PROHIBITION AGAINST INFLATIONARY PROCUREMENT PRACTICES By the authority vested in me as President and as Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces by the Constitution and statutes of the United States of America, including Sections 2(c) and 3(a) of the Council on Wage and Price Stability Act, as amended (12 U.S.C. 1904 note) and Section 205(a) of the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949, as amended (40 U.S.C. 486(a)), and in order to encourage noninflationary pay and price behavior by private industry and labor, and to provide for the procurement by Executive agencies and Military Departments of personal property and services at prices and wage rates which are noninflationary, it is hereby ordered as follows: 1-101. The Chairman of the Council on Wage and Price Stability shall: (a) Monitor company pay and price practices in order to determine compliance with the standards set forth in Section 1-102 of this Order; (b) Promulgate regulations and guidance to further define these standards, and provide for appropriate exemptions and exceptions; (c) Publish, or cause to be published, in accordance with procedures designed to ensure fairness and due process, the names of individuals or companies which are not in compliance with the standards; (d) Promulgate procedures to be used in proceedings before the Council on matters pertaining to the standards, and take such other action as may be necessary and consistent with the purposes of this Section. 1-102. Noninflationary wage and price behavior shall be measured by the following standards: (a) For prices, noninflationary price behavior is the deceleration by companies of their current rate of average price increase by at least 0.5 percentage points from their historical rate of annual price increase during 1976-1977 except where profits have not increased. (b) For pay, noninflationary pay behavior is the holding of pay increases to not more than 7 percent annually above their recent historical levels. (c) These standards, which shall be further defined by the Chairman of the Council on Wage and Price Stability, shall be subject to certain limitations and exemptions as determined by the Chairman. 1-103. In order to ensure economy and efficiency in government procurement, the head of each Executive agency and Military Department shall ensure that their contracts incorporate, on and after January 1, 1979, a clause which requires compliance by the contractor, and by his subcontractors and suppliers, with the standards set forth in Section 1-102 of this Order. 1-104. Each Executive agency and each Military Department shall comply with the directions of the Administrator for Federal Procurement Policy, who, in accord with Section 6 of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy Act (41 U.S.C. 405), shall be responsible for the overall direction of the implementation of Section 1-103 including the issuance of regulations and procedures for determining exceptions and granting exemptions. JIMMY CARTER The White House, November 1, 1978. [Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 4:49 p.m., November 1, 1978]
Executive Order 12092—Federal Anti-Inflationary Procurement Practices
Executive Brief • At a Glance
The Chairman of the Council on Wage and Price Stability shall: (a) Monitor company pay and price practices in order to determine compliance with the standards set forth in Section 1-102 of this Order; (b) Promulgate regulations and guidance to further define these standards, and provide for appropriate exemptions and exceptions; (c) Publish, or cause to be published, in accordance with procedures designed to ensure fairness and due process, the names of individuals or companies which are not in compliance with the standards; (d) Promulgate procedures to be used in proceedings before the Council on matters pertaining to the standards, and take such other action as may be necessary and consistent with the purposes of this Section. 1-102.
Plain-English Translation & Framers' Constitutional Analysis
Early Statesman synthesis distilling legal jargon into practical meaning, statutory anchors, and structural constitutional impacts.
Signed by President Jimmy Carter on November 1, 1978, this order concerns Federal Anti-Inflationary Procurement Practices. 1-101. The Chairman of the Council on Wage and Price Stability shall: (a) Monitor company pay and price practices in order to determine compliance with the standards set forth in Section 1-102 of this Order; (b) Promulgate regulations and guidance to further define these standards, and provide for appropriate exemptions and exceptions; (c) Publish, or cause to be published, in accordance with procedures designed to…
Key Directives & Operative Actions
The Chairman of the Council on Wage and Price Stability shall: (a) Monitor company pay and price practices in order to determine compliance with the standards set forth in Section 1-102 of this Order; (b) Promulgate regulations and guidance to further define these standards, and provide for appropriate exemptions and exceptions; (c) Publish, or cause to be published, in accordance with procedures designed to ensure fairness and due process, the names of individuals or companies which are not in compliance with the standards; (d) Promulgate procedures to be used in proceedings before the Council on matters pertaining to the standards, and take such other action as may be necessary and consistent with the purposes of this Section. 1-102.
