Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, October 8, 1993 TAG: 9310080206
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: A-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WILLIAMSBURG LENGTH: Medium
Leaders among the 111 active and retired chief executives attending a meeting of the elite Business Council said Thursday they are looking for a 3.1 percent growth rate during the second half of this year and in 1994 - more than double the first half's lackluster 1.3 percent growth in the gross domestic product.
However, the executives voiced strong concern about the economic impact of President Clinton's health-care reform. They praised Clinton for tackling the issue and endorsing the principles of universal coverage and cost reduction. But they said Clinton's plan called for too much government control.
"To think you're going to save $200 billion by having a big bureaucracy weed it out is absolutely foolhardy," said John Welch, chairman of General Electric Co.
"There's a real genuine risk of worsening health care and making it more expensive," said John W. Snow, chairman of CSX Corp.
The business leaders, all chief executives of Fortune 500 corporations, gather twice a year to hobnob on tennis courts and golf courses and meet behind closed doors with senior government officials.
In advance of the session, the leaders praised the Democratic administration for pushing NAFTA, which was negotiated by the Republican Bush administration.
Robert E. Allen, chairman of AT&T, warned that rejection of the agreement could jeopardize chances of obtaining expanded markets for U.S. goods in the rest of Latin America and of liberalizing trade restrictions worldwide.
"We absolutely have to pass it," he said.
"Corporations will continue to keep tight control on payrolls . . . in the coming year. . . . Corporate strategies continue to emphasize cost reductions, rather than price increases, as a means of boosting profits," the economists said.
That should produce a stable inflation rate of 3 percent to 3.5 percent through 1994, they said.
by CNB