then I say that is not acceptable to me. If the market forces are not
going to do the job, then I am not going to rely on the good graces
and beneficence of private entrepreneurs or labor leaders, no mat-
ter how big they are, to look after my best interests.
I would say, let us be honest about it, and instead of having
something called state capitalism we may as well just take the thing
over and run it in the public interest and call it what it is, namely,
socialism. And 1 say that without any pejorative connotation of the
word—merely to express a simple reality. If, in fact, Grumman
Aircraft Corporation or Pan American World Airways cannot
hack it in a competitive world, then I say fine. Do not bail them
out. If we need them, make them what we make other segments
that we need that cannot work in a competitive marketplace. Make
them part of the United States government and give the taxpayers
a voice. At least make the costs explicit.
There is the matter, too, of trade policy. Unfortunately, the
present economic situation is bringing out the worst in us. In an
environment of floating exchange rates, which I find to be at least
acceptable in a free market sense, we are now looking at a revival
of mercantilism. Under mercantilism, countries pursue beggar-
thy-neighbor policies to raise exports and cut back on imports. We
find ourselves, instead of looking for relief for the American con-
sumer in the form of lower priced imports, talking now about im-
posing higher taxes and higher quotas and higher trade barriers.
And other countries are doing likewise.
The prospect of competitive devaluations in the face of inflation
worldwide is a prospect that should keep each of us concerned,
because that prospect carries with it the danger of a substantial
worldwide decline in economic activity such as took place in ear-
lier times.
Our own government, in terms of its regulatory agencies and
policies, has also contributed very substantially to the present
inflation. And there is something that can be done at the stroke of
the President’s pen, urging a substantial and comprehensive ex-
amination of regulatory agencies and their policies to see whether
they are consistent with competitive markets and price and cost
relief in the American economy. There is no reason whatsoever for
a common carrier that operates under the regulations of the Inter-
state Commerce Commission to take one load from New York to
Los Angeles and be forced to drive that rig back empty as a condi-
tion of a certificate of public convenience and necessity. It makes
no sense in terms of economic reality. It certainly makes no sense
in terms of an energy crisis.
11