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President Roosevelt announced that he would present a new fiscal program to Congress before the summer recess-- pointing out the danger of the "inflationary gap" and asking for new taxes. By week's end he had all his financial advisers working on the program: War Mobilize? James F. Byrnes, the Treasury, Budget Director Harold D. Smith, Economic Stabilizer (and oldtime taxpert) Fred M. Vinson.

This might be good news. The Administration's whcle wartime tax policy has been befogged. The President himself reflected some of his Administration's confusion last week: at one press conference he appeared to demand compulsory savings; at the next--presumably in deference to Treasury Secretary Henry Morgenthau, who had just repudiated them-- he took it all back. He also repeated his opposition to a general sales tax, the one big revenue producer which Congress might pass quickly.

Here & there a citizen winced last week at the prospect of higher taxes but, as one man, economists cheered.

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