Evening star., 1947-07-23

Of the nonpolitical economic ad-
visers appointed under the Fun
Employment Act be transmitted to
Congress unedited by the White
House politicians. Such a step would
be constructive and would add i'm
measurably to the respect With
which these reports would be re-
ceived in the future.
Thus, it is not customary Tor
economists to argue as this report
does that, after all, John Lewis
coal contract wasn't inflationary, or
that the President had a consider
able influence on the price situation,
or that removal of OPA controls
last year didn't result at the time IN
the increases of production that were
claimed.
Political Puff Seen.
All the reasoning OF a polltlcal
nature could well have been omitted
and the midyear report would never
theless have been valuable docu-
ment. If the Democratic National
Committee needs to have the report
written in a certain way, then the
public ought to be informed which
is political puff and which is the
analysis by the impartial economists.
Incidentally, these experts cannot
protest, because the document
doesn't purport to be their work but
merely the Presidents own economic
report. In his letter to Congress ne
mixes Up the political and the eco
nomic advice in this sentence:
In preparing this report 1 have
had the advice and the assistance OF
the Council of Economic Advisers,
members of the cabinet and the
heads of independent agencies"
Such an overall letter OF trans
initial makes it difficult for the
Council of Economic Advisers to OBJ
lect since nowhere in the letter isl
there any statement of what parts
came from the political cabinet and
what parts came from the economic
advisers.
There are in the Presidents edited
version Of the report several SEN
tences of a politically defensive ma
ture inserted obviously to answer
criticism or to defend action taken.
Incidentally, Mr.. Truman's po-
litical henchmen may find that one
paragraph in the report will boom
erang some day. Thus, the Presi-
dent is represented as saying:
Month by month there has been
talk of recession; month by month
recession has failed to materialize." :"
Carefully Chosen Words.
This gives the impression that
those who have been warning about a
correction of the economic situation
were wrong. Later on in the same
report, however, significant warnings
are given indicating that perhaps
the recession may come after all.
Thus the report adds in a subse-
quent paragraph:
I'VE must remember that full en-
-ployment at a high price level is
being sustained at present by the
reconversion demands of business
and the backlog demands of con-
sumers, by extensive savings and
credit, and by an extraordinary ex-
cess of exports over imports. These
are temporary props to our eco
nomic system. AS they weaken, we
shall need to make many basic re-
adjustments to complete the transi-
ton to a permanently stable and
maximum peacetime economy"
These are carefully chosen words
to conceal the fears of a recession,
in fact to camouf1age the virtual
certainty that there will be one
Economists should not mince words
and mislead the country by opti-
miSm in one paragraph and pro-
tective phrases in the next by say
ing the opposite.
Back in the summer of 1929 this
correspondent recalls how certain
influential persons were saying pub
licly that there would be no reces-
sion and how a courageous and nom
political body such as the Federal
Reserve Board told the American
people, beginning in April, 1929, the
unvarnished facts. Something of
the same courage is needed now, but
the White House apparently has got
itself into such a fix by refusing to
change the tax rates that when
recession does come 1t may be too
late to make the "basic readjust-
ments" which the administration
thinks it can apply overnight, pre-
Sumably, to cushion our economic
system against some severe joltS.
Reproduction Rights Reserved.)