| Show p A BRUTAL TRUTH A check of what is happening to the aver aver- average age family budget is revealing According to US News World Report a married man with two children earning a year or a week must now pay a tax and inflation squeeze of each week Broken down into individual items his de de- de deductions look Jook like this federal income tax 1319 social security tax state income tax estimate for typical state sales tax estimate for typical state local property tax estimate for typical state inflation tax due to annual rises in liv living ing costs The tax and inflation squeeze rises rapidly as family income IO goes S UP This is the brutal truth of rising living costs never recognized in the official solicitude for conS con sumers as manifested in countless proposals for controls and restrictions The free market and competitive mass distribution provide the best assurance that consumers will continue to enjoy the highest possible living standards commensurate with the times Much is heard about curbing what theorists call frills of the marketplace These include such things as eye catching packages promotion and advertising These frills are the best evidence that the consumer is still king in the supermarket Advertising and promotion stimulate con con- consumption and lead to higher volume sales and the lowest practicable prices This is the secret of mass distribution In countries whEre markets are rigidly controlled there is no need to promote or advertise There is not enough h to go o around anyway The consumer r takes what he can get and considers himself lucky In countries like the US where the papers are filled with advertisements of food and merchandise bargains and merchants offer such enticements as the popular trading stamp which is redEemable in valuable goods one may be certain that the economic system is basically healthy The squEeze 00 on our liv liv living ing standards comes from inflation and taxes nowhere else |
