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This article comments on a study entitled The Decline in the Relative Income of Negro Men, which investigated the trend in the relative income of African American men from 1948-1964. The purpose of the present paper is to investigate two of the propositions in the study regarding the trend in the income ratio of the employees. First, the hypothesis that fluctuations in aggregate demand affect the income ratio of African American male workers is analyzed. Second, a trend in relative income from 1948 to 1964 is sought in order to verify the conclusion in the study that the 1950s were characterized by a decline in the African American and U.S. employees income ratio. Thus, the values of the income ratio of the employees from 1939 to 1964 are recorded. Assuming that the 1939 value accurately reflects the relative income of African American workers in the pre-World War II period, there appears to be a dramatic increase since that time. Hence, the analysis of the study suggests that the secular increase in the income ratio represents a decline in discrimination against African American workers. However, this decline may merely reflect the migration of the workers from the South to the less discriminating North rather than a decline in the U.S. propensity to discriminate.

The article focuses on interindustry wage structure variations in the United States. During recent years a number of writers have revived the investigation into the forces determining secular change in the industrial wage structure which had been comparatively quiescent. Two of the recent contributions, Professor John T. Dunlop's "Income, Employment and Public Policy," and Professor Arthur M. Ross' "Trade Union Wage Policy," focus attention on particular variables as explanations of variation in the industrial wage structure. It is the purpose of the present article to examine the position of the writers of the two papers cited with a view toward proposing a broader model to explain interindustry variations in wages. The statistical evidence provided in these publications is concerned with the behavior of average hourly earnings of a group of manufacturing industries plus bituminous coal and steam railroads over the period 1923 to 1940. The relationship between changes in output per man-hour and changes in earnings is tested by the use of rank correlation.

The article discusses various aspects of annual wage guarantee plans in the United States. Until very recently an economic literature on annual wage guarantee plans did not exist. No books entirely devoted to the subject had been published; periodical literature described experiences with such plans, but did not analyze them. Within the last year, however, three volumes' presenting an economic analysis of guarantee plans have appeared. The authors of these studies differ widely in their evaluation of such guarantees. The purpose of this paper is to consider the different assumptions and analytical approaches behind these opposing beliefs and, though this analysis, to arrive at some conclusions concerning guarantee plans and their place in our economy. In fulfilling these aims it will first be necessary to compare the views of the authors on such basic questions as the effect of guarantee plans on consumption, investment, employment, mobility of labor, and the policies of individual firms.

The article presents information on some major aspects of the economic status of Negros. Since the major concern of this paper is not "whence" or "what," but "whither" the Negro economically, the general picture of the present economic status of the Negro has been surveyed under four main divisions, the gainful Negro workers in the U.S. classified into socio-economic groups in 1930, for purposes of comparison, Negro workers in the relief population classified into socio-economic groups as of May, 1934, the more insistent economic problems confronting the Negro in the recovery program and, that the solution of the Negro's economic plight is not to be found in any kind of tie-up with organized craft unionism in the U.S. In analyzing the present economic status of the Negro, the relief census for 1933 and estimates based by the Research, Statistical and Financial section of the Federal Emergency Relief Administration on this census have been used. The relief census rather than available estimates on incomes or expenditures has been chosen because the data of the relief census are more complete and more reliable than such estimates as may be deducted from available data on the incomes or expenditures of Negroes and because the relief percentages indicate marc accurately than do the income or expenditure estimates the degree of economic distress suffered by the various socio-cconomic classes of Negroes.

