Conversation No. 268-006/269-001
Date: August 2, 1971
Time: 7:30 pm - unknown before 9:50 pm
Location: Executive Office Building
The President met with George P. Shultz, John B. Connally, and Manolo Sanchez.
Refreshment
Sanchez left at an unknown time before 9:50 pm.
Railroad strike
-Newspaper story
-Television coverage
-Union
Economy
-Decision on US action
-Timing
-Possible leak
-Possible statement by Connally and Shultz
-Possible monetary crisis
-Speculation
Page | 34
White House Tapes of the Nixon Administration, 1971-1973
Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, NARA Online Public Access Catalog Identifier: 597542
-London Times story
-Effect on dollar
-US tourists abroad
-US retail sales
-Balance of trade
-Retail sales
-Steel
-Money supply
-Growth
-Inflation
-Retail sales
-Wall Street Journal
-Construction contracts
-Automobile production
-Corporate profits
-International trade
-Balance of payments
-Figures
-Business expansion
-Interest rates
-Inflation
-Liquidity
-Gold
-Psychology
-Timing
-Consultation
-Arthur F. Burns
-Bryce N. Harlow
-Louie (sp?) [Surname unknown]
-Charlie Koontz (sp?)
-Alexander M. Haig, Jr.
-Burns [?]
-Timing
-Congressional session
-Stock market
-Proposed action
-Automobile excise tax
-Impact
-Oil industry
Page | 35
White House Tapes of the Nixon Administration, 1971-1973
Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, NARA Online Public Access Catalog Identifier: 597542
-Inflation
-Consumers
-Investment tax credit
-Impact
-Congress
-Excise tax
-Personal exemptions
-Consumers
-Rebate
-Import tax
-Currency flotation
-Political appeal
-Consumer
-Quotas
-General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade [GATT]
-Wage and price freeze
-Flexibility
-Congress
-Duration
-Inflation
-Gross National Product [GNP]
-Proposed international market action
-Buying and selling gold
-International Monetary Fund [IMF]
-Revaluation of gold
-Exchange rates
-Closing gold window
-Milton Friedman
-Fixed exchange rates
-Currency price adjustments
-Comparative advantage
-Balance of trade
-Fixed exchange rates
-Burns’ views
-Fixed exchange rates
-Dollar
-Overvaluation
-Devaluation
-International effect
Page | 36
White House Tapes of the Nixon Administration, 1971-1973
Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, NARA Online Public Access Catalog Identifier: 597542
-Transactions
-Inflation
-Foreign policy
-Revaluation of gold
-International effect
-Speculation
-Crisis
-Dollar
-Floating versus fixed exchange rates
-Inflation
-Possible negotiations
-International Monetary Fund [IMF]
-One percent variation
-Possible change
-Domestic action
-Wage and price freeze
-Steel strike
-Compared to wage and price controls
-Administration
-Duration
-Devaluation
-Import tax
-Market discipline
-Inflation
-Administration
-Consumer reaction
-Automobile industry
-General Motors [GM]
-Shultz's anecdote about wife
-Press
-Consumer goods
-Duration
-Price system
-Resource distribution
-Interference
-Richmond, Virginia
-Review board
-Timing
-Budget effect
Page | 37
White House Tapes of the Nixon Administration, 1971-1973
Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, NARA Online Public Access Catalog Identifier: 597542
-Government wages
-House Resolution [HR] 1
-Revenue-sharing
-Investment tax credit
-Timing
-Government wages
[Comment on telephone ringing]
Economy
-Proposed actions
-Impact on budget
-HR 1
-Timing
-Future fiscal years
-Welfare
-Revenue-sharing
-Environment
-Public works
-Water projects
-Defense expenditures
-Military Pay Bill
-Expansion
-Economy and employment
-Budget
-HR 1
-Foreign aid
**********************************************************************
[Previous archivists categorized this section as unintelligible. It has been rereviewed and
released 07/19/2019.]
