The Daily Alaska empire. [volume] (Juneau, Alaska) 1926-1964, 1927-01-01
JOBS FOR EVERYBODY is
PROSPECT IN '27; HOOVER
MAKES SPLENDID FORECAST

WASHINGTON, Jan. IA reply
to requests for opinion on The New
Years economic prospects can only
be based on the economic currents
already born of the old year. New
and unknown currents will enter in
the new year, so there is no such
thing as assured economic prophecy.
No one will deny that 1926 has
shown the highest total production
and consumption of industrial com
modities of any year in the history
of the United States. Except in the
textile industry and parts of the coal
industry, it has been a year Of high
degree of employment, which has
been accompanied by the highest
peak in real wages, because wage
income for the country as Il whole
has slightly increased and cost of
living slightly decreased during the
year. Manufacturing. the service in
dustries, and commerce generally
have continued to improve their
methods, to reduce costs, and to
simprfsfes services. Ia aggregate each
industry appears to show substantial
profits except the textile and some
parts of the coal industry. While
there has been slackening in pro-
duction andn demand for several
staple lines during the past few
weeks, we enter the new year with
no consequential over-stock Of man
ufactured goods. With the largest
volume of construction during the
past year ever known there may
prove to be some construction in adj
vance of immediate needs, but slack .
ening in this direction may be pai
TALLY compensated by the assurance
of a larger amount of public CON
struction during the next year. Saw
ings of the country have shown a
steady increase and there is ample
cheap capital available.
-. Crop Failures
The lag of agricultural recovery
has continued and has been accen-
tuated by distressing crop failures in
some localities. Cotton and some
fruit crops beyond world demand
have brought about prices below tho
cost of production of large areas of
those commodities. There is CON
sequent lowered buying power in
some agricultural sections
Taking the foreign field as a
whole. it shows continued progress
toward balance of budgets; reduction
of floating debt; greater stability in
currency; and somewhat diminished
unemployment. The most important
exception has been the results Of
the British coal strike which left the
world poorer by its interruption 10
the progress of that country, but
this is now happily over. Russia
shows some economic improvement,
and China, due to international trade
relation, still continues below normal
Each year sees progress in European
political relations with fear less and
less dominating factor.
Elasticity of Credit
Combining all foreign and domestic
tendencies with which we enter the
New Year, while some of them are
not so good as we could wish, others
are most hopeful. To those who are
interested in the movement of the
business cycle, it is worth remarking
that we have had no initiation Ia
commodities as prices have decreas.
ed rather than increased during the
year. Moreover, the elasticity of ere
dit through the Federal Reserve
System, the absence of undue stocks
of commodities the greatly enlarged
information services of the country
and wider understanding (and thus
better common judgment and eau
tion) are all projections against vio-
lent movements. such as we expert.
enced in former times
Economic Progress
The nation is making economic
progress. Some areas lag benin
others, and discountent with the lag
is an assurance of a lively sense
of initiative and the best promise