The potters herald. [volume] (East Liverpool, Ohio) 1899-1982, 1948-01-22

Almost every person who can
call himself an economist--and
that is taking in lot Of territory
lis spending part Of his time
currently in predicting when we
shall have new round Of wage in
creases and for how much.
Most of them are guessing at
around 15%s, because that has been
somewhat the pattern Of the out
standing previous cases and be-
cause it is easy to say. Many Of
them get around to guessing at
around 1917 as the settling point.
Why don't economists spend
some of their time helping to fig
ure out a way Of stabilizing our
economy?
OF course the writing economists
can bat off a column Of predictions
with ease and the days pay is
made. (This one is fairly easy,
too).
/ But there are plenty Of non
writing economists and from them
there ought to come an effort that
would help stop the business OF
tail-chasing by the economic dog.
We have to conclude, it seems to
me, that too many economists are
tcfg OF Ill h1nf
playing around with something
that ought to be "A science, but
that isn't.
A lot of things go into deciding
whether or not there are to be de
mands for wage increases, just as
there are a lot of things that go in
to fixing a price on a new gadget,
or on a new washing machine.
Among those things are such
items as taxes, as well as the price
of bread and meat and potatoes
and coffee and butter.
A patchwork tax method, put
together by crazy-quilt methods, is
factor in wage-making as well as
in price-making.
So are many of our laws, includ-
ing the TIL law.
Another and a magnificent fact
or, is the constant propaganda for
higher standards of living. If you
create the appetite for a piano you
are going to create the need and
pretty soon the demand for income
that will make it possible to have a
piano and also to buy music for it.
Sooner or later the demand is
created and sooner or later you get
the expression Of the demand. In
timately will come the showdown
on getting it.
We create, purposely and wisely,
an ever-broader demand for the
benefits of higher education, for
better mosquito control, for better
health measures, for better care of
dependent children and so on,
through a long list of items.
These things have to be paid for,
either directly by the individual, or
through taxes.
And to pay bigger list of bills, !
there must be a higher income.
But of course, always at the bot
tom is the basic question of what
is known as the cost of living, |
which is calculated on a list of
basic items, such as food, clothing,
housing, entertainment and medi-
cal expenses.
However, even though cost of
living is at the base, the founda-
tion cost, so to speak, its not the
whole of living, nor is it the only
item in developing wage demands.
At this point the joker gets into
the deck. For, while wage demands
are based upon great collection
of items, manufacturers and vend-
ors have a habit of adding it all to
price, with the outcome too often a
price increase that is greater than
the. wage increase.
1t is probable that completely /
stable economy is unattainable and
probably it isn't even desirable. A
stable economy might mean a sta
tic society and something about
life refuses to remain static. Some
thing about science and invention
also rejects the idea of static SOC
iety.
But let us look now at some
thing like a final conclusion, which
society and especially employers
must learn to recognize.
In the constant merry-go-round
about wages and prices, the condi-
tion Of the masses of the people
MUST improve. Somehow, people
must get ahead of where they were.
That means that there cannot al
ways be a readjustment of price to
meet new wage rates. Perhaps
there must be greater productivity, ,
not through more tired backs, but
I brourb hattar t,,atbodc