SECTION TWO- CONSUMER SPENDING AND SAVING REFLECTS CONFIDENCE IN OUTLOOK Whatever uncertainty may have been felt by some of the experts, the American people as a whole, by their everyday spending and saving deci- ; sions in a year of economic readjust ment, have given the nation an out standing example of calmness and confidence in the outlook. This confidence has been paralleled I in business and industrial circles,| where it has been reflected in the j maintenance Os near peak levels in I plant and equipment investment and new records in construction outlays. Consumer Outlays At Peak Two of the major results of this! steadiness in the public’s behc ior pattern in the period are: Total consumer spending has been maintained at record levels. Aggre gate personal consumption expend!.-j tures were estimated at a seasonally, adjusted annual rate of $231.5 bil lions for the second quarter of this year by the Council of Economic Ad visers. This is the highest quarterly rate on record and, on an annual basis, nearly $2 billions above the; to tal for 1953. The magnitude of this consumer demand has been providing! the economy with a powerful prop while it was undergoing readjust ment and laying the foundation for new growth. At the same time, the people as a whole have kept on adding to their savings in life insurance and other, forms of long-term thrift, file bed-j rock of their personal security at the highest figure attained in the last eight years. Total accumulated long term savings of individuals have been: growing at an annual rate of approxi mately sl2 billions this year, dupli cating the 1953 performance. The ag gregate .of such savings at midyear was estimated at around ?212 billions, the equivalent of sohie . $1,500 for every household in the land. Two Periods Compared The consumer spending pattern over the. last year is reminiscent of a similar performance in the short lived recession of 1949. At that time, too. personal consumption expend),- 1 turps continued to increase while pro duction declined and- unemployment rose. What is happening this time is an even more significant demonstra tion of public confidence since pen t-up demand as a result of shortages huilt up during World War II was a potent influence on consumer spending atti tudes in 1949 and doesn’t exist today. The personal sayings record in the present period is much more impres sive than the one five years ago. Ac cumulated long-term savings of in dividuals increased. by only $7 billions in 1949, or little more than half the current growth in the people’s “nest egg.” These savings consist of funds . I * Corby’** Reserve Blended Whiskey is dis tilled from selected, choice grains only. : : ■■■;■ ... . . i I The base whiskey is brought to maturity in charred white-oak barrels, stored in • temperature-controlled warehouses. Before itisbottled,it is rigidly and scien tifically inspected to insure full quality. $3.35 |j 4/5 QT " RESERVE BLENDED WHISKET-B PROOF-31.6% STRAIGHT WHISKEY, FOUR YEARS OR MORE I 0LD—68.4% GRAIN NEUTRAL SPIRITS-IAS. BARCUT « CO. LIMITED, PEORIA. ILLINOIS 1 Page Four accumulated behind life insurance policies, thrift accounts in commercial 1 banks, deposits in mutual savings ; banks and in Postal Savings, savings capital in savings and loan associa tions and current redemption value of U. S. Savings Bonds owned by indivi j duals. ; One of the striking characteristics J of the post-World War II economic; I picture was an extraordinary increase lin personal debt. This was particu larly true of consumer credit, mainly! because of installment buying and of j home mortgage debt. Farm mort-! I gage and non-real estate debt have ‘ also increased, and so have life in surance policy loans, but on a lesser scale. The total of these four personal debt classifications is currently esti mated at around slls billions, or well! ; over three times the comparable total at the end of 1945, However, except for home mortgage debt, where the easing of mortgage terms is. appar ently playing an important part in continued rapid expansion, the growth in personal debt has slowed down no-, ticeably over the past year. Trend Os Debt The net increase in total personal debt , in the first half of this year is estimated at around $2.5 billions, a rate of expansion less than half that of the net rise in 19,53. As a result, l the growth in accumulated long-term i savings of individuals so far this year has been well over double that of the , expansion in personal debt, the most! favorable ratio between the two since i the World War II period. From 1947 through 1952. personal debt grew faster than accumulated long-term personal savings in every I year. A good deal of this borrowing, however, was voluntary, many con sumers preferring to budget them- 1 selves and pay for their purchases by! installments out of income rather than to upset their savings pro- 1 crams. The. figures . show that since tin? end of World War If the Ameri-1 can people as a whole have bought j around S3OO billions worth of new j homes, automobiles, arid other, dur able goods. As against this, the to-J ta Inet! increase in installment and j home: mortgage debt in the period; was in the neighborhood of $65 bil lions. Thus the economic box score can j. chalk up another assist for the Ameri-! con consumer. Instead of being rat- ' tied by the recent turn of events and pulling in his horns, he has again Come to the aid of the economy in a faltering moment by spending as never before in the aggregate. He has likewise kept an eye on his re-j SponSibilities to himself and his de- i pendents by prudently increasing his, THE CHOWAN HERALD. EDIENTON. N. C„ TTiTTRSII’ > AUGUST 26, 1954. Represent Eastern District In Raleigh HR kjQL uSHhBH Here is pictured Mary Sue Elliott and Evangeline Copeland who repre sented Chowan County and (he Eastern District in the team dairy foods demonstration at l-H Club Week held in Raleigh. “nest egg” in life insurance and other savings, thereby adding to his pro- 1 toot ion against the economic efforts j of death and disability. USE THE COMMON SENSE PLAN WHEN BUYING FALL CLOTHING; “I just haven’t a thing to wear!”} How many times have you heard that? Or said it yourself ? What is it that makes girls , say they have no clothes when they have actually a closet full ? Chances are. explains Mary Em Lee, State College Extension clothing specialist, that the “I just clon’t have a thing to wear” disease is prompted by impulse buying. There’s some thing about a “drastically” reduced price that can make even the most sensible buyer part with her money j too easily. According to Miss Lee, clothes that; are really right, stay wearable—in i quality and in line over a long '{bBSL-S® 3 1 * EdentontceCo. wW I'* '' m Pressure Burner and controls I ore readily accessible from jc I ** I beneath ♦he house^of^service H KLEER-KLEEN'S burner #PR3 j;Yj ■ has ball bearing, oiled for-life ■