Archive Report
Archive Report
Resistance of Prices to Pressure for Cuts
Price Agreements Under the Antitrust Laws
Results to date of government efforts to promote voluntary price reductions have been largely negative. Prices of manufactured goods, in particular, have shown strong resistance to official and unofficial pressure for downward revision. President Truman looked to extensive price cuts to moderate demands for “second round” wage increases and thus remove the dangers of still higher prices and a possible collapse, brought on by a buyers' strike.
The President's public appeal for general price reductions, Apr. 10, immediately raised the possibility that joint action by businessmen to lower prices to the consumer would lead to prosecutions for violation of the antitrust laws. The Supreme Court has held that combinations to lower prices have no ...