366. Memorandum From the Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers (McCracken) to John Campbell of the White House Staff1
SUBJECT
- Secretary Stans’ suggestion
for a new Administration Committee on Foreign
Economic Policy2
Secretary Stans has put his finger on a real problem in policy-making. The development of international economic policies has been one of the least well-organized segments of economic policy. This is in part due to the absence of relevant individuals on the National Scurity Council, which has formal responsibilities in the international area.
[Page 795]An appropriate group to develop international economic policy would be those mentioned by Secretary Stans (the Secretaries of Treasury, Labor, Commerce, and Agriculture; the Deputy Under Secretary of State for Economic Affairs; and the Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers), plus the Special Representative for Trade Negotiations, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs, and the Administrator of AID. I believe that it would be appropriate for the Secretary of the Treasury to chair this group. Subcommittee should include one on international monetary policy chaired by the Under Secretary of the Treasury for Monetary Affairs, and one on trade policy chaired by the Special Representative for Trade Negotiations. It would be desirable to prevent a proliferation of subcommittees to handle work now being done by such committees as the Volcker Group. (The Volcker Group has been doing a good job, and it should be continued in its present form.) As the new committee would be the summit of policy-making, agencies should be represented by the principals.
The proposed Committee for Foreign Economic Policy would be in line with the discussions which Director Shultz and I have had with the President regarding a number of economic committees based on the Troika, with additions.