted fiscal waters. For the first time, the U.S. is trying a great experiment: control of the ups and downs of a semi-war economy by fiscal and credit means alone...
Secretary Humphrey, who feels that inflation is still a danger, wants to work credit fat off the economy in a full-employment period when it will not be missed. Then, if a recession threatens, the Treasury and the FRB will be able to loosen up on credit and avert, or at least ease, it. Without such a tightening now, the weapon of credit would be useless and the nation would have foolishly thrown away one of its best weapons to fight a recession...
Last week Humphrey temporarily abandoned his hope of floating new longer-term issues. For $4.9 billion worth of refinancing required for June, he resorted to one-year certificates. But he did not abandon his policy of higher interest. The certificates were offered at 2 5/8%, the highest short-term Treasury rate in 20 years...
...since Prohibition has there been a U.S. law so widely condemned as the excess profits tax, which will die on June 30 unless Congress, heeding the President's appeal last week (see NATIONAL AFFAIRS), extends it. Nobody hates the tax more than Treasury Secretary George Humphrey. "Its worst enemy can very well voice our feelings about it," says he. "It's a bad tax." But he and President Eisenhower feel that the U.S. needs the $800 million that an extra six months of excess profits taxes would yield. Thus, Congress itself must decide whether expediency shall outweigh...
...Administration's decision to ask EPT's extension is based simply on the belief that Congress would not pass alternative measures-such as a small, temporary boost in the regular corporate-income-tax rate-to yield an equivalent revenue. Though Secretary Humphrey predicts that the tax will be extended, there is a good possibility that Congress may kill it, since it can do so by simply doing nothing. If EPT does die, it will hardly be a national tragedy. And the $800 million predicted yield for a six-month extension may be made up by increased collections...