Foreign Relations of the United States, 1981–1988, Volume XXXVIII, International Economic Development; International Debt; Foreign Assistance

325. Memorandum of Conversation¹

Washington, December 12, 1984, 11:15–11:28 a.m.

SUBJECT

• Meeting with the President’s Task Force on International Private Enterprise

PARTICIPANTS

• The President
• Edwin Meese III
• John R. Poindexter
• Craig L. Fuller
• Task Force Members
• (List of members attached)²

Task Force Chairman Andreas began by stating that as businessmen, the members of the Task Force represent more than $100 billion in annual sales, and the Report represents their considered views. He went on to say that as members of the business community, the Task Force members are against the concept of aid per se, as a long-term solution to economic development, but they recognize that aid has interim value in dealing with the global developmental problems we face.

Mr. Andreas went on to state that the Task Force believes that U.S. international economic policy decision-making is too fragmented and should be upgraded in importance to a level equivalent to that of the National Security Council. Thus, they recommend that an “Economic Security Council” be formed so that our government can “speak with one voice”.

Task Force Vice Chairman Parker Montgomery then stated that he believed the President agreed that the best way to foster Third World development was to facilitate rapid economic growth for those countries. He added that the Task Force believes existing U.S. Government entities such as the Council of Economic Advisors are arcane and no longer effective, and that the formation of an Economic Security Council will best focus U.S. policies to support international economic growth policies, and he urged the President to accept the Task Force recommendations.

Mr. Andreas stated that Peter McPherson and his immediate staff had been most helpful, and the Task Force members were grateful for the assistance. He went on to say that the recommendations are a blue print for the next four years and hopefully will serve as a legacy for the President to leave to the Third World. Mr. Andreas concluded by stating that in order to avoid a looming trade war with “Socialist” governments in the West, an “economic disarmament” program is needed. However, he added, we must first be prepared to “fight fire with fire” in competing with the soft credit programs in place in these Western “Socialist” countries.

The President thanked Mr. Andreas and the other members of the Task Force for their efforts, adding that he couldn’t comment on the report until he had a chance to review it. He assured the Task Force members that, as he stated in Cancun,³ he is intent on assisting the Third World in its development aspirations, but he does not want to make those countries permanent wards of U.S. aid programs.

The President mentioned that the previous day he had met with Niger President, Kountche,⁴ and was encouraged to see an African leader so strongly wedded to the principles of free enterprise and entrepreneurship. The President referred to Ethiopia as an example of U.S. efforts to combine food aid with improved market prospects for better distribution to the population.

The President mentioned that during a visit on December 10, Charlton Heston showed him a sketch he had done of an 11 year-old Ethiopian boy who weighed only 16 pounds, adding that this picture was far more graphic than all the newspaper and television coverage that he had seen.⁵

Mr. Andreas closed by thanking the President for his call to Mother Teresa, who had earlier met with the Task Force to discuss aid to the Third World.

The meeting adjourned at 11:28 a.m.

1. Source: Reagan Library, David Wigg Files, Chronological File, November–December 1984. No classification marking. The meeting took place in the Roosevelt Room at the White House. No drafting information appears on the memorandum.
2. The “President’s Task Force on International Private Enterprise Task Force Members” is attached but not printed.
3. See footnote 2, Document 49.
4. Reagan met with Kountche on December 11 at the White House. Documentation on this meeting is scheduled for publication in Foreign Relations, 1981–1988, vol. XXVII, Sub-Saharan Africa.
5. See Foreign Relations, 1981–1988, vol. XLI, Global Issues II, Document 228.