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Many other economic issues also divide the candidates. Nixon, for example, might loosen federal surveillance of business, largely by shaking up the regulatory agencies. Consumer Activist Miles Kirkpatrick is likely to step out as chairman of the Federal Trade Commission and will probably be replaced by someone less eager to force retractions of misleading or overly puffy advertising. McGovern, by contrast, would tighten federal regulation of business. The Justice Department under Nixon prides itself on vigorous trustbusting against conglomerate mergers (without mentioning ITT); but Nixon himself has hinted privately that he would like antitrust laws relaxed for U.S. companies that compete in world markets. Commerce Secretary Peterson has argued that present law prevents textile and steel producers from combining into larger, more efficient firms that could better battle imports from Japanese and other overseas rivals. McGovern, on the other hand, has called for an even tougher antitrust policy.
Indeed, if Nixon wins by a landslide he would be strongly tempted to interpret his margin of victory as a resounding mandate for a turn to economic conservatism. Alan Greenspan, a member of TIME'S Board of Economists who is an adviser to Nixon, says: "As a private citizen Richard Nixon is quite conservative. After the election his policies will probably be significantly more conservative than they were during his first term, but for pragmatic reasons more than ideological reasons. He senses that a tax increase would be very bad for the Republic. As a result, he is quite serious about restraining spending."
But will Nixon win by a landslide? The latest TIME survey of voters, conducted by Daniel Yankelovich Inc., shows McGovern gaining some ground on the economic issue, but nowhere near enough. As of early October, voters still chose Nixon by 37% to 30% as the man most likely to provide jobs for everyone, and by 44% to 22% as the candidate who could best keep prices down. Indeed, the more relevant question seems to be whether the issues raised by McGovern can survive an overwhelming defeat.
At first glance, it would seem improbable. Many economists now interpret last spring's clamor for tax reform as a confused cry from the middle class to keep its own taxes down, rather than to raise levies on others. "People are not interested in income shares, but only in the level of their own taxes," Greenspan argues. The only welfare reform that the public seems to crave is one tightening work requirements. Certainly it will be a long time before any politician again advocates $1,000 for everybody.