Documents / FOIA release
This Top Secret study by the Interdepartmental Coordinating Group on Germany and Berlin, dated July 12, 1961, and released by the Central Intelligence Agency, answers NSC Directive No. 58 of June 30, 1961. It sets out courses of action for the Berlin crisis but does not judge their merits. It covers imminent presidential decisions, a three-phase timetable running to January 1, military preparations and mobilization, covert action, economic sanctions, public information, negotiating positions and checkpoint procedures for East German personnel.
“Cooper”8 pages
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## SECRET ## Appendix A national defense began to register sizeable increases, expanding by 30 percent to $18.3 billion (annual rate) in 1950-IV. The Chinese entered the Korean War in late November, 1950. Prices and consumer demand responded almost instantaneously to the news. Retail sales jumped 7 percent (seasonally adjusted) for the month of December. The Consumer Price Index rose 1.3 percent in December in contrast with increases of half of one percent in each of the two preceding months. Direct controls on materials and prices appeared probable, and this expectation stimulated demand. It also encouraged firms to announce price rises at once in the anticipation of a possible price freeze. On December 15, 1950, the President declared a state of national emergency and stated his intention to impose price and wage controls. On January 26, 1951, the General Ceiling Price Regulation was issued, and prices and wages were frozen. By this time, the Consumer Price Index was nearly 7 percent above the level of June 1950. Wholesale prices had risen 15 percent since June, and much of the increase had not yet been reflected at the retail level. It would have been infeasible and inequitable to place a solid freeze on retail prices when they were not in equilibrium with wholesale costs. Despite controls, therefore, retail prices were allowed to creep upward through the year. The Consumer Price Index rose another 1.2 percent in February 1951, and 2.9 percent more from February to the end of the year, even though wholesale prices fell somewhat from their peak of February. All sectors of demand showed great strength in the first quarter of 1951. Consumers renewed their heavy purchasing, with particular emphasis on nondurable items such as food and clothing. The personal saving ratio fell to 3.7 percent. Inventory investment occurred at a 10 billion dollar annual rate and extended to all items and all sectors. National defense outlays rose by a third once again to reach a 24.3 billion annual rate. New defense contracts for hard goods doubled in the first quarter, reaching a level of nearly9billions. Expenditures for durable defense items also rose sharply, but were only one-sixth as large as contract awards. Unemployment reflected the expansion of the economy and fell to 3.53 percent of the labor force in 1951-I.
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FOIA release, from the cia-readingroom collection. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is above. The text was read from the page images by GLM-OCR; expect the odd misread word. 163 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.