Dollars Make Poor Eating; C. L. Dickinson

We know, also, that we face a problem of distribution of these finished goods among ourselves, once they have been produced. Shall each of us retain what he produces for use or exchange or disposal according to his own choice? Or is there a better system? Few persons enjoy work. Some downright abhor it, and they envy the hard workers who are enjoying a better and better living, and who by saving some of it, have more and more. Suppose these drones call a meeting. Since it is mainly their kind who would attend the meet ing, while the others are working, they might vote in a purely democratic way, among those present-to set a limit of 32 hours of work per week, and to compel a minimum wage of $100 per week. And they might also vote unemployment benefits of $98 a week, and vote every citizen a $200 per month pension beginning at age 45. "Why wait/' they would argue, "to enjoy old age until you're too old?" All payments would be made in paper money, which they would make the legal and lawful cur rency.

Under this plan it would be necessary for some of the workers to watch the other workers, and see that they don't do too much work, or accept pay below the legal minimum, or retire too late; and some must handle the pension scheme. The remaining producers will discover the futility of their efforts under these conditions, and the pile of goods will dwindle toward nothing. Why work [126 ] to produce more if the results of your efforts are taken from you against your will? Despite little or no production, leaving the pile of wood and soil and rocks untouched, the unemployed and the pensioners could continue to get their weekly checks just the same. They would receive pieces of paper on which the dollar sign is printed, offered with the kindly words: "There you are, my good man; use this to buy things you need to eat, wear, amuse yourself-in fact, do anything you wish with it." Dollars make poor eating.

[ 127] PRICE SUPPORTS t'l W mCUl'tidd STRIPPED to its essentials, the basic objective of the over all price 'Support program for agriculture is to prevent a general collapse in farm prices such as occurred in 1921 and 1929. Few persons disagree with the desirability of the objective; the basic disagreement lies in whether or not price supports are a suitable means to this end. Prices of goods and services may be compared with water in a lake. Ripples and waves on the surface of the lake correspond to the prices of individual commodities. They rise and fall in varying degrees depending on supply and demand conditions for each commodity, even though the over-all level of the lake may not change. The level of the lake itself rises and falls because of what happens at the inlet and outlet of the lake. A price support or ceil ing on one commodity may change the height of that par ticular ripple, but it is offset by the height of others. It has little or no effect on the over-all level of the lake, the general price level.