THE ECONOMY: Decontrol (Cont'd)

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The great shift in the U.S. economy from Government controls to freer enterprise picked up momentum. Following hard on the removal of wage curbs and the lifting of price ceilings from many consumer goods (TIME, Feb. 16), the Administration last week:

¶ Abolished price ceilings on another broad range of consumer items, e.g., poultry & eggs, soaps, paint, window glass, which are now selling generally below ceilings; and a first batch of industrial commodities, e.g., crude rubber, scrap metals, iron ore, lead, zinc, tin, petroleum & gas products, some of which are pressing ceilings and may well advance in prices.

¶ Relaxed procurement restrictions on steel, copper and aluminum. This was the initial step toward discarding the Office of Defense Mobilization's Controlled Materials Plan, which since July 1951 has allocated basic metals to industrial users. Defense needs and other allotments once met, producers and buyers may hereafter arrange their own sales on the free market. Auto manufacturers, for example, may now turn out as many cars as they wish, depending on how much steel or other materials they can find.