Evening star., 1945-01-09
than full employment under th
stress Of war.
Spending and Investments
Must Jump 50 Per Cent.

tnan 1uli employment under the
stress Of war.
Spending and Investments
Must Jump 50 Per Cent.
Manifestly, full employment In
peacetime can be assured only when
the reduction in war demand is
approximately offset by additional
peacetime demand from the mil
lions of consumers, businesses, and
farmers, and by Federal, State. and
local governments. And that means
that consumers expenditures and
business investments must increase
by about so per cent, measured in
constant prices, above the level Of
the year 1889 If full employment
is to be provided by private en-
terprise.
Consumers purchases of durable
goods. business nonwar investments
and capital outlays of the govern
ments for nonwar purposes have
been so low during recent years that
a large backlog of demand will be
carried over into the postwar period.
Individuals, however, will buy the
new car or build the new home only
if they feel secure in their jobs:
businessmen will expand plant and
buy new machinery only If they feel
confident of profitable markets for
additional products.
The American people have learned
during the war the measure of their
productive capacity, and they viii
remember that experience in the
peace to come. 1t is the responsible
ity of business enterprise to trans
late market opportunities into en-
ployment and production. 1t is tho
responsibility of the Government to
hold open the door of opportunity
and to assure sustained markets.
Then and only then can frie enter
prise provide jobs.
Full Employment in Peace
Stake in World Stability.
Full employment after the war Il
not only a matter of immediate SELF
interest, but also part of our stake In
world stability and prosperity. Other
countries are anxiously awaiting tho
development of our policy and Will
be more willing to make interna-
tional commitments If they are as
sured of high postwar employment
in the United States. They are fully
aware that international co-opera-
ton cannot succeed unless the
United States is prosperous.
We must attack the employment
problem on every front.
For instance. we must overhaul
the wartime tax structure to stimu-
late consumers demand and to pro-
mote business investment. The ele-
ments of such q tax program should
be developed now so that 1t can be
put into effect after victory
We must make sure that there
are opportunities for new and
growing business. The national and
international policies which we
adopt now-affecting trade. credit,
investment, and competition and
monopoly-largely determine future
business and employment oppor-
tunities.
We must develop the human
standards and material resources
of the Nation, which in turn will
tend to increase our productivity
and most effectively support busi-
ness expansion and employment.
Our program should include pro-
vision for extended social security,
including medical care: for better
education, public health and nu-
triton; for the improvement of our
homes, cities and farms; and fov
the development of transportation :
facilities and river valleys. We
must plan now SO that these pro-
grams can become effective when
manpower and material are avail
able.
I shall from time to time submit
to the Congress recommendations
for legislative measures to imple-
ment our rehabilitation program
and to assure jobs for all return
ing war veterans and discharged
war workers.
Our productive achievements dur
ing the war have demonstrated
once and for all the progress which
this Nation can support, the prog
ress which viii be required II all
our resources are to be put to ade-
quate peacetime use. The war,
however, viii also leave US deep
distortions In our economic Life
which must be overcome. We owe
1t to those who give everything that
We set our sights a. high for peac4
as We set them for war.