OCR Text |
Show Policies Governing Prices of Ice Boxes, Stoves, Bicycles Policies governing the prices of a long list of reconversion items such as ice boxes, bicycles, stoves, and several hundred others, oth-ers, is outlined by OPA Administrator Adminis-trator Chester A. Bowles in a special communication to the war price and rationing boards. "Prices must not be set too low," said Mr. Bowles, "they mav add to a dangerous drop in national na-tional purchasing power, and pave the way for another depression. de-pression. If set too high, savings and current dollar incomes will be dissipated to pay unnecessarily unneces-sarily high prices, and a booming inflation may set in followed by the inevitable callapse. Our pricing policies should encourage the fullest possible production of goods and services at the lowest possible prices to the consumer. Unless American industry produces pro-duces to the limit of its power, there will be an increased danger of depression and eventual collapse, col-lapse, and widespread unemployment." unemploy-ment." Mr. Bowles stated "that it would be well to remember the circumstances surrounding the end of World War I when prices dropped slightly then started a dizzy spiral until the bubble burst in May, 1920. In a year and a half, factory payrolls dropped 44 per cent, farm income dropped 66 per cent, corporation profits, after taxes, fell 101 per cent wiping out almost completely the business reserves accumulated during the war period. Industrial prices today are less than 3 per cent above the levels of May, 1942 The cost of living index for the nation has risen 10 per cent since price control became effective. It would be folly, in our anxiety for peacetime production, to repeat re-peat the bitter mistakes of 1918-1919." |