Noninflationary wage and price behavior shall be measured by the following standards: (a) For prices, noninflationary price behavior is the deceleration by companies of their current rate of average price increase by at least 0.5 percentage points from their historical rate of annual price increase during 1976-1977 except where profits have not increased.
These standards, which shall be further defined by the Chairman of the Council on Wage and Price Stability, shall be subject to certain limitations and exemptions as determined by the Chairman. 1-103.
In order to ensure economy and efficiency in government procurement, the head of each Executive agency and Military Department shall ensure that their contracts incorporate, on and after January 1, 1979, a clause which requires compliance by the contractor, and by his subcontractors and suppliers, with the standards set forth in Section 1-102 of this Order. 1-104.
Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted
Policy Areas & Topics
The Framers' Constitutional Council
1787 PrismEvaluating this order against the constitutional debates of 1787 and the limits of Article II executive power.
"When the President acts in absence of either a congressional grant or denial of authority, he can only rely upon his own independent powers, but there is a zone of twilight in which he and Congress may have concurrent authority."
James Madison
Separation of Powers & Legislative Primacy
"Power is of an encroaching nature, and it ought to be effectually restrained from passing the limits assigned to it." — Federalist No. 48 (1788)
Madison would view this order with watchful scrutiny. Operating in the 'Zone of Twilight' where Congress is silent, each such directive establishes an administrative precedent that steadily expands the executive perimeter at the expense of legislative primacy.
Alexander Hamilton
The Energetic Executive & Unified Command
"The direction of war implies the direction of the common strength; and the power of directing and employing the common strength must be under the direction of the single hand of the Executive." — Federalist No. 74 (1788)
Hamilton would forcefully champion executive discretion here. For foreign entanglements, commerce defense, and national security, deliberative assemblies are too slow and faction-ridden. A unified, energetic Executive exercising swift command is precisely what the Philadelphia Convention intended for national preservation.
George Mason
Bill of Rights, Due Process & 10th Amendment
"The president will be surrounded by flatterers and sycophants... and the great powers of the executive will gradually absorb the liberties of the people." — Cato IV (Anti-Federalist, 1787)
The Anti-Federalist prism advises continuous democratic vigilance. Even routine administrative directives aggregate centralized federal power away from town halls and state assemblies toward a distant executive apparatus.
Five Measurable "Constitutional Friction" Dimensions
An objective audit measuring potential separation-of-powers tension against the United States Constitution and established Supreme Court doctrine.
Legislative Encroachment & Purse
Administers commerce or fiscal programs requiring ongoing statutory delegation and legislative oversight.
Executive Scope & Faithfulness
Directs internal executive branch machinery, agency workflows, and federal personnel.
Federalism & State Sovereignty
Creates friction with the Tenth Amendment by conditioning state grants, mandating local compliance, or preempting state police powers.
Due Process & Individual Rights
Applies regulatory or compliance standards to private contractors or commercial entities.
Youngstown Jacksonian Tier
The order relies on inherent Article II executive discretion, civil service management, or foreign diplomacy where Congress has neither expressly approved nor prohibited action.
This order operates within Justice Jackson’s Zone of Twilight, resting upon concurrent presidential authority or congressional silence.
Referenced By Later Executive Orders (2)
Subsequent presidents who cited, amended, continued, or revoked this directive in later orders.
Scholarly & Legal Citations
Exec. Order No. 12,092 (Nov. 1, 1978), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-12092-federal-anti-inflationary-procurement-practices.