Business: New View of Prices

Whenever the experts look at inflation, the general assumption is that the cost-price spiral is an economy-wide phenomenon to be blamed on all industry. This assumption, says Professor Charles L. Schultze of Indiana University, is a mistake, and is one reason why the U.S. knows so little about inflation; economists do not study it closely enough. In a report issued last week by the Committee for Economic Development, Economist Schultze goes after the inflation problem industry by industry with prices, cost and output data for each. His conclusion: sharp inflationary pressures in only a few industries were responsible for most of...