Henry Agard Wallace spoke casually. Labor, he said, in an extemporaneous radio speech, should get half or more of the 30% pay increases it demands; if necessary, prices should be increased. This, the Secretary of Commerce theorized, would advance the U.S. cost of living by only 3 or 4%. Anyway, he was more afraid of deflation than inflation.
Was bareheaded Henry Wallace announcing Government policy, or was he talking through his hair?* Only a few days before, Harry Truman had reiterated his unchanging opposition to wage increases affecting prices; those who fear higher prices remembered it with comfort.
But others remembered that...
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