New Britain herald., 1922-11-07
"Plcnty of Money With
 Which to Do Business" z He Says-Lauds Retailers
lspeeial to The IIeraldl.

Hartford. Nov. 7,-SpealSing before large audience of business men at Parsons theater this afternoon, Roger w. Babson, internationally famous economist, made predictions which will create confidence in the conner rcial world. He spoke under the aus pices of the Hartford Advertising club. ar Among other statements. MT. Bab- son said that crop conditions are greatly improved over 1921 and as u result 'at leasu one-third of the peo- pie in the United States are going to have a greatly increased buying pow CT this fall and winter"
 Money conditions have improved, he said, and bank statements prom ise plenty of money with which to do business throughout the coming 7. months regardless of what may hap pen abroad"
 Speaking of the situation in the manufacturing the retail field, MT. Babson said: Failures are fewer. The peak of losses apparently has been passed"
 From the standpoint of the working man, conditions are good, he said. be- < cause there arc less than a million q workers idle today compared with five million out of employment two years ago.
 A resume of MT. Babson's talk fol- lows:
 'tTundamental conditions are favor nble---by this I mean that the social. economic and spiritual conditions which affect business have improved so that they now furnish the basis for genuine prosperity. The over extension among business concerns and the habits of extravaganza and waste on the part of people as while have now been largely corrected. Peo- pie are beginning to produce more than they consume. This is apparent from the Babson chart which shows that business turned the corner in August.
 "Crop conditions-from the stand- point of profits, the crop outlook is the best in years. The harvest prom ised is large and prices are fair Hence, 1922 crops should benefit both t,e, farmers and the public. Esti- r and cotton haryests at the farm will be more than s5,5o0,o 100000. Last year they were S3,700.ObO, 900. This indicates that the majority of farm CTS VII get about 5A per cent more for their products than they did q year ago. Considering the fact that producing expenses have been less. fhe net profits of this years harvests should be much mcre than in 1921. This means that at-lt ast one-third of the people in the nited States are going to have greatly increased puy- ing power this fall and winter. Large crops are a source of real wealth. They help every tne.
 Money Conditions. Improved
 Money conditions-loans through out the country have been reduced. The federal reserve banks are redis- counting only about fourth as much as they were this time last year. Re porting member banks have cut down their loans by something more than s1,O00, 100000 Moreover, they have cleaned up a large part of the doubt full accounts which they have been carrying since the 1920 crash. From the standpoint of reserves the ratio of 80 per cent of reserves against. fed cral reserve note and deposit liabili- ties shows the strong position of the federal reserve system. Certainly the bank statements promise plenty of money with which to do business throughout the coming months, re- gardless of what may happen abroad. The long swing trend of interest rates Is downward.
 Commodity conditions-The posi- ton of business houses is decidedly better. Reports show that in most cases inventories have been sufficient ly written off. Stocks of goods have been cut down and there has been no overbuying. The same progress has !. not yet been made in reducing retail prices, but this will follow. Failures are fewer. The peak of losses ap- parently has been passed. Prices are becoming stabilized. A shortage in goods may even be witnessed in some lines. All signs point to stiffening in commodity prices this winter all though the long swing trend may continue downward.
 Employment conditions are very much bctter-Where 5,000,000 peo- pie were out of employment two years ago, less than million are out of employment today. Common labor is fully employed and the building trades are working overtime. The settle- ment of the railroad, coal and textile strikes have put million men back to work. If the railroads now come into the market for new equipment and supplies there should be very little unemployment during the next few months. This must mean better business because the purchasing pow or of the people is ultimately deter