Administration of the Federal Government's Anti-Inflation Program

Industry and labor have been requested to voluntarily limit their wage and price increases to levels established by the Council on Wage and Price Stability which is monitoring compliance with the voluntary standards. The Office of Federal Procurement Policy issued regulations which provide that beginning on February 15, 1979, companies must certify compliance with the standards to be eligible for Federal contracts in excess of $5 million. The names of those companies which are found not to be in compliance by the Council will be placed on a public list. They will not be eligible to receive such Federal contracts unless the head of a procuring agency grants a waiver. Indications are that aspects of the program that envision penalties against Government contractors who fail to meet the President's wage and price guideline will have relatively little impact. Its coverage, in terms of number of contracts, contractors, and total dollars will be limited. Further, legal and administrative problems inherent in debarment and default procedures will preclude any significant number of such actions. It must be recognized that this effort is part of a larger program of voluntary compliance. As in past efforts to control wages and prices, there are important values in the disclosure of proposed wage and price increases and the knowledge that the Government is actively engaged in trying to slow the rate of inflation.