Word: steeled
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1960-1969
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Anticipating a probe from the Administration, U.S. Steel's Chairman Roger Blough, veteran of the classic 1962 confrontation with President Kennedy over steel prices, turned wry in defense of his industry. Said Blough: "Washington can inflate the money supply with impunity, labor can raise wages far beyond gains in productivity, but hold steel prices down and everyone will be happy and rich-everyone, that is, except the steelmakers, of course...
Equal Scoldings. The Administration's first reaction to the steel price boost was to use it as further evidence of the need for a 10% surtax. Chief White House Economist Gardner Ackley gave equal scoldings to both labor and management, noting that the steel increase represented "another turn in the wage-price spiral." Speaking at a Washington meeting of the Business Council, President Johnson talked of responsibility: "We know that wage and price changes are inevitable-and desirable-in a free-enterprise system. But those changes must be restrained by a recognition of fundamental national interest in maintaining...
...Steel's move should not have come as a surprise. Steel producers have been increasing prices by bits and pieces throughout the year. Just before Labor Day, the Administration finally reacted when Republic Steel upped the price of steel bars by 1.8%. The industry ignored Government protestations. What is more, steelmen went to Washington in September, made it clear that further increases would follow...
...turnaround was coming. Now that orders are finally picking up, the steelmen claim that the increase in business is too little, too late, and based on artificial conditions rather than on an upsurge in the economy. They credit the rise to the fact that automakers and other major steel users are stockpiling with an eye towards next summer, when the United Steelworkers are threatening to strike. Another major cause of friction between the industry and Washington is the Administration's refusal to levy higher duties on imports of cheaper foreign steel, which now accounts...
When asked why U.S. companies continue to raise prices in the face of cheaper foreign imports, one steel executive threw up his hands: "They're already undercutting us by $20 to $40 a ton, so maybe we could better compete by going out of business...