THE K I N G ’ S BUS I NES S
February, 1942
47
spot.” On every side, risky, unin formed, unplanned moves are' being made by people with large and small amounts of worldly goods.- Frustra tion is Common; worry runs rampant. Serenity is at a premium, except at the Wednesday night prayer meeting, where, eyen in 1942, you find an over whelming percentage of folks of the old-fashioned type, who, in the lan guage of 1 Timothy 2:2,- “lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.” AH, this comment is not intended to mean that the financial future will be easy for either Christians or unbe lievers, particularly those in many “white-collar” occupations. For in stance, eggs could go to 92 cents a dozen, sugar to 26 cents a pound, flour to 8 cents a pound, butter to 76 cents a po,und, and pork chops to 50 cents a pound. They all reached these prices in 1920. In certain European countries cur rencies were terribly injured by World War I deficits. Fifty dollars in Ameri can money changed into marks at Munich was worth only five’ dollars seven hours later in Frankfort. Reck less Conduct in monetary affairs de veloped out of the insane confusion of monetary and fiscal affairs. At tempting to pay impossible sUms, Germany made recourse to the print ing of money. Paper marks were printed until.the paper mache house collapsed and at the end marks were worth more as paper than as money. What Can the Nation Do? With Washington lies your protec tion and mine for any fruits of thrift or industry. Congress and the credit agencies with prudent fiscal policies and p r a c t i c e s are our S a f e g u a r d . T h e American p e o ple w i l l learn the meaning of t h è transition from ,“ butter to guns.” As a na tion we cannot escape a deficit for some years to c o m e , but we must escape a sprawling, uncon trolled deficit. Price control will be helpful. There are many obstacles, many . diverse factors, and. tatfeS must get at income where it is most rapidly expanding. Voluntary savings must really take hold. Tighter credit Control must come; installment buying must be cut further. Hoarding already in evi dence must be headed off. Inflation, the enemy that paves the [ Continued on Page 77]
here to stay. But here as always the Bible.-: believing Christian has the “ edge.” He kno&s of a great leveling that > took place at Calvary nineteen hundred years ago. The Christian finds that the regenerated man is 'able to stand more leveling as far as this world is concerned, with less con fusion and hysteria, with more, calm and assurance than any one else in the world. Men are uncVer tremendous pressure these days. In a recent train wreck investigation, the railroad official in terviewed frankly stated that it "was his opinion that world turmoil, plus the- railroad strike then impending, resulted in a confused state of mind on the part of the crew members,-so that, even the trainmen who were in volved, old, seasoned, conservative workers, were not themselves. Con tinual strikes in other industries, the effects of conscription on the homes, together with numerous other prob lems, put them in a mental state that made impossible good railroading. “They reel fp and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wit’s end” (Psa. 107:27). What Can Men Do? Humanly speaking, there is no real hedge against inflation. Business is “ subject to change without notice.” People must plan ahead for a rising price level. There is seemingly no way by which an individual can with reasonable surety protect himself against an inflationary process. So cial-economic developments, changes now on foot, can impair the worth of all property. What to do about inflation? The man in the street wants to know.
Causes of Inflation Fear — with the reality — of infla tion is already abroad in our' land. Food, clothing, rent—all of the budget is UP! Meat, potatoes, bread and vege tables, suits, dresses — groceries and wearing apparel are UP! Re-arma ment! And now war! The decision to re-arm was the event that brought on rising prices. Armaments, Army food, uniforms,- shoes, and building mate rials—these are in added demand, and that by train and by shipload. So, on to the side track and into curtailed production go automobiles, refrigera tors, washing machines, metal furni ture, household fixtures, and many items of consumer goods. Government buying reminds you of “Alice in Wonderland.” Millions of yards of flannel shirting, millions of bath towels, hundreds of thousands of Army shoes, and a similar number of yards of serge, cloth! Then an amaz ing array of tires and brushes, tents and blankets, utensils, gadgets by the million! That all brings about dis tension, abnormal expansion) short ages, and inflation. -Why bring that up? Because you, Christian reader,, will be affected! What do we mean by inflation? With more money to spend irt the hands of the average person, due to the fast- rising wage scale, the “demand pot” is boiling. The supply of goods is the same or even smaller. We have been •helping to feed and equip Britain, China, Russia, and portions of France as well as Some of the occupied coun tries. Fully 60 per cent of our total in dustrial capacity must be employed in our war effort. Tanks and ships, planes and guns, shells and cannon are on the assembly and production
lines. We face a r e v o 1u t ion in production and Consumption, as well as in buy ing habits and income distribu tion. No m o r e business as us ual! Among oth er factors, more money plus less goods equals in flation.
Only the most unusual can escape the consequences! The requisites for successfully pulling through a period of inflation with worldly possessions intact are: speculative agility and judgment in the highest degree; fore sight equivalent to the mystical “sixth sense,” and courage that quails be fore no conceivable^ risks. Individuals with such capabilities are rare, one in a million. Through all this emergency, the Christian possessed of sanctified com mon sense finds himself in a “top
Effects upon Men So now, “both low and high-, rich and poor, together” (Psa. 49:2) you, all of us, are facing complex, conflict ing forces and desires. Farmers qnd Labor, both with important lobbies in Congress-, exhibiting the expected amount of selfishness, are pulling and hauling, every one trying to come out of this maelstrom with as few injuries as possible. A great leveling process has been going on among our populace; it is
Made with FlippingBook HTML5