Each of these shortcomings is also an opportunity-an opportunity for the Congress and the President to work for the good of the people.
Our first great opportunity is to protect our economy against the evils of "boom and bust."
This objective cannot be attained by government alone. Indeed, the greater part of the task must be performed by individual efforts under our system of free enterprise. We can keep our present prosperity, and increase it, only if free enterprise and free government work together to that end.
We cannot afford to float along ceaselessly on a postwar boom until it collapses. It is not enough merely to prepare to weather a recession if it comes. Instead, government and business must work together constantly to achieve more and more jobs and more and more production--which mean more and more prosperity for all the people.
The business cycle is man-made; and men of good will, working together, can smooth it out.
So far as business is concerned, it should plan for steady, vigorous expansion--seeking always to increase its output, lower its prices, and avoid the vices of monopoly and restriction. So long as business does this, it will be contributing to continued prosperity, and it will have the help and encouragement of the Government.
The Employment Act of 1946 pledges the Government to use all its resources to promote maximum employment, production, and purchasing power. This means that the Government is firmly committed to protect business and the people against the dangers of recession and against the evils of inflation. This means that the Government must adapt its plans and policies to meet changing circumstances.
At the present time, our prosperity is threatened by inflationary pressures at a number of critical points in our economy. And the Government must be in a position to take effective action at these danger spots. To that end, I recommend that the Congress enact legislation for the following purposes:
First, to continue the power to control consumer credit and enlarge the power to control bank credit.
Second, to grant authority to regulate speculation on the commodity exchanges.