Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1955-05-01
Our Technology Ronks First Among Factors
Thut Will Keep U. S. Prosperous in Future

labor force-and manage quite
handily to feed the two-thirds Of
the population who are classified
as urban"
'Symbiosis'
In the development Of this sym.
biotic relationship. each one-the
farmer and the city man-has be-
come a bit of a parasite on the
other. Philosophically this may be
disturbing. Economically, 1t has
worked out well.
Today, the average Americans
living standard-based on Just about
everything from flush toilets to
money in the banks not only the
highest in the world, but about five
times as high as the global average.
This standard. of course, is based on
productivity, of which Americas ID
also the worlds highest.
A few tired-but nevertheless VAL
id-statistics bring this fact into
focus. Suppose a worker sets out
to provide his family with a pound
of wheat -four. a pound loaf of bread,
q pound of butter, a pound Of cheese,
a dozen eggs and a pound each Of
potatoes, lard and sugar. How long
will he have to work at his "aver-
age factory job" to make enough to
buy this market-basket?
In the United States in 1850, If he
started to work at 8 am, he would
have his groceries paid for by 9:38
am. In Australia, another high
living standard country. he would
have to work till 1908 am. In
Canada, he would be finished at
1918; in Great Britain, 10:48. In
the Soviet Union. he would work all
the way around the clock and still
have 2 hours and IL minutes to 60
before earning enough for his fam
ily's groceries.
Automation's Role
In future American efforts to make
individual human lives more useful
and more enjoyable. attenuation
looms large. This new technology"
really an improvement of old tech
nology-was described in some de-
tail in The Star of April 3, 1855.
The Dewhurst report sees automa-
ton in the coming years taking
over the monotonous routine jobs OF
industry and freeing the human
workers for creative Intellectual
effort"
In a detailed look at 1960-which
most of us are likely to be here to
check on-the Dewhurst report sees
United States population up from
its 1850 level of 1878 million to
lit million. The total labor force
will grow from 64.6 million in 1850
to somewhere between II and u
million at the next census. Unem-
ployment probably won't rise much.
which means the increased labor
force will find ample job opportu-
mites.
There is some reason to look for
drop in the average work week.
from 40 hours to something around
37Aa, or possibly as low as So. Ma
tional income per man-hour should
rise sufficiently so that the worker
with shorter hours in 1860, should
have about the same real income
as he had with longer hours 10
years earlier.
Along with industrial technology.
medical science is making advances.
with the result that the nfe-span
Is increasing. So there will be more
old people beyond the normal
working age) to be supported by
those in the labor force. And con-
tinued prosperity will mean q con-
tinued high birth rate. For the next
few years, the size of the labor force
will be shrinking relative to the size
of the whole population. even though
both are gaining numbers. When the
postwar baby crop gets old enough
to join the labor force, working
population will again start to grow
In relation to the national total.
But expansion Of the economy
should take care of these eligibles.
There should, in short, be plenty
Of work for everyone In the coming
years-and plenty of time In which
to enjoy the fruits of that labor.