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THE WHITE HOUSE WASHINGTON February 24, 1970 ACTION Secretary Shultz's Proposal for a Task Force on the Procedures of Monetary and Fiscal Policy MEMORANDUM FOR THE PRESIDENT I have attached a memorandum from Secretary Shultz (Tab A) in which he recommends the establishment of a Cabinet level Task Force on the Procedures of Monetary and Fiscal Policy. Secretary Shultz's recommendation deals with two problems which are related but not identical. The first is the problem of establishing priorities in federal decisions affecting the uses of the national output. The second is the problem of managing monetary-fiscal-wage-price policies to maintain reasonable economic stability. The link between them is that failure to make clear-cut - priorities decisions leaves us constantly facing excessive and unranked claims on the budget and the national output which either threaten inflation or require a degree of monetary restraint which no one wants. Comments on Secretary Shultz's proposal have been received from Dr. McCracken, Dr. Burns, Secretary Kennedy, Dr. Moynihan, Bryce Harlow, Peter Flanigan and Martin Anderson. Their general consensus is reflected in the recommendations which I have listed directly below. RECOMMENDATIONS 1. The establishment of priorities: this matter is already under study by a Subcommittee of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Policy. Recommend that we await the Subcommittee's report on March 15 before any further action is taken. Approve Disapprove See Me