The Economy: Portents of Trouble

Even when business is good, business men scan the economic horizon for portents of approaching trouble. And these days, as the dreary deadlock persists between Lyndon Johnson and Congress over taxing and spending, businessmen view the portents as troublesome. Seldom in recent years have they felt more uncomfortably aware that the whole U.S. economy can be crucially affected by a political impasse.

Whether they blame the Congress or the President, corporate executives are increasingly vexed by uncertainties and inaction in Washington. "It's difficult to calculate the inflationary pressures on labor rates and...