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Remarks of the President upon his signing of the Economic Report [Ford Speech or Statement]
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7342308
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Remarks of the President upon his signing of the Economic Report [Ford Speech or Statement]
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White House Press Releases (Ford Administration)
Press Releases
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1976-01-26
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1976
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Digitized from Box 20 of the White House Press Releases at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
JANUARY 26, 1976
OFFICE OF THE WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY
THE WHITE HOUSE
REMARKS OF THE PRESIDENT
UPON HIS SIGNING
OF THE
ECONOMIC REPORT
THE CABINET ROOM
11:06 A.M. EST
Good morning.
Before signing the Economic Report of the President,
let me thank the members of the Council of Economic Advisers,
the Chairman Alan Greenspan, and Paul MacAvoy and Burton
Malkiel.
No document of this size and of this importance
was put together just by the three members of the Council.
It is the result of the effort and the talent, the ability
of the whole staff that worked under the Chairman and the two
members of the Council.
There is one person that I have learned who has
had a lot to do with some 30 of these reports by various
Presidents -- Frances James has been with the Council from
its inception in 1946. She is concluding -- I am not saying
she is leaving -- but concluding 42 years of very outstanding
service in the Federal Government and has had a very
significant impact in the preparation of 30 of these reports
by the President, and I congratulate her as well as the total
staff.
As we move into 1976, I think we have to take a
look back at 1975. It was a very tough year and a great
many Americans have deep concerns even today about unemployment
as well as inflation. However, the progress that we have
made in the latter months of 1975 should give us strong
hope and expectations that 1976 will be a far better year.
We have a steadily improving economy now and the
policies that we followed in 1975 and the policies that we.
are following today will improve the economic picture in
the months ahead.
I think we have to be realistic and look back at
1975 and know that this country went through the sharpest,
deepest recession since the end of World War II, but we
have made a great deal of progress.
MORE
Page 2
It is encouraging, certainly, that we have as of
December some 85 million-plus Americans working in our
economic system. Since March, which was the bottom of the
recession, we have added approximately 1-million-2 to
1-million-3 more gainfully employed and the prospects are that
we will continue this upward effort in employment and a
reduction in unemployment. The unemployment rate is far
too high but the trend is very encouraging.
If we look at the other concern of the American
people -- inflation -- we also have some very encouraging
results at the present time and the forecast is also
encouraging. I was looking at the comparison between
December of 1974 and December of 1975. The consumer price
index in that span of time went up 7 percent but in the
previous 12 months the increase was something over 12 percent.
The rate of inflation is still too high but it is a lot
better than it was 18 to 24 months ago.
The interesting thing is that there were a lot of
scare tactics during the early part of 1975. Some
speculation involved a financial crisis in the United States.
It never materialized. There was speculation to the effect
that foreign investment, trade and the like would also
collapse; it never took place. There was some speculation
about a dollar for a loaf of bread; it never took place.
There was speculation about a dollar a gallon of gasoline;
it never took place.
We came out of this very sharp recession in good
shape. We laid a foundation through good policies so that the
future should be encouraging to all Americans. The policies
involved a firm, steady, long-range plan for the reviving
of the American economy. The policies included cushions
to help those who were unemployed, those who were in difficulty
for economic reasons and those programs will be continued
as needed.
Lastly, we are seeking to remove and to eliminate
those Government policies and institutions that handicap
competition. As we look to 1976 I am very encouraged that
trends are all right, all moving in the right direction.
We are going to do better on unemployment. We are going
to do better in trying to control the rate of inflation.
So I want to thank Alan and his associates for
helping me decide some of these tough questions in the last
18 months. Those policies, I think, have been proven right
and we are going to continue a firm, steady rate of
progress in the months ahead.
So with those observations, I will sign a few
copies here.
Congratulations and my deep appreciation to all of
you. It is good but somewhat hard reading. It is a little
better than the one we submitted last year.
Thank you all very much.
END (AT 11:11 A.M. EST)