The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1928-01-11
BETTER TIMES
IN STORE FOR
AVERAGE MAN
Prof. Irving Fisher Finds
$l1oo Is Annual Pay For
Half Of u. S.
BY RODNEY BUTCHER

BIZ KIDNEY BUTCHER
Washington, Jan. 1.-THE major.
ity of the American people are not
any too prosperous, but each year
adds few more to the prosperity
class and 1923 should be no excep-
ton.
This assertion IL made BY Pro-
lessor Irving Fisher Of Yale, often
regarded as the nations outstanding
political economist.
Because onc-half the incomes Of
the population amount to $1,1O0 q
year or less, r.fessor Fisher rro-
tests against sweeping claims that
our people Are prosperous as q
whole. As judged by standards set
up by such agencies Is the United
States Bureau of Labor Statistics,
he says, the majority Of them are
poor.
Only q small fraction Of the in.
come class, he points out, will ever
be put 20 the test Of prosperity,
against which President Coolidge
recently warned. More than 80 per
cent Of incomes are less than $1,000
q year.
Prosperous in Comparison
"But the most important point"
says Professor Fisher, sis that our
people are prosperous when conf
pared with the peoples Of other ma
tions. From that standpoint, we are
getting along very well.
1--WE come nearer than anyone else
to the standards of income and liv-
ing set up by the Lsbor Bureau.
And we are making more and more
Roadway.
"Thus, although it is not fair to
say that all of us are in this sense
prosperous, it is = fact that more
Of us are becoming prosperous each
year."
In an exclusive interview, Profess
sor Fisher admitted that probably
a little more unemployment existed
than was generally realized, but ex.
pressed the belief that 1928 would
be at least as satisfactory a year
from the standpoint of business and
industry as was 1927.
One of the ways by which a cycle
of depression begins, of course, is
by combination of unemployment,
lowered purchasing power and de-
creasing price levels.
Price levels have not been quite
stable in the last two years, Profess
sor Fisher agrees, and hence emf
ployment has somewhat decreased.
But any dangerous repetition Of the
so-called business cycle has been
headed off for the present, he be-
tieves, because the beginning Of this
ear found the price level nearer to
utilization with an improved em-
.oymcnt situation. The reason:
Eve have had, roughly speaking,
stable purchasing power of the
ar, which tends toward stability
prosperity" explains Professor
or.
I am rather optimistic about
IS.
Much Like Last Year
ri shouldn't expect It to be much
prosperous than 1927, but /
. see why it should be much less
,rOus.
seems to me that the fall Of
es already has stopped and that,
cnything, we are going in the
or direction.
The Federal Reserve system,
hich is now preventing any great
.flat;on or deflation, is the bulwark
of our prosperity"
Rumors have been kicking around
Washington of an impending col
apse in the stock market. OF that
possibility, Professor Fisher said:
1.-THE fundamental causes affect
ing the stock market do not, in my
opinion, indicate any important re-
cession. We are likely, because Of
the technical situation, to have q
small and sudden setback, but not
one Of any danger"
Our foreign trade is an important
item to our economic well-being,
Professor Fisher believes, but not as
important to us as it is to other ma
tions.
Europe, he says, would be much
better off if she would eliminate her
tariff barriers on the continent
and it would also help Il in this
country we would reduce our own
tariff.
Injured BY Tariff
sSome day we're going to work In
that direction in order to get for
cign markets." Professor Fisher
predicted. "In these days Of mass
production we're seeing the import
ance Of foreign markets. Many in
dustries which want to compete
abroad find tariff barrier in their
way and also find that they are in
jured indirectly even by our own
tariff.
NThe tariff Is the continuance Of
q tradition and I superstition. Our
own tariff interferes with our ex-