Evening star., 1949-10-09
Fund Study Foretells
Prosperous Decade,
Barring Setbocks
- By Thomos R. Corskodon
(chief, Education Department' Twentie

valued the pound and countries
around the globe are readJustlne
their trade. At home. strikes ano
the threat of strikes confront us
We wonder about our recession.
It is really over, or will there be
further setbacks? Have we the
real resources for 10 years OF prog
ress in this country?
We have. No one can foretell
the future. We may run into dis
asters and complications at home
and abroad. But one sure guide
for all of us is to take a sober
measure of our own strength. 1t
is we'll to know what we can ac-
complish, if we run our economic
machine at the high levels OF
which it is capable. Our findings
here are based on the Twentieth
Century Funds recent study
Americas Needs and Resources.
by j. Frederick Dewhurst and
Associates.
Record Is Impressive
Even a glance shows that we
have vast assets. We are by long
odds the richest, most productive
nation in human history. But
we have not reached utopia. Some
Americans still haven't enough to
eat, or to wear, or a house fit to
live in, or proper schooling OF
medical care.
Can we improve on this? Can
we raise enough food. make enough
goods, train and pay enough
teachers, doctors. ETC., to provide 8
decent minimum standard for
every living American? What kline
of goals can we reasonably ex-
pect to reach in the next lC
years?
The best starting point Is to
see what progress We have made
in the past. The record Is i'm
pressive. It shows our national
income increasing more than 1872
times from 1850 to 1910. During
the same period our working force
increased less than six and halt
times.
Obviously our rate Of output has
grown much faster than our popu-
lation. That means the average
American has had rising stand
ard of living-more money to
spend; more things to spend it on.
Do we work much longer hours
today for this much greater out
put? We do not. The exact re-
verse is true. Our average work.
ing time in 1850 was IL hours a
day for six days a week. In the
years since, the average work.
week has declined to 43 hours IN
1910.
Productivity Is Key
The measure of our whole past
achievement, as well as our fu-
ture prospects, lies in one vital
factor-productivity. or output per
man-hour work. Here we have
shown spectacular increases since
1850. An average hours work in
1850 produced only one-f1fth In
goods and services of what it pro-
duces today.
Producing more goods and serv-
ices per hour of work makes our
progress possible This gives us
more output to divide up. It car
be distributed In the form OF
higher wages to workers. lower
prices to consumers, more money
plowed back into the business
itself. or greater yield to owners
and managers. Usually. in our past
experience, we have had some
combination of these results.
The increase in output per houl
of work has been 18 per cent fol
each 10 years, averaged over all
the decades between 1850 and now
This means that each 10 years on
the average we have been able tt
turn out almost one-f1fth more
goods and services for each man.
hour of work. Can a man work
that much harder, that much
faster? He cannot. There are
limits to human effort. The key
to our spectacular increase in out.
put per hour of work lies in that
shining core of modern civiliza.
tion-machine power.
Back in 1850, machines supplied
only tiny 6 per cent of the power
used in doing the country's work
The big contribution was anima
-power-horses, oxen and mules
human sweat and muscle furn'
ished most of the rest.
Contrast this with modern times
BY 1880 animals were furnished
only one eighth of the power WI
used and humans were down tt
4 per cent. Mineral fuels-chiefly
coal, oil, natural gas-and watel
power were the vast sources o.