Shades of '29

The prosperous, booming days of '29 were brought back again last week-- on paper. The Department of Commerce reported first-quarter national income (all salaries, dividends, etc., received by U.S. citizens) as $19,516,000,000. This is up 10% from the first quarter of 1940, up 75% from bottom-scraping 1933, only 1.6% below record-breaking 1929. The comparisons in millions of $:

1929 1933 1941

January 6,937 4,044 6,544

February 6,342 3,535 6,187

March 6,553 3,513 6,785

Quarter 19,832 11,092 19,516

In terms of per capita purchasing power, this 1941 income was well above 1929 (because cost of living is still down 17%). By March nonagricultural employment had reached 37,218,000, highest figure for the month in history. But many a citizen has less buying power to spend on himself than he had twelve years ago. Reason: taxes. Although the U.S. is producing more real wealth than ever before in history, much more of the wealth goes for bureaucracy, much more of it for guns, and only what is left is for butter.

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