The Economy: The Open-Mouth Campaign

On Wall Street, they began calling it "the open-mouth policy." Out of Washington last week poured a torrent of talk about the economy, clearly designed to halt the stock market slide and to counter the impression made by William McChesney Martin Jr. in his "1920s speech" three weeks ago. President Johnson, who often uses the jawbone technique to get things done, called upon just about everyone on his team — with the understandable exception of Bill Martin — to soothe Wall Street's jittery nerves and hymn the economy's health. It was quite a performance, and it worked.

"Excellent." "Great."...

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