This paper compares two types of estimates of net migration for the United States, one by the forward survival ratio method derived at the Population Studies Center of the University of Pennsylvania ("CRS Estimates") and the other based on the place of residence question in the 1960 Census framed by the U.S. Bureau of Census ("Census Estimates"). Restricting the study to the white male population, and specifically to the two groups aged 20-24 and 25-29 in 1960, the author has attempted to explain the relationship between tile two types of estimate in terms of several factors, namely, the impact of multiple moves, mortality among migrants, changing probability of migration with age, military migration and economic variables such as median income, percent urban and percent unemployed. As anticipated by the author, the net migration for the 20-24 cohort was closely associated with military concentration whereas for the 25-29 cohort the association of net migration with economic factors was stronger. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Comments on an article about money wage determination in manufacturing industries in the U.S. Application of economic and institutional theory in money wage determination; Statistical analysis of money wage; Arithmetic average of wage changes in the nonkey sector.

This article analyzes the different factors which contribute to the incidence of poverty in the U.S. Since many of the possible explanations are interrelated, both their qualitative and quantitative importance are difficult to determine from descriptive classifications of those living in poverty. The incidence of poverty is explained without having explicit recourse to state median incomes or wage levels. In the other hand, the parameters from the poverty model provides estimates of potential gains from altering explanatory variables.

This article focuses on the optimum allocation of scientists and engineers between teaching and research by the allocation that maximizes the quantity of research effort over a given period of time in the U.S. It has been suggested that the government should increase its expenditures on research and development and should bid high for research personnel, and let the free market take care of the allocation of scientists and engineers between teaching and research. Such a recommendation neglects the fact that at the present time in the United States, research and development and teaching are to a large extent financed by government funds, and that therefore any misallocation of resources in this field cannot be corrected by free enterprise. In such a case it becomes a function of the government to attempt to plan adequately for the future. Scientists are productive because they make either a direct contribution to the national income and defense through the use of their research findings or an indirect contribution through their training of additional scientists who then can make a direct contribution. Thus, the problem is to allocate scientists, through time, between their two productive occupations research and teaching in such a way as to maximize the magnitude of research findings produced in a given period of time.

The article focuses on wage interrelationship of different occupational groups whose services are jointly demanded, based on the case study of Fall River Textiles, the leading center of the union movement among cotton textile workers in the United States. Coherence of union wage demands, emphasis of unions on the retaining of traditional wage differentials, and collective bargaining by several craft unions have resulted in closely parallel wage movements for the different occupational groups in such industries as railroads, newspaper and book and job printing, shipbuilding and others. The organising efforts and temporary rise of unions in Fall River produced a significant influence on labor management relations not only in the city but also in other New England textile centers. One of the major characteristics of the Fall River local unions was that the unions restricted their organization to the members of their respective crafts and the leadership of the Fall River unions was strongly influenced by the ideology of craft and local autonomy.

This article focuses on the effect of depreciation charges on investments, income and economy in the U.S. Accelerated depreciation may thus affect income in several distinct respects. First, it transports depreciation charges for given assets on the average to an earlier period of time. Hence, for firms or economies whose investment is not continuous, and where taxes are computed on income net of depreciation charges, it reduces near future taxable income and raises distant taxable income. Second, during the very substantial period of transition to accelerated depreciation, accelerated depreciation raises depreciation charges and reduces taxable income. Third, in the case of firms or economies where the stream of gross investment is growing, it raises depreciation charges, reduces taxable income and hence reduces corporate income taxes permanently. To the extent that firm policy is influenced by the accountants' reports of net taxable profits, there may be, in each of the respects above, temporary delays, permanent postponements, or permanent reductions in extra-firm disbursement of earnings to dividend collectors, research consultants, advertising agencies and employees, as well as to the tax collector.

This article analyzes wage policy of a trade union in the U.S. It is the purpose of this article to investigate the effects which may be exerted upon the wage policy of a trade union in a given industry by different conditions under which labor is supplied. In his pioneering study of union wage policies, Professor John T. Dunlop postulated a model of a union which seeks to maximize a pecuniary magnitude, given the relevant membership function. Under such conditions, the union wage is set at a level which maximizes the wage bill. In this article an alternative and more general hypothesis concerning the object of union maximizing behavior is entertained. It is assumed that the union seeks to maximize the welfare, defined as a function of leisure as well as of wage income of the workforce attached to the industry under conditions prevailing before any changes that the union's leadership might advocate are put into effect. The variation in the supply of man-hours of labor, to an industry or to a monopolist, that is induced by a rise in the wage rate depends upon the increase or decrease in the number of individuals in the work force and the increase or decrease in the hours of work offered by each individual worker.

