Eckstein Lashes Hike As 'Economic Fantasy'

Otto Eckstein, associate professor of Economics, yesterday charged that the reasoning used by U.S. Steel and other companies in the industry to defend the $6 per ton rise in steel prices is "a piece of economic fantasy."

"Even in the unlikely case that the companies honestly convinced themselves that they were not able to absorb the recent settlement with the union," he said, "it was their duty to the country to say so before the agreement."

"By raising the price in a deceitful manner they have given up any pretense of a morally defensible position."