Command Performance

I was watching the 1945 version of that old warhorse, Brewster's Millions, where some guy has to get rid of a million bucks to receive an even larger inheritance. The joke is he tries to toss his money away but keeps making more no matter what he does. But one line really took me aback.

Brewster invests in a horrible Broadway show. His financial advisors close the show against his will, so he hires the cast to perform on a boat trip.

Advisor: Do you realize how much this trip is costing you? A--the ship, 30,000 a month, B--the cast, 35,000 a week!

Brewster: 70,000. I doubled their salary.

Advisor: No, it's still 35, the War Labor Board wouldn't grant the raise

Bewseter: Even the government is against me!

It's a gag line, and I suppose during WWII it seemed natural for the government to control every aspect of the economy. But it's been years since government tried to impose wage and price controls. That would never happen again, would it?

Except, of course, in health care, where--to help competition, mind you--plenty in the government believe they can tell private insurers not only what services they must provide, but how much they can charge for them.