portion of the country's buying power. This would have 

 eliminated some of the unspent income that comprises the 

 "inflationary gap" about which a few are much concerned. 



One Way to Lap Up Excess Purchasing Power 



The Russians apparently have one solution for the prob- 

 lem. They fix prices and ration food, but do not attempt to 

 control all prices or ration all foods or even all the supply of 

 one kind of food. 



TABLE 3. RATIONED AND MARKET PRICES OF 

 FOOD IN RUSSIA* 



* Kerr, W.: New York Herald Tribune, May 18, 1943, page 21. 



t One kilo equals about two and one-fifth pounds. 



J Based on regular exchange rate when the ruble is worth 19 cents. 



Walter Kerr, the New York Herald Tribune's able corre- 

 spondent, presents a vivid picture of a typical Moscow work- 

 ing family 4 in time of war. They are paid according to the 

 piecework system. The family income varies from 1,330 to 

 1,940 rubles per month, which at the regular exchange rates 

 is equal in amount to about $250 to $375 per month. The 

 family spends about half of its income for the usual non-food 

 items in the cost of living. The other half of the income is 



4 The father is a lathe operator; the wife, a textile weaver; the sixteen- 

 year-old son an apprentice in a machine shop, and the twelve-year-old daugh- 

 ter goes to school. 



