Irresistible Urge?

A basic argument rocked U.S. industry and Government last week. Should across-the-board price & wage controls be slapped on now?

There were plenty of good arguments against such regimentation of the economy:

P: War production had not yet created any civilian shortages--and would not for some time to come. P: The economy had expanded so rapidly since 1945 that the ratio of butter v. guns could be higher than during World War II--in fact, civilian production had to be higher to maintain full employment and keep the economy healthy. P: The so-called "indirect controls" on credit and construction have been effective in cutting back demand (see below).

P: There wasn't even a skeleton organization around to enforce full controls.* But by this week there was such a round of price and wage boosts that the urge to impose across-the-board controls --whether it made strict economic sense or not--had become almost irresistible.

*World War II's OPA, at its height, had some 60,000 permanent employees and 200,000 volunteers.

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