OCR Text |
Show THE VOId OF BUSINESS Fighting DrBv!a;i0n fliridx or tfresaf sty l$ Kicliard I.. Lcslicr. Prcsiclciil IuiiiiIht of Commerce of llic I iiiled Stales How lucky we are that Halloween comes just once a year. Not that this night of trickery with its witches on broomsticks, candles in carved-out pumpkins and disguised mischief-maker's mischief-maker's is not filled with fun. It's just that some of the mischief can go a bit too far, and sometimes all that candy becomes too tempting. ..and can lead fo big pains in little stomachs. Recently these same concerns have begun to haunt me in a new way. I find myself wondering and worrying that while the night of Halloween is mostly make-believe, its spirit of trickery, deception and disguise seems to linger and grow stronger all the time. Certainly Certain-ly there will always be a few who seek to take advantage. That's human nature. And, at least in the business world, these shady practices can be minimized. The disciplines of competition, competi-tion, consumer pressure and what many feel are the excessive number of regulations covering truth in advertising, advertis-ing, product labeling and accountability accountabili-ty all play a part. But what about government? Aside from elections, Are there really any restraints on its ability to make mischief and disguise its failures? Well, let's take a closer look. The message around Washington these days is clear: A member of the Administration must either support the team or clear out. No exceptions. Why this sudden new emphasis on unity and discipline? Might it have something to do with a mischievous little problem called inflation, indeed with a near tripling of the Consumer Price Index in less than three years? The trick here is to turn the public's mind away from that ghastly statistic and get it to concentrate con-centrate on the President's counterarguments. counter-arguments. Basically, he makes two points: Everything that has made inflation worse is someone else's fault. preferably OPEC's (the nro of Petroleum Expor Z ? and, the AdministrationLr1 tion with inflation is to SSI Blaming OPEC is easy enoy: ignore that the surges of have historically preceded followed the big mm in 7 We'U also have iffli-J many and Switzerland whil rom OPEC a much ' their energy needs than we 5 boast inflation rates much W our own. My, my, how curious Still, rather than quibble let's the reasons the President 'befe ow n inflation program has ben live. First, he says there has b very stringent effort to elemir warranted spending. Sounds' although federal spending has s by 36 percent in three years s panied by a money supply alsobj ing to dizzying heights. Minors no doubt. Second, there are fewer err now working in the federal ? ment. Oops! Careful Mr. there are more- 63,000 more.fci just an oversight. Third, the government is gev. nose out of private business and? lives. Now there you reassurec as it seems, I actually thought digit increases in the regulatory budgets, and the creation ol Its bureaucracies (the Depart; Energy and Department ol IL the latter will no doubt st;; policy with the helpot Uexec employees all earning in &-S50.0O0) &-S50.0O0) might create more e. and inflation. Fourth, the budget deficit hi cut by S36 billion. CongraL However, might you consider:, this one key point you always -omit: The deficit was cut double-digit inflation pushed ; Americans into higher lax 6:. causing them lo suffer then:, .creases last year in post-war : Just a suggestion. Filth, "...the price constra:. wage constraints that wehave: on a voluntary basis have beneficial results." 1 col's English confuses me here, .t dent. Do you mean those wfc trols your Administration!:: pose by encouraging s;: blacklisting and threats agats w ho do not properly eooperas' Anyone still doubting thePri determination can find peas from his most recent p&-w p&-w hatever it lakes to control -that's w hat I'll da." And dee" mean business! ltMi: preceding the recent election-virtually election-virtually every top Admin::" ficial flew to Florida and joa: on inflation by announce upon millions of dollars c grants. One Democratic fer ; exclaimed: "I've never i like it. We're getting c- ; highways, for housing. lor- - One more grant and thesu -' s under the weight of these fV Lets be serious, Mr-fW , w hat w e've seen of the we'll pass up the treats. k |