Editing Jimmy

Confusing signals on Burns

We've never had any disagreements on those [economic] subjects." So said Jimmy Carter at a press conference two weeks ago about his relationship with Federal Reserve Chairman Arthur Burns. Added the President: "I don't think that I have any inclination to criticize the actions that have been taken by Mr. Burns."

That was quite a statement, considering that Carter's economic advisers have insisted for weeks that the Fed's emphasis on restraining inflation by reducing the growth in the money supply would unduly constrict the economy's expansion. Reporters turned to White House Press Secretary Jody Powell. Was the President correct in saying that he and Burns never disagreed? "That is wrong," said Powell. "There are differences." The Washington Post quoted Powell as stating that Carter's kind words for Burns were "overblown" and an "overreaction" to accounts of a policy feud between them.

Quite apart from the unusual step of a press secretary correcting his President, Powell's answer only further confused matters for anyone who has tried to decipher the White House's smoke signals on the economy. Last week Powell again tried. Powell said he had meant that the reaction by reporters to the President's statements about Burns was "overblown" and that it would be an "overreaction" to read into them any conclusion that the two have no differences. Moreover, declared Powell, when Carter said that he and Burns have "never had any disagreements" he meant only that they broadly agree on what the President had called the "inherent conflict" between the need to reduce both inflation and unemployment. Any more questions?

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