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CHAPTER 10 



CEILING PRICES, RATIONING, 

 AND SUBSIDIES 



WHEN the nation committed itself to setting ceiling prices, 

 it unthinkingly bargained for a rationing system. Then, with 

 production discouraged because of low prices, subsidies were 

 inevitably called for. Price-fixing, rationing, and subsidies 

 are the three-legged stool of a regimented economy. The first, 

 the announcing of fixed prices, is relatively painless and cost- 

 less. The second, rationing, is both painful and expensive. 

 The third, subsidy, is an expensive intoxicant that results in 

 a nation-wide hangover. 



These Are Methods of Buying Off the Public 



The consumer always wants low prices. Through price 

 ceilings he got them. The downtrodden third has always 

 wanted equality with the princes of privilege. Through ra- 

 tioning the bricklayer now gets as much meat and gasoline 

 as the banker. Laborers have always wanted high wages for 

 their labor. Through hidden subsidies the country is moving 

 in that direction. 



These crutches do not lead to economic well-being any 

 more than the process of taking in one another's washing. 





