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Show False Economic Theories Held Cause Of Present Inflation By Albert S. Gross Master of the National Grange Inflation inthe Uuited States has reached its most serious stage. Unsound policies have been pursued from the outset in an effort to gain political favor, and we are now paying through the nose. We have continually followed the false assumption that we could devote our chief energies to the destruction of wealth which accompanies war without any personal sacrifice on the part of our citizens in paying the bill. We have been unwilling unwil-ling to accept the fact that such destruction calls for personal economic sacrifice, and we have been chasing the rainbow of everybody living better amid such destruction, until we have thrown our economy sharply out of balance. We started out on the false assumption that inflation could be controlled by price ceilings, but we were not even consistent in that, and . for months specifically speci-fically opposed any effort to include in-clude wage controls. With some brief exceptions that general policy was followed throughout the war. war. The greatest blunder of all was when we yielded to the demands of labor in certain key industries representing the highest paid labor in the nation's history. We increased wage rates by nearly 20 percent-far percent-far above any increased living costs-and promised to hold the line against any increase In prices. Of course, this could not be done without creating ruinous shortages and adding to the inflationary in-flationary pressures which must some day be met. Just as appeasement ap-peasement policy in foreign a-f a-f fairs brought war, so a similiar policy in our war on Inflation will lead to disaster. After having placed our lull reliance for inflation control on price ceilings and subsidies, without regard to how they build up inflationary pressures, it will be very difficult to bring our economy back into a self-sustaining balance again; but if every move is mapped carefully and -with due regard to sound economic principals our economy econ-omy can be brought into balance. |