The article focuses on changes in the inter industry wage structures in the United States between 1933 and 1946 and discusses forces that influence such changes. Average straight -time hourly earnings are used throughout as the best available measure of wages. The author suggests that understanding the forces affecting wage relationships among industries is of considerable importance. The author in this article proposes to isolate certain influences associated with differential movements in earnings as between industries. Cyclical and secular influences are undoubtedly intermixed. The article also argues, on the basis of statistical evidence, that real hourly earnings have advanced more sharply in highly organized industries than in less unionized industries, in periods of stable or declining union membership as well as in periods of rapid unionization; and that although there are doubtless many other influences on the wage structure, unionism does have an independent influence which cannot be explained away by reference to other factors. These conclusions have been questioned by several critics.

The article discusses the relationship between income aggregates and levels of employment which presents theoretical opportunities on subjects of general and relative price movements in the U.S. Price movements are relevant to the problems of income and employment levels with a consideration given to the effects of price changes on income flow and expectations. Several characteristics of an economy with unemployed factors of production hides potential price increases such as competition among unemployed resources, high cross price elasticities, indeterminacy and institutional factors

The article introduces the distinction between low income associated with region and community-size in the U.S. The economic significance of the distinction follows that community and income sizes might provide evidence of regional income disparities that would indicate governmental agencies to strive better geographical distribution of resources. The author states that generally, the agencies should direct efforts towards small communities instead of few areas characterized by very low incomes. Economist are interested in geographical income data for the reasons that it would help them make decisions on the present geographical distribution of labor and apply teachings of conventional welfare economics to a program of public finance.

This article focuses on the distribution of income among taxpayers in the U.S. A knowledge of the distribution of the national income is fundamental to any sound analysis of present-day social problems. A knowledge of how that distribution has changed is essential for any sound judgment concerning the progress of the nation and the merits or defects of the capitalistic system. The incomes of most wage-earners can be studied only by a different approach that of wage-rates, employment, and cost of living. Income as defined for tax purposes is a purely legal concept, sometimes differing considerably from income in the usual accounting sense, and differing from time to time with changes in the law. It is, however, possible to make some adjustments in the published figures and thus to get incomes conforming to other definitions more useful for economic analysis. Much has been said about the use of personal holding companies to reduce the reported incomes of wealthy men.

The article presents information related to money, gold, and income in the United States during 1921 to 1932. There are no satisfactory figures showing the changes in the money supply of the country. There have been only two serious attempts to derive a series of money, one by Carl Snyder, and one by Y.S. Leong, and in each case the series has been carried only up to 1926. Detailed statements of practically all of the banks in the country as of June 30 are presented by the Comptroller of the Currency. Determining the relative amounts of demand and time deposits in the unclassified deposits is the main difficulty encountered in using these statements. These deposits were dealt by Leong by distributing the "deposits not classified" of the various classes of banks separately in accordance with the percentages of deposits subject to check to the total classified individual deposits of the different classes of banks. Detailed statements of member banks of the U.S. Federal Reserve System are available for three or four call dates a year.

The article focuses on housing problems in the U.S. Two acts, the National Industrial Recovery Act and the home Owners' Loan Act, passed recently by the administration have increased the interest in the subject. A governmental agency, was set up by the U.S. Congress' passage of the Home Owners' Loan Act, to deal directly with the problem of refinancing home owners who were in distress and about to lose their homes through foreclosure of underlying mortgages. The nation has been committed by a national emergency program to a long-time policy of public housing. This has constituted a major change in public policy in connection with the housing problem and raised immediately a number of questions that are difficult to answer. Studies of housing made in the U.S. consist for the most part of surveys of housing conditions in local communities. The results obtained have portrayed housing conditions among the lowest income groups who live in the most miserable houses. There are two major weaknesses of such surveys, firstly, they are limited in geographical scope, and secondly, they are restricted almost exclusively to the housing of the lowest income group.

