Y 4.3223: C834/977 AMENDING THE COUNCIL ON WAGE AND 95-1 HEARING BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON BANKING, HOUSING, AND URBAN AFFAIRS NINETY-FIFTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION ON S. 1542 TO AMEND THE COUNCIL ON WAGE AND PRICE COMMITTEE ON BANKING, HOUSING, AND URBAN AFFAIRS WILLIAM PROXMIRE, Wisconsin, Chairman JOHN SPARKMAN, Alabama HARRISON A. WILLIAMS, JR., New Jersey THOMAS J. MCINTYRE, New Hampshire EDWARD W. BROOKE, Massachusetts H. JOHN HEINZ III, Pennsylvania KENNETH A. MCLEAN, Staff Director (II) CONTENTS Page 85 Albert Rees, director, industrial relations section and professor of eco- Hendrik S. Houthakker, professor of economics, Harvard University. Barry Bosworth, Director-designate, Council on Wage and Price Stability and currently senior fellow, The Brookings Institution; accompanied by Robert Crandall, Acting Director, COWPS.. Andrew J. Biemiller, director, department of legislation, AFL-CIO, ac- companied by Dr. Rudolph Oswald, director, department of research_. Louis G. Peloubet, controller, Union Carbide Corp., representing the Busi- Charles L. Schultze, Chairman, Council of Economic Advisers, accompanied by Robert Crandall, Acting Director, Council on Wage and Price Comments of the AFL-CIO on the proposed OSHA standard on cotton Accomplishments of the Office of Wage and Price Monitoring. Letter from Mr. Bosworth to Senator Proxmire enclosing proposed amend- Article from the Wall Street Journal titled "The Battle Against Inflation"_ AMENDING THE COUNCIL ON WAGE AND PRICE STABILITY ACT TUESDAY, JULY 19, 1977 U.S. SENATE, COMMITTEE ON BANKING, HOUSING AND URBAN AFFAIRS, Washington, D.C. The committee met at 10 a.m., in room 5302, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Senator William Proxmire, chairman of the committee, presiding. Present: Senators Proxmire, Sarbanes, and Lugar. The CHAIRMAN. I'm going to ask two of your colleagues to come forward so we can have a panel consisting of you, Mr. Bosworth, Dr. Albert Rees, who's director of industrial relations section and professor of economics, Princeton University, and has had great experience and a fine record as you know as head of the Council; and the distinguished Hendrik Houthakker, professor of economics at Harvard University, former member of the Council of Economic Advisors. Mr. BOSWORTH. Would it be all right if Bob Crandall, who serves as Acting Director, joins me at the table? The CHAIRMAN. Fine. All right. Supposing we start off with Dr. Rees. You might give us your statement and then Professor Houthakker, and then Professor Bosworth. Before you do that, I have an opening statement I'd like to make. OPENING STATEMENT OF CHAIRMAN PROXMIRE The CHAIRMAN. Today's hearing is on the subject of S. 1542, an administration bill which I introduced. Its purpose is to amend the Council on Wage and Price Stability Act so as to extend the life of the Council to September 30, 1979, to provide for a moderate increase. in the Council's authorized expenditures, and to clarify some of the Council's powers. Last Friday President Carter announced a major reorganization of the White House and executive office of the President of which the Council on Wage and Price Stability is part. The Council is to be retained, but as I understand it, the new plan does not call for a moderate increase in authorized expenditures as does S. 1542, some of the work that the Council had done will be shifted elsewhere, and the Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors will replace the Secretary of the Treasury as Chairman of the Council on Wage and Price Stability. Chairman Schultze and Director-designate Barry Bosworth will both be here today so that the committee may understand what (1) |