Show REAL COST JS IS THE BIG THING the number of dollars or pounds or rubles or any other currency a worker earns is not in itself important what is important is what they will buy thus the price charged for any commodity should be measured by what is known as real cost that is the amount of time that must be worked to earn enough to buy it A recent comparison based on bureau of labor statistics on real costs in the two metro polices of moscow and new york city is striking and important in russia all the means of production and distribution with a few unimportant exceptions are state own owned ed there is no competition in any recognized sense of the word on either the manufacturing manufacture or retailing level in this country by contrast factories are free to produce what they think the people want stores are free to stock it there is intense competition all along the line and the consumer has complete freedom of choice how do the two diverse systems compare in actual physical results in moscow the aver average agre worker must work to earn money to buy a pound of choice beef and minutes in the case of a dozen eggs in new york the figures are 22 minutes and 21 minutes in moscow the worker must put in 42 days of time to get enough money for an overcoat and 32 days for a table model radio in new york the respective figures are 3 days and 13 hours the difference is similarly great with other foods and products you might keep this in mind next time you go shopping and mentally give free enterprise a little of the credit it deserves |