NBC Nightly News open - 1979-06-29

Channel: malgent

Transcript

Language: English (YouTube automatic captions)

[0:04] This is NBC Nightly News.

[0:07] With David Brinkley, who is off tonight.

[0:10] John Chancellor in New York.

[0:12] And tonight, segment three, Jack

[0:14] Reynolds report, human rights in South

[0:17] Korea.

[0:19] >> Good evening. The Tokyo summit is over

[0:21] and the seven industrial democracies

[0:23] which met there agreed to limit the

[0:25] amount of petroleum they will buy from

[0:26] OPEC. The United States will freeze the

[0:29] levels of its imports which could have a

[0:31] profound effect on American energy

[0:33] supplies and President Carter persuaded

[0:35] the European leaders to take similar

[0:37] measures. Irving R. Levine has the

[0:39] details in Tokyo.

[0:42] >> It was during a Japanese-style lunch

[0:44] that President Carter finally got

[0:46] agreement from the other leaders on his

[0:48] plan to set firm limits on the amount of

[0:50] oil each country imports. But it was a

[0:53] painful decision and it was reflected in

[0:55] the faces of the leaders as they told a

[0:58] news conference that this was the only

[1:00] way to prevent more drastic OPEC price

[1:02] increases.

[1:04] >> We deplore

[1:05] the decisions taken by the recent OPEC

[1:07] conference.

[1:09] We emphasize that this will result in a

[1:11] worldwide inflation,

[1:14] less growth,

[1:15] more unemployment,

[1:18] will endanger the stability of the

[1:19] economic system.

[1:21] >> Among the commitments made by the

[1:23] leaders, the United States will import

[1:25] 8.5 million barrels of oil next year, no

[1:28] increase over this year. The Europeans

[1:31] will freeze oil imports near present

[1:33] levels until 1985, but North Sea oil

[1:37] won't be counted as imports, a big

[1:39] advantage for Europe. The nations will

[1:41] develop new types of energy. The nations

[1:44] will avoid cutthroat competition for

[1:46] oil.

[1:48] But if new shortages develop, the

[1:50] agreements might quickly be scrapped.

[1:53] Administration officials insist that if

[1:55] Americans cooperate in conserving

[1:57] gasoline, the Tokyo summit decision to

[2:00] freeze imports won't mean longer

[2:02] gasoline lines, but it will hurt

[2:05] America's economy.

[2:07] Treasury Secretary Blumenthal.

[2:10] >> I think it puts greater pressure on all

[2:12] of us to avoid a recession. It makes it

[2:14] more difficult, yes. I think the chances

[2:16] of a recession are increased.

[2:18] >> As President Carter took off for Korea

[2:20] and then home, a White House aide said

[2:23] that the administration now believes

[2:25] that because of the OPEC price increases

[2:28] and the summit freeze on oil imports, a

[2:31] recession in the United States is now

[2:33] inevitable.

[2:35] Irving R. Levine, NBC News, Tokyo.

[2:39] >> Secretary Blumenthal's belief that the

[2:41] chances of a recession have increased

[2:43] were supported today by the government's

[2:45] index of leading economic indicators, up

[2:47] last month by only 4/10 of 1%, a very

[2:51] weak showing. Predictions of a recession

[2:53] were growing today in and out of the

[2:55] government. Mike Jensen, our business

[2:57] correspondent, has been looking into the

[2:58] economic and human costs of a recession.

[3:02] >> A work shift ends in Jackson, Michigan,

[3:05] an industrial town 60 mi west of

[3:08] Detroit.

[3:09] More than half the jobs in Jackson are

[3:11] tied to the auto industry.

[3:13] Goodyear, the big tire manufacturer.

[3:15] Clark Equipment, it makes transmissions.

[3:18] Kelsey Hayes, a brake manufacturer.

[3:22] These men make brakes for Ford LTD, for

[3:24] Chryslers, and Lincoln.

[3:26] But lately there's been a slump in car

[3:28] sales, especially big cars that use a

[3:30] lot of gas.

[3:32] So assembly lines for cars and parts are

[3:34] shutting down in places like Atlanta,

[3:37] Georgia, Mahwah, New Jersey, and here in

[3:40] Jackson. Not all at once, but gradually,

[3:43] here and there, workers are being laid

[3:45] off.

[3:47] For Max Hagerman, the recession has

[3:49] already begun.

[3:50] He's been working at Kelsey Hayes ever

[3:52] since he got out of the army, 11 years

[3:54] ago.

[3:55] Now he's been laid off, so he comes here

[3:57] each week to check in with the state

[3:59] employment counselor.

[4:01] >> Did they tell you how long you'd be laid

[4:02] off?

[4:04] >> It just says indefinite on that cuz they

[4:05] didn't know when I'd be called back.

[4:07] >> Okay.

[4:08] >> Don Warblow is the plant manager at

[4:10] Kelsey Hayes, Max Hagerman's boss. He's

[4:13] afraid there'll be layoffs at more

[4:15] companies, the ripple effect.

[4:17] >> one particular car line we've had some

[4:20] very drastic cuts in and this has

[4:23] affected uh

[4:26] extensive reductions in incoming

[4:28] material for that particular

[4:31] break and this in turn

[4:33] has meant that our casting vendors, our

[4:36] stamping vendors