Word: oecd
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...flung enterprises. To Americans, who are more familiar than most with the concepts behind antitrust law and the idea of corporate disclosure, parts of the code may seem elementary or oddly archaic. Yet in many areas of the world these concepts are little known. Hence, in a sense, the OECD code is an attempt to curb some of the abuses of the multinationals by encouraging the adoption of modern notions of proper business behavior in the less developed world, where most of the multinationals' alleged offenses take place...
POLITICS: Hands Off. As the recent Gulf, Lockheed and United Brands cases have sadly demonstrated, a few multinationals have used their economic power to influence politicians in a number of countries. The OECD enjoins all multinationals not to meddle in the political processes of the countries in which they operate: no bribes are permissible under any conditions, no donations to political parties are proper unless national law allows them...
...flickering signs of revival in most nations except for the U.S. and, to a lesser extent, Japan. Economists generally do not expect any real upturn in European business until mid-1976-and they worry that even then the recovery may be so weak that, in the words of OECD Secretary-General Emile van Lennep, "it would not gather momentum and might peter out." One reason: the recession has pushed the volume of world trade 10% below the 1974 level, the first decline since World War II. The drop has a vicious-circle effect: as each country's economy sags...
...wild roller-coaster course. First, in 1972, all the leading economies swung into a boom at the same time-a boom that, combined with poor harvests and price gouging later by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, aggravated global inflation. By early 1974, price increases in the OECD nations reached an unsustainable compound annual rate of 16.8%. Then, as one government after another moved to curb inflation by dampening demand, all the key economies rapidly tumbled into recession...
Some Doubt. Moreover, the OECD warns, in most countries outside of the U.S. the recovery will be so weak that "there must be some doubt whether it will prove self-sustaining." Inflation may settle at around 6% in the U.S. and West Germany, but elsewhere it will remain higher. In France it should level off at around 9% early next year, in Italy 12.5%, in Japan 8.5%, and in Canada 8%. If Harold Wilson succeeds in curbing the extravagant wage demands of his country's unions, Britain's rate could be reduced...