Before the May 1979 General Election there were suggestions from both sides of industry and from all political parties that, in the wake of the collapse of a more-or-less formal incomes policy, there should at least be some sort of national ‘forum’ to discuss the implications for the economy of different outcomes of pay bargaining rounds. It is now clear that the Government has for the time being decided not to set up a new body of this kind. Nevertheless the issues which such a body would have to consider remain, and it seemed to us worthwhile to attempt to set out the kinds of question which should be borne in mind by all parties concerned with pay bargaining and pay determination during the coming wage round. What follows is deliberately written in a non-technical way: at the same time, we hope not to have done serious injustice to the complexity of the problems.