Truman Needn't End Controls, They'll Slowly Wither Away
By J. A. Livingston 'T'HE announcement by Defense Mobilizer Henry H. Fowler that A basic wage, price, and materials controls are to be continued is reassuring. The mysteryÛÓthe puzzleÛÓis why the Truman Administration had seemed so anxious to get rid of the machinery to stop inflation</br></br>Controls are a last' resortÛÓ either to prevent prices from going up or to see that manufacturers o f military supplies get. needed supplies of steel, aluminum, cooper, and other scarce materials. ItÛªs hard to put them on. But once controls are on, itÛªs foolish to take them off too soon. Û¢</br></br>The decision to get rid of controls ought to dictateÛÓrecommendÛÓitself. Only the other day the Office of Price Administration did away with price ceilings on menÛªs clothing. Why? Because men wereÛªnt exactly breaking one anotherÛªs legs in a mad rush to buy suits and overcoats. Prices were below ceiling. That signaled the super i fluity of control. Û÷	\</br></br>Just the week before, womenÛªs dresses were decontrolled. Again, the decision was self-dictated. Competition to dress the ladies had reached the price cutting stage. So goes the his tory of decontrol. As inflation subsides, OPS -atrophies. Thus, ceilings on hides, fats and oils, most textiles, leather, shoes have been dropped.</br></br>To wipe out all ceilingsÛÓto declare price control uneces saryÛÓinvolves a risk. The Administration would have to assume that inflation has no further chance, that the price trend from now on is level or declining. It would have to assume that Communist Russia would not throw another scare into the United States and force another rearmament boom.