Masonry Magazine August 1972 Page. 27
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WAGE-PRICE CONTROLS AREN'T GOING TO BE
WAGE-PRICE CONTROLS AREN'T GOING TO BE SCRAPPED at any early date. Indeed, the recent trend has been to tighter controls, not toward easing. Price ceilings have been extended to previously exempt agricultural items. The restraints clamped on profit margins were also a major tightening move. Small lumber firms, freed from controls earlier, have been included again.
Many economists believe that present curbs could be kept on indefinitely that present authority must be extended beyond the April expiration. They don't feel inflation has been licked, despite the recent slower rise in consumer prices.
ECONOMISTS STILL SEE TROUBLE AHEAD in reaching and holding stability in prices. For one thing, Federal spending is out of control or close to it. The $27 billion deficit officially set for 1973 is unrealistically low. Many would add at least $5 billion or as much as $10 billion to the red ink. This is bound to add fuel to the fires of inflation that are not yet banked.
Then, too, the pace of the business expansion is accelerating smartly now. Some economists foresee an economic boom next year the type that could mean a return to the wage-price spiral that caused such damage before controls were imposed.
What's more, collective bargaining agreements covering large numbers of workers will be reopened in major industries. The negotiations will take place in a climate of improving labor markets and against the backdrop of a substantial increase in consumer prices over the past several years. It's hard to see how any President could dismantle the controls anytime soon.
THE PRICE COMMISSION IS USING A NEW
THE PRICE COMMISSION IS USING A NEW TECHNIQUE TO BLUNT price boosts, a tool designed to prevent inflationary hikes in major industrial sectors. In cases where increases threaten to lift the price indexes more than 0.1%, the Commission plans to suspend its regular rules and invoke stricter ones. Some companies may be forced to absorb increases in costs under this plan, rather than being allowed to pass them along on a dollar-for-dollar basis. The new test will be applied with increasing frequency where prices climb.
The new enforcement guide has already been used to slow shoe prices. And the test may soon trigger stiffer action in such industries as lumber, textiles, and petroleum products where prices have increased sharply in recent months. The price controllers emphasize that the test gives them new flexability for holding down prices, including the use of price ceilings.
BEWARE OF IMPOSTERS POSING AS INSPEC-
BEWARE OF IMPOSTERS POSING AS INSPECTORS of health and safety laws. The Labor Department found two cases of bogus inspectors victimizing firms.
masonry
• August, 1972
One was an industrial spy seeking confidential information for a competitor. Another attempted extortion of money in exchange for not issuing a citation. Now Labor is making it much tougher for the con men to pose as inspectors. One method in the works is a new set of foolproof credentials for checkers.
The department offers this advice for employers:
* Check the safety inspector's credentials very carefully.
* Call the local Labor Department office on any suspicion.
* Know the law thoroughly especially your legal rights.
LEGISLATION TO REGULATE CARS FROM AS-
LEGISLATION TO REGULATE CARS FROM ASSEMBLY LINE to junkyard is coming. A bill is being drafted in Congress to over-see used cars and their repair-just as several Federal laws currently regulate new-auto repair and safety. The proposal calls for licensing of all auto mechanics and all repair shops. It is aimed at getting the states to establish a uniform inspection system.
No action is expected on the legislation this year. But it may be introduced before the year is out and become a starting point for further action by Congress next year.
THE FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION IS FORC-
THE FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION IS FORCING ADVERTISERS to back up claims. A challenged advertiser must supply clinical tests, library-type knowledge, and, in some cases just plain common sense, to support his product's claims. The Commission has now shifted the burden of evidence away from consumers. In effect, it has relieved itself of proving false advertising in each case.
Firms are on notice that they must have the facts before making claims. What is enough proof will be set by FTC and the courts.
THE ECONOMIC CHANGES GEORGE MCGOV-
THE ECONOMIC CHANGES GEORGE MCGOVERN WOULD MAKE, if he should win the election, would be nothing short of revolutionary. Of course, he has to make it in November before he could begin to implement his basic ideas. And the odds-makers say his chances don't look very good at this point. But he has already forced President Nixon to commit himself to some changes.
Economists in government and industry find it's difficult to predict the precise impact of McGovern's ideas on economic growth, jobs, and investment. One reason: he is readying modifications of earlier plans for the general economy. His early economic proposals shook business and the public.