Forecasts Great Boom In United States

Northern Advocate, 6 September 1945, Page 5

Forecasts Great Boom In United States

WASHINGTON, Sept. 5. The director of the Economic Research Department of the United States Chamber of Commerce (Dr. Emerson Schmidt) told the Finance Committee of the Senate, which is hearing evidence on the Full Employment Bill, that American business and individuals last December ' owned 194,000.000,000 dollars in liquid assets, compared with 66,000,000.000 dollars in 1939. As a result of this and the long-pent-up demand for consumer goods, he could not help but conclude that a great boom was pending, which would last for several years. Accordingly, the debt-ridden Federal Government should not be saddled with a new liability largely for the sake of adding a few weeks of benefit payments and increasing payments to 25 dollars a week for displaced war workers, who were already receiving, by previous standards, rather liberal allowances. Increasing Real Wages Tln> Government had already undertaken a programme to raise each worker’s real wages 40 to 50 per cent, as rapidly as possible, stated the Director of Economic Stabilisation (Mr. William Davis). He added that he was confident the programme would be completed within five years. The method was to keep prices at anout present levels and to push up wages 50 per cent. A wage increase was essential to provide consumption of goods, which in turn would ensure a high level of employment.