Continuing Intrigue Over Arthur Burns
Lagging hope's of business that Presi-ilont Carter might yet avert another wound to the economy wore heightened a little Nov. 14 when Rosalynn Carter lunched privately with Arthur Burns, chairman of the Federal Reserve Board.</br></br>Although her viewpoint is wrapped in mystery, nobody denies the First LadyÛªs status as a serious adviser to the President. Thus, advocates of Burns took hope that the Monday luncheon covered more than its announced subject of "voluntarism.'Ûª If she reported favorably to the President on Burns, it would break the present pattern that points to more Carter trouble with the economy.</br></br>That pattern: blanket opposition to reappointment of Burns as chairman of the Fed from the President's own advisers (except for Treasury Secretary W. Michael Blumonthal, who is ambigu-ousi; blanket insistence from outsiders in the business world that forcing Burns out Jan. lil is one piece of bad news not yet discounted by money markets.</br></br>Such news will be interpreted as proof that the administration is eyeing the inflationary course and does not want Arthur Burns around to blow his whistle. Reverberations at home and abroad are why even frequent critics of BurnsÛÓeconomists Eliot ,laneway and Pierre Rinfret, and economic pollster Albert SindlingerÛÓpublicly urged that he be retained.</br></br>This position has surprising support among congressional DemocratsÛÓsuch as Rep. Thomas Ludlow Ashley of Ohio, a rising figure in the House thanks to his gritty performance as chairman of the ad hoc energy committee. Ashley, highly regarded in the White House, this week privately urged the President to reappoint Burns.