Word: prices
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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...dealing with the reality of inflation and the possibility of recession, Nixon so far has shown a deep reluctance to intervene in the private economy. He has rejected price guidelines, personal pressures on business and labor leaders, and outright controls. His policy coincides with Friedman's fundamental ideology?a strong aversion to Government interference?and places great emphasis on lower federal spending, as well as the monetary measures that Friedman has illuminated and popularized. Manipulation of the money supply operates indirectly on the economy, but its impact is ultimately massive and touches the lives and fortunes of nearly everyone...
INFLATION. Friedman challenges the popular theory that full employment and price stability are incompatible. "The belief, like most of those propositions that get widely accepted, is a half-truth," he argues. The two goals conflict over brief periods when an economy is shifting from one rate of inflation to another, he concedes. But over any period of five, ten or 20 years, says Friedman, fast economic growth and full employment can be meshed with stable prices...
That reassuring thesis may be difficult for some inflation fighters to accept, because 1969 has been such a frustrating year. Repeatedly, Administration leaders have announced that, as Nixon said on Oct. 17, "we are on the road to recovery from runaway prices." Paul McCracken's original year-end deadline for arresting the price trend faded quietly into oblivion. "We underestimated the inflationary expectations," says Under Secretary of the Treasury Charls Walker. "They were deeply ingrained. We didn't expect that it would be so tough...
Businessmen are still borrowing expansively and betting on continued inflation. They figure that demand will remain high, and so they had better build plants and buy equipment now instead of waiting until prices go up still further. Despite dwindling profits, scarce credit and excess capacity, the Government's latest survey shows that businessmen plan an 11% increase to $71 billion in their investment for plant and equipment next year. Capital spending has been an important force behind inflation in recent months, and such an increase would add greatly to price pressures...
Economists tend to agree on the business profile for 1970: a rise in jobless ranks to 4¼% or 4½% of the labor force; 4% price inflation, probably tapering off toward year's end; sluggish 2% real growth in the over-all economy, which will expand from $933 billion to $985 billion or $990 billion. A few sectors of business anticipate substantial difficulties. Auto manufacturers (except Ford) have already curtailed production a bit, and some retail merchants figure that they will have to hustle to maintain their sales volume. "The consumer is beginning to stiffen up," says Ralph Lazarus, chairman...