[Unintelligible]
[268-006-w001]
[Duration: 1m 9s]
Economy
-Proposed actions
Page | 38
White House Tapes of the Nixon Administration, 1971-1973
Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, NARA Online Public Access Catalog Identifier: 597542
-Welfare
-Appropriations
-Military
-National debt
**********************************************************************
Economy
-Proposed actions
-Budget
-Foreign aid
-Congress
-Possible cut
-Foreign discipline
**********************************************************************
[Previous archivists categorized this section as unintelligible. It has been rereviewed and
released 07/19/2019.]
[Unintelligible]
[268-006-w002]
[Duration: 1m 6s]
Economy
-Proposed actions
-Executive privilege issue
-Purchasing power abroad
**********************************************************************
Economy
-Proposed actions
-Devaluation of the dollar
-Trade
-Gold window
-Exchange rates
Page | 39
White House Tapes of the Nixon Administration, 1971-1973
Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, NARA Online Public Access Catalog Identifier: 597542
-Trade
-Italy
-Wool
-Gold speculation
-Overvaluation
-Probable Japanese and European reaction
-International monetary crisis
-Inflation
-Interest rates
-Closing gold window
-Possible media reaction
-Need for action
-Anecdote
-National psychology
-Foreign relations
-Possible international monetary crisis
-Relationship to gold window closing
-US assets
-Change in price of gold
-Buying and selling gold
-Possible letter to IMF
-Exchange rates
-Possible reaction
-Japan, Great Britain, France
-Yen
-Devaluation compared with floating the dollar
-Unilateral action
-Change in price of gold
-Negotiations
-France
-Relationship of dollar to gold
-Bargaining lever
-Impact on future action
-Gold standard
-Possibility of US return
-US gold holdings
-IMF
-Secondary currency
-Special Drawing Rights [SDR]
Page | 40
White House Tapes of the Nixon Administration, 1971-1973
Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, NARA Online Public Access Catalog Identifier: 597542
-US gold holdings
-Possible reaction
-Germany, Japan
-Economists’ views
-Wage and price freeze
-Possible public reaction
-Benefits
-Counteraction to inflation
-Import tax
-Stabilization
-Psychological impact on country
-Considerations
-Standard of living
-Productivity
-Time for reflection
-Possible public reaction
-Uncertainty
-Investment tax credit
-Import tax
-Gold
-Currency devaluation
-Value of dollar
-Consumers
-Investment tax credit
-Excise tax
-Automobiles
-Imports
-Economic expansion
-International market situation
-Dollars overseas
-Inflation
-Exchange rate
-Flexibility
-Wage and price freeze
-Review board
-Bureaucracy
-Impact on industries
-Toilet paper industry
-Administrative problems
Page | 41
White House Tapes of the Nixon Administration, 1971-1973
Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, NARA Online Public Access Catalog Identifier: 597542
-Wage and price controls
-Burns
-Inflation
-Susceptibility
-Agriculture
-Steel
-Automobiles
-Investment tax credit
-Fiscal restraint
-Advantages
-President’s action on inflation
-Control of wage costs
-Steel strike
-Wage increase
-Psychological effect
-Need for change
-Duration
Administration goals
-Ending Vietnam War
-Troop withdrawal
-Employment
-Economy
-Foreign relations
-Relations with People's Republic of China [PRC]
-Foreign aid and assistance
-Proposed action
-Gold conversion
-John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson administrations
-Imports
-Automobiles
-Foreign competition
-Shoes
-Incentives
-Investment tax credit
-Standard of living
-Public reaction
-Gold prices
-Wage and price freeze
Page | 42
White House Tapes of the Nixon Administration, 1971-1973
Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, NARA Online Public Access Catalog Identifier: 597542
-Psychology of public
-Service orientation of economy
-Possible conditions
-Foreign goods
-Honda
-Employment
-Automobile industry
-Need for productivity
-Gross National Product [GNP]
-Goods and services
-Foods
-Space program
-Foreign competition
-Role of Government
-Research and Development [R&D]
-Production
-Cheap labor, low standards of living
-US workforce
-Advantages
Shultz's schedule
-Press conference
Busing
-Appeal
-Health, Education, and Welfare [HEW] plan
-[Unintelligible]
-Shultz's trip to Louisiana
-Unknown meeting
-Blacks
The recording was cut off at an unknown time before 9:50 pm.
Page | 43