The Challenge

Does U.S. industry know a way to curb inflation? Last week, General Electric's Charles E. Wilson, who often speaks for a large segment of American industry, laid down a rudimentary sketch of such a plan.

Industry, said Charles Wilson, has now benefited from the technological gains of the war. It is in a position where "it normally could begin to roll back prices." Then why doesn't it? There are several reasons, as G.E.'s president sees it. For one, industry has to know what the Government policy will be on price control. More important, it must know what union labor intends to do.

What Industrialist Wilson wanted to hear was a guarantee from unions that they would not ask for a third round of wage increases next year. If such a guarantee was given, he said, then industry could afford to roll back prices next year.

The U.A.W.'s redheaded Walter Reuther spoke up. Organized labor, said he, would gladly trade another round of wage increases for lower prices. But "up to now, neither industry nor Congress has seen fit to take the initiative."

Would labor stick by such words if industry did what it could to roll back prices? No one could know for sure until the step was taken. Nor was there any certainty that industry alone--without the help of the farmers--could roll back prices much. But now that Wilson had told of his plan, it looked as if it was up to U.S. industry to tell what it would do.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.