Word: okun
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...next year, economists see continuing inflation, though at a slower rate. Arthur Okun, former chief of the Council of Economic Advisers, summarizes the consensus: 1970 shapes up as what could be called a 2-4-6 year -meaning 2% real growth, plus 4% inflationary growth, which would add up to a 6% gain in the gross national product. Unemployment, which unexpectedly fell in November by a half-point, to 3.4%, is expected to rise to about 41%. By Okun's reckoning, corporate profits before taxes will decline 5% or 10%, but if Congress reduces taxes as expected...
...OKUN: Federal pay is a real scary area now, given the attitude in Congress and the pressures of the unions. Let us take another simple thing like fair trade. If we could repeal the fair-trade laws that allow some manufacturers to fix retail prices, that action alone could reduce the consumer price index by an estimated three-tenths of 1%. Then there are oil imports and the whole range of policies regarding agriculture, which have important price implications...
...OKUN: An Administration that will not ask business to toe the line certainly cannot make strong statements on wages. A chief executive of one of the electrical-equipment manufacturing firms told me last October: "If I have a number from the Government on what a reasonable wage increase is for 1969, I will do better in my settlement in October 1969. That number will give me something to stand on, something to bargain from at the table...
...around than the increased output of goods warranted. Naturally, prices went up faster than be fore. So far this year, the board has not increased the money supply at all, but its mistake of 1968 set back the campaign against inflation by about six months. With 20/20 hindsight, Arthur Okun, who was President Johnson's chief economist, concedes that "it has just been too easy to raise prices and wages. Nobody was scared of losing markets or jobs. Management knew that competitors would follow them rather than fight them. The villain of the piece was just too much demand...
...courage. When politicians were unwilling to raise taxes to slow inflation and narrow federal budget deficits, the board did the job by restricting money. Then Martin calmly absorbed the resulting criticism, most notably after the "credit crunch" of 1966. To blame the Federal Reserve for that, says Arthur Okun, who was Lyndon Johnson's chief economist, is "like scolding a driver who just avoided hitting a jaywalking child because he stopped short with four feet to spare...