Economic Stabilization Act of 1970

Pay Board and Price Commission
Agency overview
Formed1970
Preceding agencies
Dissolved1974
Superseding agency
HeadquartersWashington, D.C.
Parent agencyExecutive Office of the President

The Economic Stabilization Act of 1970 (Title II of Pub. L. 91–379, 84 Stat. 799, enacted August 15, 1970,[2] formerly codified at 12 U.S.C. § 1904) was a United States law that authorized the President to stabilize prices, rents, wages, salaries, interest rates, dividends and similar transfers[3] as part of a general program of price controls within the American domestic goods and labor markets. It established standards to serve as a guide for determining levels of wages, prices, etc., which would allow for adjustments, exceptions and variations to prevent inequities, taking into account changes in productivity, cost of living and other pertinent factors.[4]

The Pay Board and the Price Commission were created on October 22, 1971, when President Nixon appointed 22 members between the boards, as agencies to create and administer economic controls in Phase II of the Economic Stabilization Program (ESP),[5] with Donald Rumsfeld newly acting as the executive director of the Cost of Living Council responsible for establishing the overall goals of Phases I and II of the ESP.[6]

Under the authority of the act, as amended, on August 16, 1971 President Nixon declared goals of combating inflation, reducing unemployment and curbing domestic consumption of foreign goods by imposing a 10% surcharge tax on all dutiable imports.[7]

  1. ^ a b "Wage and Price Controls". encyclopedia.com.
  2. ^ later amended by Pub. L. 91–558, 84 Stat. 1468 §201, Pub. L. 92–8, 85 Stat. 13} §2, Pub. L. 92–15, 85 Stat. 38 §3, Pub. L. 92–210, 85 Stat. 743} §2, Pub. L. 93–28, 87 Stat. 27} §§1-8, and Pub. L. 102–572, 106 Stat. 4506} §102(a)
  3. ^ "Records of the Economic Stabilization Program". Retrieved 2011-03-15.
  4. ^ "Executive Orders". Retrieved 2011-03-15.
  5. ^ Shabecoff, Philip (23 October 1071). "White House Appoints 22 To Pay and Price Boards". The New York Times. Retrieved 2 June 2020.
  6. ^ Economic Stabilization Program Quarterly Report. Cost of Living Council. 1972. p. 18.
  7. ^ "Texts of Nixon's Orders on Freeze and Surcharge". The New York Times. 17 August 1971. Retrieved 2 June 2020.