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Show Prosperity Will Come For A Time 4 American consumers have been unable to buy some of their accustomed ac-customed products on account of the mobilization of industry for the production of war materials. Mo.st of us have looked forward to the end of the war and return of something like normalcy in domestic do-mestic markets. We have cherished cherish-ed the idea that whatever is available avail-able now can be purchased shortly short-ly after the advent of peace. While this may be true of most items, it is interesting to note that wholesalers and manufacturers plan to introduce many new lines and products. A recent survey, conducted by Dun & Eradstreet Inc., tells also that many of them intend to cultivate new classes of customers. During the first few years that follow peace, American consumers will have billions of dollars to spend. There is an enormous backlog back-log of savings to bolster buying power. When it is expended, as it. will be, the national economy will flounder unless wise policies are formulated to restore the purchas-power purchas-power of consumers and insure an equitable distribution of the national na-tional income. So far as the domestic economy of the United States is concerned, there will be reasonable prosperity so long as the laboring class and our farmers enjoy incomes sufficient suffi-cient to provide surpluses after the bare necessities of life are purchased. Any plan for continued contin-ued prosperity in the United States must revolve around provisions provi-sions to maintain the buying power pow-er of these classes. If this is done, it is quite probable that other groups of our population will not suffer. The depression which occurred during the Hoover administration j has demonstrated" that a nation can suffer severe financial distress dis-tress in the midst of abundance. We had an amazing scarcity of plenty due to the breakdown of distribution which was caused by conditions which did not assure adequate incomes to farmers and laborers. The crisis was aggravated by policies in relation to other countries coun-tries which did not permit them to buy American products and, as a result, our industries shut down to avoid unwieldy surpluses which depressed farm prices. It might be a good idea for us to analyze the basic principles of domestic trade and international commerce. In this country, our trade depends upon the opportunity opportun-ity of individuals to swap labor and goods and in the international area, the opportunity to swap between be-tween nations. Anything that interferes in-terferes with either process tends to destroy prosperity and anything that facilitates them will improve our standard of living. |