DID you ever see a small boy hit his 

 thumb with a hammer and then 

 blame the hammer for the acci- 

 dent? 



Sometimes men do the same thing, 

 although they may use somewhat 

 stronger language to express them- 

 selves. Of course it is foolish to blame 

 the hammer. 



In recent months some people have 

 been acting and talking just as fool- 

 ishly about wages and costs of living. 

 These persons claim to represent con- 

 sumers, and undoubtedly they do in- 

 fluence much consumer opinion. They 

 say that consumers' pocketbooks are be- 

 ing hard hit by the high cost of food. 

 This is not much more sensible than the 

 boy complaining about the hammer hit- 

 ting his thumb, because it is consumers 

 themselves who determine prices of 

 butter, meat, eggs, potatoes and similar 

 foods. 



Many consumers doubt this state- 

 ment, because they know that the action 

 of one housewife alone has no visible 

 influence on prices. What they fail to 

 recognize is that the combined buying 

 activities of 140,000,000 consumers can 

 and do set prices on foods. 



Consumer demand has increased 130 

 per cent since 1935-1939. For each ten 

 dollar bill in Saturday pay envelopes 

 in those years, there are no\\' tu<o tens 

 and three ones. Six of these dollars 

 have been added since the original OPA 

 price ceilings wpre established in 1942. 

 When this larger amount of money is 

 spent at food counters, it forces prices 

 upward. 



To be sure, the quantity of food of- 

 fered for sale has some influence on 

 prices, but supplies of food in the 

 United States change very little from 

 year to year. Therefore, most of the 

 changes in food prices are due to 

 changes in consumer demand. 



Take butter for example. Before the 

 days of OPA price fixing, butter pro- 



duction was remarkably steady. Cows 

 did not go on strike, but worked seven 

 days each week, as did the farmers who 

 owned them. Butter production aver- 

 aged from 16 to 18 pounds per person 

 each year. Consumers bought this but- 

 ter at their own prices. 



At the beginning of World War I 

 (1914), butter brought 34 cents a 

 pound. By 1920 consumers had a lot 

 more money, and paid dG cents for 

 their butter. Consumer incomes then 

 declined for two years, and butter 

 prices dropped to 45 cents a pound. 

 With more money in their pockets 

 again in 1929, consumers bid up butter 

 prices to 53 cents. Three years later 

 consumers were willing to pay only 26 

 cents for butter, and they obtained nor- 

 mal quantities at that price. In 1942 

 consumers were still thinking in terms 

 of depression prices, and they bought 

 butter for 45 cents. 



At the end of June, 1946, butter 

 price ceilings were around 62 to 64 

 cents a pound. When these ceilings 

 expired on the first of July, some deal- 

 ers asked 80 cents a pound. Many con- 

 sumers refused to buy at this price, and 

 this consumer action brought prices 

 down to about 70 cents at the end of 

 the month. This price was about six 

 cents less than the previous OPA ceil- 

 ing plus the 14 cent subsidy. 



For 45 years hog producers have sup- 

 plied between 6o and 75 pounds of 

 pork per person per year. Pork cannot 

 be stored in large quantities, nor for 

 long periods of time. It must be sold 

 to consumers at prices they are willing 

 to pay. The following table shows how 

 consumers have changed pork prices 

 from year to year. 



July 31, 1946, estimated 38c 



Beef also goes to consumers at their 

 own prices. For 25 years beef produc- 

 tion has been about 50 to 60 pounds 

 per person per year. It is always sold 

 at prices which consumers are willing 

 to pay for it. The high's and low's of 

 these prices are shown in the following 

 table : 



July 31, 1946, estimated 52c 



Farmers have always provided an 

 adequate supply of potatoes, usually 

 about 130 pounds per person p>er year, 

 for the last 20 years. Before World 

 War I, consumers bought potatoes at 

 11/2 to 2 cents a pound. In 1920 con- 

 sumers had a great deal more money, 

 so they paid 6.4 cents a pound. A year 



THE 



SETS 



CONSUMER 



THE 



i^ 



By L. H. SIMERL 



10 



L A. A. HBCORD 



