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ATLANTA BALTIMORE BOSTON BUFFALO CHARLOTTE CHATTANOOGA CHICAGO CINCINNATI CLEVELAND DALLAS DENVER DETROIT JACKSONVILLE KANSAS CITY LOS ANGELES MINNEAPOLIS NEWARK NEW ORLEANS NEW YORK PHILADELPHIA PITTSBURGH HASKINS & S E L LS CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANTS BULLETIN EXECUTIVE OFFICES 16 BROAD STREET, NEW YORK PORTLAND PROVIDENCE SAINT LOUIS SAN DIEGO SAN FRANCISCO SEATTLE TULSA WATERTOWN BERLIN LONDON MANILA PARIS SHANGHAI HAVANA MEXICO CITY MONTREAL VOL. X I V (QUARTERLY) N E W YORK, JANUARY, 1931 No. 1 The Economic Dilemma SOCIETY, as a whole, is faced with the fact that business is not good. It is not as good as it was a year ago. The bottom of the decline may have been reached. Business may be getting no worse. Business men may be facing the future with the "hope and confident expectation" that the situation soon will be better. But business is not good. The cause, or causes, of the business condition have been discussed at great length. Individually, some of the suggestions appear to have some bearing on the matter; others seem entirely irrelevant. Collectively, the suggestions leave the situation unexplained. What to do about correcting the situation has been discussed almost as much as the causes. The recommendations have been so many and so varied as to leave one in a daze. Saving has been deplored as harmful, inasmuch as already there is too much money which cannot be employed at profitable rates. Yet, savings bank deposits are increasing, as is the volume of life insurance being written. Spending is advocated. But, here theory and practice clash. The individual of moderate means, who could spend as much, if not more, than formerly, may be in accord with the theory. When it comes to practice, the fear that conditions may become worse is likely to act as a deterrent. All but pressing needs are set aside. Demand thus is slackened. One might obtain some idea of the effect on New York stock brokers by making a comparison of shares traded in on the New York Stock Exchange. For eleven months ended November 30, 1929, the number was 1,041,023,130. For the corresponding eleven months ended November 29, 1930, the number was 751,171,364. Commissions computed on the difference of 289,851,766 shares would indicate that the purchasing power of the brokers, as individuals, has been materially decreased. A master economic mind which could dictate a business policy for the entire world, presumably would have no difficulty in straightening out the tangle in which this country is involved. The individuals who make up the masses, however, are confronted with what appears to them to be a two-horned dilemma. If they spend, they may rue it later on. If they save, they make business worse. The situation, indeed, is complicated. A perspective of the whole matter permits of conclusions which are as certain almost as time itself. The successful conduct of business is dependent upon sufficient demand to utilize the available factors of land, labor, capital, and business
Object Description
Title |
Economic dilemma |
Author |
Anonymous |
Subject |
Depressions -- 1929 -- United States |
Citation |
Haskins & Sells Bulletin, Vol. 14, no. 01 (1931 January), p. 1-2 |
Date-Issued | 1931 |
Source | Originally published by: Haskins & Sells |
Type | Text |
Collection | Deloitte Digital Collection |
Digital Publisher | University of Mississippi Libraries. Accounting Collection |
Date-Digitally Created | 2009 |
Identifier | hs bulletin 14-1-p1 |