OCR Text |
Show check fill facts en price hikes In the months ahead, prices are almost certain to rise. This was the opinion of spokesmen in the retail food distribution industry even before the guideline principle in wage negotiations was officially abandoned. abandon-ed. Many observers expect major strikes to take place in key industries. The inevitable result will be higfer prices, and as prices rise, there will one;' again be a tendency to put the blame on the retail distributor, who must pss along to consumers the ultimate consequence of inflation. , The- irony of the situation is that even as government govern-ment fiscal policies encourage inflation and higher prices, press releases will be pouring out of Washington Washing-ton describing the valiant efforts of public officials to hold the line- and protect consumers by imposing more controls, more regulations and more curbs on a free market. People should realize that current living standards nvrt lrt.,l.. It AT I. '1 J A M i aic laigcij- a. ui uie uiabs ieia.il uis Li luuuon ;;ys- tem that evolved as a partner to mass production. It is based on competition in a free market a market in which supply and demand and consumer choice inexorably in-exorably weed out the unscrupulous and the inefficient merchant. The effectiveness of mass distribution, as -we know it today, is attested to by the fact that the modern supermarket or chain retail distributor is a leader in small net profit per dollar of sales. The next time you are tempted to pin down the man across the counter from you with the comment that "the way prices are going up you people must be i making a fortune," pause for a moment in the name of i Jfaftneis' Check the facts. --- |