Page 2 THE BATTALION
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 1977
Ceteris Paribus
Carters stimulus—pain or panacea
By MARK RANKIN
It is true of presidents in general,
and Democratic presidents in par
ticular, that the urge to play with
the economy will take a back seat to
nothing. This seems to be none the
less true with the pride of Plains,
Ga. Take my word for it, Jimmy
Carter would like nothing more
than to “stimulate” the economy.
He comes by it naturally. He has
adopted the “fireside chat” and
F.D.R. would be proud of his eco
nomics. If he comes up with a little
dog named Fala; I quit.
Few of us, myself included,
would resist a rebate from the gov
ernment but there are certain
things about the proposed Carter
rebates that warrant a second
thought. It is possible that this type
of “shot in the arm” may prove to be
swine fluish.
There is a general misconception
that the federally spent dollar is
spontaneously generated in Wash-
Slouch
by Jim Earle
' SCONA 22
FEBRUARY 16-fS
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“Quality First”
ington, D. C. In fact, the rebate dol
lar can only come from one of two
sources: it can come from that huge
budget surplus that we seem to
have every year, or the government
can borrow the money. Of the two,
I find the latter more likely.
The fact that Mr. Carter’s propo
sal will require a good deal of bor
rowing is not a trivial one.
The government borrows from
the private sector through the selec
tive use of credit instruments that
are unavailable to you or I, or to
General Motors. As such, the Feds
are able to offer a return on paper
that brings lenders out of the
woodwork. Government securities
are very desirable as they are not
subject to default and they are
priced to sell.
The point is that every dollar bor
rowed by the public sector is not
available to the private sector for
the same purpose. This is particu
larly important when you consider
that industry is likely to require a
good deal of borrowing after the ef
fects of this winter are felt. In short,
a government rebate will have the
effect of stimulating demand at a
time when supplies are particularly
short. In addition, government bor
rowing could further restrict supply
by restricting the amount of funds
available to producers.
Anyone who can draw an “X” can
interpret the problems posed by
conditions of excess demand. Since
industry will be unable to borrow
sufficiently to meet the production
requirements of increased demand,
we would likely see increases in the
price level as consumers seek to
convert their rebate checks into rel
atively scarce commodities.
In addition, the increased de
mand for what funds remain will
pressure the Federal Reserve into
expanding the supply of loanable
dollars to banks resulting in, you
guessed it, inflation.
Finally, in this month generally
associated with the payment of
taxes, one can only look at a rebate
check and wonder, “was that trip
really worth it?”
Don’t misunderstand me. I am all
for the government returning
money to me, but I am not too fond
of the consequences associated with
rebates for everybody.
Mark Rankin is a graduate stu
dent in economics.
Catch 22 is getting credit
Editor:
I was brought up with the idea that
if you don’t have the money to buy
something, you don’t need it any
way. Therefore I have paid cash for
everything I have bought.
I keep a good balance in my
checking account and regularly put
money in a savings account.
Recently I tried to write a check
in Houston. The cashier would not
accept my check because I did not
have a major credit card. I showed
him my driver’s license, social se
curity card, bank identification, and
even my TAMU student identifica
tion, to no avail.
When I returned home, I went to
several places and applied for credit
cards. I was refused by all because I
had no credit and owed no money.
This seemed strange to me.
I do not want or need credit
cards, but my checks will not be ac
cepted without them. Since I also
cannot get credit cards the only al
ternative is to carry large amounts of
money. This I don’t want to do.
Perhaps credit card companies
should wake up and give us begin
ners a break.
—Rusty McDonald, ’79
The Battalion
Opinions expressed in The Battalion are those of the
editor or of the writer of the article and are not neces
sarily those of the University administration or the
Board of Regents. The Battalion is a non-profit, self-
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Address correspondence to Letters to the Editor,
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Abandoning imperial presides
Editor:
If Jimmy Carter goes down in his
tory as the greatest bag of hot wind
this country has ever known, he will
have at least done one thing right.
From his Levis to his Heinz-57
dog, Jimmy Carter is one of us, and
more importantly he is not ashamed
to admit it. On the contrary, he ex
ploits the fact. He enrolls his daugh
ter in public school; he eliminates
the limousine service; during the
gas shortage he chills the White
House so low he makes his wife cry.
He makes it public that he lives like
the rest of us.
Too few people recognize the
positive implications of all of this.
When we allow our own elitist fan
tasies to elect an elitist president,
we should expect elitist, nondemo-
cratic policies.
It is also well to realize that in
this world of ever increasing em
phasis on social values, the United
States needs to reflect in her chief a
oneness with the people if we are to
have any influence at all on preserv
ing democracy.
This is not to say that we should
disrespect the authority vested in
the president, not in the least, but
we should expect him to be one of
us, and therefore “for us.” An ad
ministration shrouded in the idola
tries of imperialism easily forgets
where its responsibilities lie. Re
member Watergate?
—Clay Cockrill, ’79
referring to the headline article in
the Tuesday, Feb. 8, 1977 Battal
ion. The subject was the bonfire lo
cation.
In this article, we highly com
mend Dr. John Koldus for his at
titude about moving the bonfire.
However, he was totally wrong on
one point. He is quoted as saying,
“The Corps does most of the work
so the location is to their advan
tage.”
We would like to set things
straight. First of all, if the Corps did
“most of the work,” why wasn’t the
bonfire better than last year’s? Sec
ondly, if Dr. Koldus had come out
to the Hearne cutting area on the
non-mandatory cutting dates, there
was not a member of the Corps in
sight: only civilians.
We are not criticizing the Corps
for their lack of support; we can
sympathize with their academic
problems and mandatory call to
Quarters. We just want credit
where credit is due. We cannot
speak of our dorm, because that
would just be boasting. But, we
have seen other dorms, civilians,
breaking their arms and backs to
build the bonfire.
So, please note. Dr. Koldus.
—Edward A. Graham, Jr., ’79
—Jeffrey Schneider, T7
—Chris Hinds, ’80
—Randy Hohlaus, ’76
retzels
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The FT
irried
absorb
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Many contribute
to bonfire
C ommentaries
contrasted
policies.” Sharon Taulmaiii
“Reform needed” was a
contrast to Mark Elam’s at
“Limits needed.” The contn
not, as the articles show,
posite viewpoints but duett
fort by Taulman to present
tax problems and possiblests
to those problems which art
pursued.
Elam also centered his
around taxes. Though the
subject was taxes, Mr. Eh
the tax issue into a baseofalt
social programs, inflation, an
nomic mismanagement. Asi
ending for an article on tan
Elam chose a quote hy
Henry which said thatifiti
fashioned to believe in ri[
could count on Mr. Henry«
old fashioned.
As compared to Taulmani
ingly well thought article,
article was a tirade directed
current spending with the
ness of the spending as his
lution. Though Elam exposes
faults of our governmeat
people, the numerous fi;
quotes, and cliches
literature of the Young A»
for Freedom, an organiaS
which he is currently servi
executive officer. Mr. Elat
may ask, was tax reform thep
of your article?
—Stan Sla
sually
he tony
Bram
’epper
Nugget
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Cheese
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Embreys Jewel
Editor:
This letter is not so much a com
plaint as it is a correction. We are
Editor:
This is a short reflection on the
Tues., Feb. 15 “Commentary” sec
tion on “Government, taxation
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