The Economy of WarThere is no need to recite in detail the events of 1939 or of 1940. The period was, in general, a recovery period. As such, it was similar to other recovery periods; indeed, a review of the course of events would give a recurrent feeling of “This is where I came in.” True, even a [...]  |
Repetition of a PatternNineteen thirty-six, the fourth year of Roosevelt, was also the fourth year of marked business improvement. In addition to its relief and farm payments, the New Deal made an involuntary contribution to consumer prosperity by paying the World War veterans a $2,000,000,000 bonus. Big business was still thoroughly opposed to the New Deal, and still [...] |
The Industry RecoversIn the meantime the country as a whole was continuing to recover from the depths of the depression, and the auto industry was recovering very much more rapidly than the country as a whole. Production for the first half of 1934 was 1,802,000 cars against 1,081,000 in the first half of 1933 an increase of [...] |
Labor Unions and StrikesIt was true that the price-fixing sections of the NRA did not do the auto industry any harm, even if they did not do it any good. But in passing the NRA, Congress, having done a good deal for the employer, felt itself obliged to do something for the employees as well. So the NRA [...] |
Selective RecoveryMarch 4, 1933, was the turning-point in the depression and therefore in American economic life. Mr. Hoover’s policy of letting the depression run its course still had much to recommend it from the standpoint of orthodox economics. Unfortunately, the orthodox economist had not taken into consideration the possibility of a banking collapse. With the arrival [...] |
ReceivershipsTwo important developments of the early 1933 season belong so closely to the 1930-32 period that they may best be considered in this chapter. One was the receivership of Willys-Overland; the other was the receivership of Studebaker. The Willys-Overland receivership (February, 1933) was not surprising. The company had been accumulating murderous deficits ever since 1929. [...] |
The Vanishing CustomerAt the beginning of 1930, industry as a whole was not certain whether it had sprained its ankle or broken its neck. Professional diagnosticians, both political and economic, commonly endorsed the sprained-ankle theory. The usual New Year’s forecasts were, as usual, optimistic. They stressed the point that in spite of what had happened on the [...] |
The End of ProsperityAlthough 1929 has given its numerals to its decade, 1928 was, from the standpoint of the greater part of the automobile industry, a year of considerably better net income. This circumstance results chiefly from the fact that booms and depressions do not go strictly with the calendar. The last three months of 1929 belong to [...] |
The End of Model TThe great merit of the 1925 season, as has been said, had been that there was still room enough for everyone to get along. During 1925, however, the capacity of the industry had increased by at least another 1,000,000 cars and at the beginning of 1926 the automobile manufacturer had plant and equipment sufficient for [...] |
The Golden AgeInasmuch as the 1924-25 period in the automobile industry began with rather a sharp recession, reference to it as the “golden age” may seem rather peculiar. But the 1924 slump was merely an interruption to the recovery from the postwar crisis; in 1925 the industry had another of its customary record years. More significantly, 1925 [...] |
