The Wilmington morning star. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1909-1990, 1945-03-16
INCREASED COSTS
SEEN AFTER WAR
By ROGER w. BABSON

BABSON PARh, Mass, NAoA vi
15.-It may cost you 20 per cent
more to live after the war than
it did before Hitler blew the Id
off in 1889. in other words, your
1899 dollar may then probably be
onlv 80 cents. Since your pay en-
velope will probably be thinner
than it is now, this is something
to worry about. :,
Here is what the bespectacled
,rofessor means when he warns
vou that the cost-of-lving is going
10 zoom: He means that your gro
cerv bill will be bigger than be-
fore the war, even though you buy
the same amount of food. He
means that you will pay $3.50 tor
an overcoat when you used to pay
$40. Your fuel, laundry, and Ice
bills are going to edge higher. That
cents candy bar will shrink in
size or swell in price to 6 cents
or 7 cents. The landlord, the furnl-
ture dealer, the ticket seller,-they
will all "put the bite" on your
weekly pay envelope for bigger
chew than before Hitler.
After World War I the cost-of-
living reached peak which Was
more than Is per cent above our
present abnormally high levels.
That established the all-time rec
ord for this country. Since there
were then none of the controls
which the present government has
imposed, cost Of the average mar
ket basket increased about 100 per
cent to its 100 top. Housewives
who were buying food at that time
Gutter at $1.OO pound; sugar
at Is cents are not 50 afraid of
postwar prospects as our younger
people who have become used to
depression prices.
AS matter of fact, living costs
are at present averaging close to
those of 1925-1926, and are only
2 per cent or 3 per cent above
1929. This is high enough to give
you consumers plenty Of head
aches. Today is none too soon to
start the wise practice Of getting
the most for your money. After
the war, when prices ara still high
and total take-home pay is con-
siderably lower, you will benefit
from this experience. SeIective
shopping may then be the only
way to maintain living standards
for the average family.
For a long time I have preach
ed the doctrine of Bargain shop
ping. When the Japs are knocked
Gut this is going to be more i'm
portant than ever. Right now there
isn't. much choice OF brands on
grocers' shelves, but after the war
it will be a differenct story. You
should be able to keep your living
costs down to a remarkable extent
by buying tbs less widely adver-
tised grades of canned goods, the
less popular cuts Of meat, day-old
bread and cake, etc. They are
just as nourishing and palatable as
the more expensive foods.
Here is my forecast Of the pat
tern Of living costs over the years
ahead: There is not likely to be
any great change until the Europe
an conflict is ended. Not long after
that happy event, the outlook is for
soma deflationary pressure on the
cost-of-living. Unemployment and
the shifting of full war focus to
the Pacific area is bound temper
arily to curtail public demand for
goods.
Reconversion will begin to take
hold shortly thereafter. Combined
with the still-high Jap-war produc-
ton, civilian output will begin to
take up the slack in employment
and ease the buying reluctance of
the public. By the time the Nip
ponese yell 'Uncle!", Cor their
equivalent for it,, the cost-of-liv-
ing should be moving gradually
upward again.
From then on, the picture de-
ponds partly upon whether or not
price curbs are maintained. II the
controls are thrown out by a Con-
gress weary of wartime restraints,
get ready for real limitation pan
ic". If curbs are approved, there
will still be pressure on the up
side, but it will be reasonable
From my studies, both political and
economic, I have come to the con-
clusion that the living cost run,
away Of 1920 will not be repeated
after this war.
Rather, some system of price
controls may 60 on for several
years. I have spoken out in favor
OF this procedure before. 1 repeat
at this time that without the OPA
or some such agency, We would
now be a lot worse off. And we
are, in my humble judgment, CO.
ing to see a continued centralized
control Of prices from the nations
capital. However, such will not
succeed in preventing initiation: but
will only postpone and soften its
evil effects. W. will ,do,+ +ho