Evening star., 1944-06-04
Mass Distribution to BeKey
To Full Peacetime Prosperity
Cooperative and Friendly Approach to Problem
Vital if American Form of
Government Is to Survive
By Charles G.. Ross

ston says that all enterprise will be
better off if newcomers in multitudes"
enter the business field. The need of
small business are the special concern
of the Smaller War Plants Corp, of
which Maury Maverick is the head.
Suggestions of an incentive-tax plan
to encourage the formation of new busi-
ness enterprises have met with wide
spread approval both from the right
and the left.
Speed Is Essential.
There is general agreement, both here
and in England, that three separate Pc
riods will follow the war First there
will be the reconversion period, in which
a considerable degree of unemployment
must be expected. An estimate by John
H. G. Pierson, chief of the postwar divi-
sion of the Bureau of Labor Statistics,
places the probable total at from 7,0O0,-
600 to 100000. In any case, as he and
others-Kaiser and Baruch among
them-have pointed out, the outlook
calls for the utmost possible speed in
getting our productive capacity re-
vi
After the transition period will come
boom engendered by the ability of the
people to satisfy their pentup demands
out of their wartime savings. We shall
face in this period the large possibility
OF disastrous imitation. BY June 80 next,
the ''inflationary potential" hold
ings in the hands of business and indi-
viduals-will amount to $194, 600 0OO, 900.
or sum l5,00o, 900 900 greater than
the comparable figure three years earlier.
The lesson is obvious: Wartime price
controls need to be extended until such
time as industry can begin producing
enough goods to meet demand. Expendi-
lures that could be ruinous to the whole
economy will, if held over beyond the
boom period, be an important factor in
sustaining production and employment.
The Critical Period.
He would be rash prophet who would
forecast the course of events after the
expected boom of the "catching-up" Pc
Rod has run its course. Economic we'll
being on an unprecedented scale may
await us-or stagnation. All the ele-
ments needed for prosperity will be at
hand-the largest plant capacity in our
history, the largest and best-trained
work force we have ever had, manage.
ment OF proved ability to produce, in.
ventive genius, abundant raw materials.
an eager desire on the part of people to
improve their standard of living.
Whether we shall use or abuse our great
opportunity Is the question.
The problem of men and Jobs, as we
have seen, bears intimately on the farm
problem. When you create high pro-
duction and high employment you auto
matically create markets for the farmer.
Do that and there is little left of the
farm problem.
Likewise. our policy with respect to
foreign trade cannot be considered
separately from domestic issues. For
the expanding economy, without which
We cannot hope to escape mass un-
employment, we require larger volume
OF foreign trade than ever before. Our
normal exports are less than 10 per cent
OF our total production, but a break
down OF this percentage shows that for
some commodities the margin for export
speis the difference between prosperity
and depression
IL would, however, be a tragedy for
ourselves and the world if, because of
failure to provide jobs through our do
mestic measures, we should seek to pro-
vide them by pushing our exports and
Keeping out imports. We need a sound
policy OF two-way trade-the kind of
policy represented by the Hull reciprocal
trade agreements. We need this not
only Tor the sake of high standard of
living among our people, but for the
sake of world peace. Eric Johnston was
told in England that the greatest single
contribution the United States could
make to world rehabilitation was to
achieve prosperity. That is the truth.
Peace as well as employment is at stake
In our effort to establish an economy
of abundance.
Views of Economists.
The views of a number of economists
were set out at some length in the series,
including those of Robert r. Nathan in
his recently published book, "Mobilizing
for Abundance" and of DR.. Edwin G,
Nourse of the Brookings Institute in his
"Price-Making in Democracy"
1t is Nathan's thesis that "our eco
nomic salvation lies in more spending
and less saving by the people as a whole
or in large-scale Government spending. u
The book gets into highly controversial
territory in its discussion of Govern
ment spending. Nathan is of the newer
school OF economists who believe that
when the national income is high the
savings of the people outrun the possi-
bilities for private investment; hence, as
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