How Not to Run a Business

In its harried career, the War Assets Administration has come in for some businesslike spankings. Last week the brush was laid on for fair. A House committee, in its final report on surplus property disposal, charged WAA with everything from "sloppy business methods" to "catastrophic failure." It also charged "inconsistent pricing, unexplainable delays, unreliable, misleading and inadequate advertising." For hard-working WAA Boss Robert Littlejohn the committee had kind words. Nevertheless, the committee's conclusion read like a black book of business sins.

Some $22 billion has been declared surplus with another $7 billion...