8 Miracles Ahead! 



by; for the railroads will carry more and more freight and 

 fewer passengers, a prospect, incidentally, that does not 

 wholly displease them. There is a far greater profit in freight 

 service than in passenger service. The more planes there are 

 in operation, the more freight the railroads will carry; for 

 the manufacture and operation of planes mean more trans- 

 portation of oil, coal, ore, steel, machinery of all kinds. 



The manufacture of thousands of prefabricated houses, new 

 cars, helicopters, planes, and household appliances will obvi- 

 ously call for a vast army of salesmen, brokers, agents, and 

 promoters nearly five times as many as were needed during 

 the nineteen-twenties. Servicemen by the thousands will be 

 needed for repair and maintenance work on these homes, cars, 

 and aircraft. The need for thousands of small businesses will 

 automatically appear as the new patterns of living become 

 crystallized. 



Another slant on postwar business worth keeping in mind 

 is the fact that for more than a decade before we entered the 

 world conflict we went through the most critical period of 

 underconsumption (compared with our productive capacity) 

 in our history. By 1939 there were miles upon miles of build- 

 ing surfaces in need of paint and repair from coast to coast, 

 miles upon miles of plumbing and plumbing equipment hardly 

 fit for use and, in many cases, a menace to community health. 

 There were millions of homes in which electrical appliances, 

 furniture, draperies, and fixtures had become worn, shabby, 

 or broken and in need of replacement. Before these needs 

 could be supplied, we entered the war and the curtailment of 

 goods for consumer use began. To sum up the undercon- 

 sumption of the necessities has gone on in this country for 

 nearly fifteen years! Meanwhile millions of Americans have 

 been earning higher wages and salaries than ever before. 



Barring inflation or some unforeseen eventuality, we have 

 reason to expect a boom of greater proportions than anything 