The American welfare system is viewed in light of a major confrontation between two ideologies: the ideology of stability and that of change. The significance of welfare recipients as a growing political constituency is discussed, the susceptibility of the welfare bureaucracy to external attack is suggested, and the strategies now being utilized (especially by the National Welfare Rights Organization) both to increase benefits and force the scrapping of the present system are detailed. A guaranteed annual income is suggested as the most logical alternative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author presents six distinctive approaches to income maintenance, identifying their basic assumptions and controlling issues, and rejects or locates each approach within the system that will take shape over time. His primary concern is with suggestion of a pluralistic approach in order to assure income for all Americans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a discussion on the maldistribution of children and income in nonfarm Negro families in the U.S. The article presents several tables containing data. Among Negroes 51 percent of the families as compared with 37 percent of all the families in the South have no children. Although the disparity is not as great, the percentage of Negro families with 1, 2, and 3 or more children is smaller in each instance than in the entire population. As the size of the Negro families increases, the differences between the percentage of Negro families and all families in each category decreases. When the entire child population is considered, the percentage of children in Negro families with 1 or 2 children is smaller than the percentage for the entire child population of the South. The figures on the family unit income of different types of families with and without children are interesting. The median income of the average Negro family in the South is shown to be $505. This is about one-sixth less than that of families with male head and wife. On the other hand, the median income for the average family is considerably higher--21 and 53 percent--than the incomes of the two types of broken families.

The article comments on the food preparation of owner and cropper farm families in the shortleaf pine area of Mississippi. Better food preparation is one way of raising the level of living of a family without raising its income. The food supply one has can be made more adequate by following the methods of preparation that conserve nutrients. A more adequate food supply will result in better health. This study suggests a new approach to improving food preparation, that is, to study new methods of preparing foods actually tried within a recent period by homemakers of families in various socio-economic groups, and why these methods were tried and the family reaction to the methods. Such data will give a sound basis for working out food preparation material acceptable to various socioeconomic groups. Along with this study is needed, of course, a record study of just how the various foods are being prepared in the home. Information pertaining to facilities for preparation and serving will also be needed.

The major hypothesis to be tested in this analysis is that income or economic class of farm will account for most of the variation in the percentage of farms reporting a level of living item. A minor or second hypothesis is that income or economic class will account for approximately the same amount of the variation for each of the seven items used in this study of level of living. The analysis, however, shows that both of these hypotheses must be rejected. Economic factors do not explain a major part of the total variation in the percentage of farms reporting these seven level of living items. In the case of home freezers, income accounted for just over three-fourths of the variation. And, approximately two-thirds of the variation in tractors is associated with income. On the other hand, to income is attributable only 27.1 percent and 29.5 percent of the variation in the distribution of television sets and telephones, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the association of over-capitalization with six phases of railroad finance. Over-capitalization is an excessive issue of securities in proportion to the physical assets. The article states that the capitalization of expenditures for replacement of property which ought to have been paid for from income is probably one of the most common corporate errors of the time. Consolidation of railroad properties offers an exceptionally favorable opportunity for increasing capitalization secretly. For instance, mere consolidation of roads in the Missouri, Kansas and Texas system in 1891, increased the aggregate of stock and bonds. Ways are mentioned by which undivided earnings may be capitalized, other than by means of either cash or stock dividends. Supervision of capitalization, as of rates, must be continuous and foreseeing. There is a need of governmental supervision in matters of finance, so far as standardization of accounts is concerned, and probably also as indicating the further need of downright control by administrative order.