Word: lumbers
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Apparently satisfied that he had disposed of part of his price problem, the President took a more activist line on the cost of nonfood commodities, which have begun to rise at a worrisome rate. Wholesale prices of industrial commodities, such as copper, lead, zinc and lumber, jumped 1% last month. In this case, buyer power is definitely not the solution: the increases have occurred largely because manufacturers are scrambling to purchase materials to take care of expected increases in production. So Nixon announced that, to help keep prices down, the Government will sell off some of the $6.5 billion worth...
Everything about Nixon's new term is still fresh. They have not even finished knocking down the Inaugural stands and putting that used lumber "on which the President has trod" up for sale at the usual exorbitant prices. But despite all that sense of new beginning, there is something else that one feels in this city. It is a little like some of the ground mist that drifts up from Foggy Bottom on these rainy mornings. It seeps into your very bones, and you are not quite sure how to define it, but you are sure it is there...
...Test. A crucial proving ground for Phase III will be the lumber industry, which has lately been buzz-sawed into chaos by rising demand and falling supplies. Industry leaders complain that they have been prevented from keeping up with demand because, among other things, too many firms had hit their Phase II ceilings on profit margins and thus could not legally enjoy the higher profit rates that frequently come with expanded sales. Phase III regulations provide for price increases "necessary for efficient allocation of resources" but say nothing about letting companies increase their profit margins by using the same excuse...
Even Nixon's economic critics would support some paring of controls. Arthur Okun, for example, proposes exempting any products that are in short supply, such as lumber and steel scrap, because controls on such items only lead to secret sales at illegally high prices. Liberal economists also go along with the Administration's argument that farm-price controls would be unworkable, even though something must be done about food prices, which rose 15% at the farm level last year. The consensus among economists is that the U.S. must overhaul its farm policies by increasing acreage allotments, reducing price...
...travel in order to come up to the national level. Unemployment in the Seattle area has fallen from a peak of 15% in May 1971 to 8.8%. Boeing has added 7,000 workers to its local payroll in the past year, and more jobs are opening up in the lumber, machinery and electronics industries. The California jobless rate has declined from 7% a year ago to just under 6% now-still well above the national average. Personal income, however, is rising a bit more in California than nationally...