The Kennewick courier-reporter. [volume] (Kennewick, Wash.) 1939-1949, 1939-07-13

Issued thursdays by The KEN
Member Of National Editoria.
Subscription $500 year
The Courier, est. March ~, !
Entered as Second Glass matte
ECONOMIC HIGHLIGHTS
As we progress into summer. bust
ness seems to be taking steady, j
somewhat slow, turn for the bett r
For a considerable number of week.
. well-supported recovery" move.
nent has raised the industrial ac-
tivity indexes A representative in
dex Business Weeks touched the
100 mark toward the end Of June
marking q rs point betterment over
the same period q year before. Fore
cast IS that the barometer will reach
and may pass the los level during
the summer. All the forecasters
apparently feel certain that i'm
provement will continue into the
fall at least.
As has happened in most of the
previous upward movements, the
dominant part Is being played by
the consumers goods industries
the makers and distributors of those
many articles which all of us buy,
use, and wear out at regular inter-
walls. Retail trade, as is to he .ex-
pected, is doing nicely. The capital
goods industries, on the other hand,
present far less optimistic pic,
ture. Residential building is keeping
some Of them going at fair levels
now-but when fall and winter
come, there will almost certainly be-
q sharp let-dovn in building. There
Is comparatively little non-residen-i
tial building. aside from q certain
amount Of government work, going
on. So the heavy goods industries,
ON which the bulk Of employment
and purchasing power In this cosln-
try depends, must exist largely on
the outlet for goods offered byi|
home constrlrction-and that is not
q healthy state Of affairs. If, for In
stance, federal subsidizatton Of homeiI
building were to be stopped, it couldi|
be expected that the severest sort; i
OF Depression would instantly hit |
the basic industries.
Even In the consumers goods
8leld, there are number Of dubious !
factors. Most important Is the fact
that the relatively high level Of
consumer purchasing power Is made
possible to large extent by FEEDER
81 spending. The Federal cast def
fcit Is now running about 500, OOO,-
600 monthly. The total deficit for
the 1889 fiscal year will be around
$500. 000, 600 exceeded only by the
1886 deficit of $4,550, 10000 That
brings with it the prospect of high
er taxes and Of new taxes, which is
. strong deterrent to capital in
vestment. Many a business has dis
covered that. under todays condi-
tions, 1t is possible to do more
business and yet earn less profit,
and when that is true it becomes
hard to coax dollars out of investors
for potentially productive purposes.
Another bad factor is the ap-
proach Of next years general cleo
ton. It's an old tradition that bus
mess sits tight and pursues pol {
Icy Of watchful waiting in Presi- Is
Dental election year-that Is likely |
to be doubly true in these times with |
the bitterest sort of battle between |
conservative" and liberal forces l
within both parties, pending. IL
So the outlook remains confused | I
there are so many changing fact s
ors to be weighed that it approaches {
the height Of folly to attempt to
evaluate conditions year or two
hence. In the meantime, you can
be reasonably certain that business
vii gradually get better during the
next few months, and that the high
reached this year will be at least
equal to that reached last.
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