Babson Predicts Better Year In 1962, Minus Nuclear War (Ed. Notes The Herald publishes herewith the annual business and financial forecast of Roger Bab• son, Massachusetts economist. Mr. Babson’s vtfv forecast 'was 88 percent correct.) а. I am hopeful for 1962: it should be a better year for my readers than 1961. Industrial pro duction will exceed* that of 1961. 2. There will he neither a nu clear war nor total disarmament in 1962. Considerable progress may be made toward a ban on atomic weapons. 3. Some thirty stocks may rea ch an average of 1000 during 1962, although these will not necessarily be the thirty Dow Jontes stocks. 4. Retail: trade will make new records during 1962. Increased newspaper advertising, especially In colon, win bo a great boon to merchandising. 5. Commodity prices will act erratic during 1962. Agricultural prices will be held up by legisla tion, but many metals will sell for less. б. The official cost-of-living fi gure will rise Slightly hi 1962, but there may be a scandal In Wash ington over how this figure is calculated or adjusted. The real increase In the cost-of-living will be due to increased wages de manded. 7. The only certain shortages during 1962 will be in land suit able for parking places and wa terfront property readily accessi ble to building lots; also for au tomobile “graveyards" near cities which have been zoned. 8. The 'building of shelters will took silly before the end of 1962. Certainly the Federal Govern ment will not underwrite the building of private shelters for Individual families. 9. Good real estate must rise tn price as the population increa ses. Elementary mathematics de termine the price of suburban real estate This is notwithstand ing the claim of the “space com panies” which are said to be interested in selling rights on the moon. Thane probably are crazier Speculations. TO. While the land oh which your house now stand® should Increase In value during 1962, the building itself depreciates from the moment when it is first oc cupded. A possible exception would be certain very attractive ranch houses painted In color. 11. Automobile production will be the most Important Statistical Indicator during 1962. TWs ap plies to both the number of au tomobiles and their sales value. We now have no reliable figures for the latter. 12. We will gradually approach an average of two cars for every family. The life of automobiles gradually increase. The percent age of automobiles annually de stroyed wiill decrease in 1962. 13. Automobiles and gasoline will toe increasingly, sources for raising money toy taxation. These means will be extended to Include an additional assessment on the maunfacturers of auto mobiles. 14. Taxes as a whole, will continue to Increase in 1962 for every family. Business net taxes, however, will decrease in 1962, through the granting of depre dation refunds which can toe done by ExeUcttve order. The manu facturer may greatly increase his deductions for past investments and new machinery, plant, and equipment. Douglas Dillon feels that such tax reductions will in crease the purchase of new e qulipment, develop greater effici ency, and result in a net impro vement in the employment situa tion. This is good news for 1962. 15. Speculation in real estate and securities Will toe active dur ing 1962; but good children will gradually toe recognized as the best Investment. Young people will toe married earlier and will want to have large families. 16. Public education will grad ually be recognized during the years ahead. Sehoolhouses will be built as places to “park the kids” while the parents are at work. New sehoolhouses will be built so as not to be over one story hdgh, with lots of sunshine. 17. Owing to the lack of air port facilities and to inadequate equipment, there will toe increas ing airplane accidents during 1962. 18. With all the above changes, plus increased public improve ments and longer vacation peri ods, families must save some how and cut somewhere. I think It will begin In 1962 with doth Ing. This will gradually become cheaper and more attention will toe paid to color, i 19. The time is approaching when the weaving of cloth will be greatly curtailed. Clothes will be made like paper. Mastic coats are already on the market. These are produced toy feeding the cel lophane into a machine which cuts to desired sizes and bonds (not sews) the material into beautifully finished goods of different colors. 20. We win hear more about automjatikxn during 1962. But the coat of building automatic facto ries to so great that the change is coming slowly. Even electronics has been overemphasized. 21. There need toe no unemploy ment among steel workers during 1962. But Government unemploy ment figures win remain high. Foreign competition, due to low wages abroad, will toe an impor tant factor. Women will prefer to work in air • conditioned factori es and have their home pantries filled with precooked foods. 22. Labor unrest will grow in extent and power. The Kennedy Administration is friendly to un ion leaders and their demands. There will toe demands for more “fringes” in 1962. A steel strike is possible. 23. This means that with incre ased taxes, prices of retail prod ucts will be higher. This will be blamed on ‘'inflation” of money; but it will toe due to inflation of living standards. 24. The real value of the dollar will decline slightly during 1962, due to the decrease in the pro ductivity of labor. The electronics industry will temporarily suffer in 1962 if atomic warfare is out lawed. But otherwise the elecro ndos industry will Increase for some years to come and hold up the dollar value. Watch polymer chemicals and “epoxy” cements. 25. There will be enough mon ey for mortgages insured by the Federal 'Housing Admiiiistraitian in 1962. Plenty of money will be available for mortgages guaran teed by the Veterans Administra tion, although this supply varies with different sections of the country. Interest rates on con ventional loans not having ar; government guarantees will toe a No. 4 TOWNSHIP TAX LISTING Begins Tuesday January 2,1962 At the Courtroom. City Hall, Kings Mountain Daily Except Saturdays 8 a. m. to Noon & 1 to 4:30 p. m. At Grover, R. E. Hambright's Store Saturdays, fanuary S, 13,20,27 CONRAD HUGHES. TAX LISTER Ail property owners ore required by law to list all real and personal property for taxes. Males between the ages of 21 and 50 are required to list for poll taxes. Dogs and firearms must be listed. If you live on a farm, you are also required to make a farm report. LATE LISTERS WILL BE PENALIZED — UST EARLY AND AVOID THE LAST MINUTE RUSH Max W. Hamrick CLEVELAND COUNTY TAX SUPERVISOR little higher. Real estate people will worry about the public?s de sire to build, rather than about their obtaining mortgage money. 26. The kilowatt hours of electricity produced in 1962 will exceed the total of any previ ous year. This is favorable to utility preferreds. 27. Steel, production in 1962 will exceed this year’s 100 mil lion tons, but the increase will come from producing steel in colors. 28. Cement production will be about the same in 1962 as in 1961, but the industry's capacity to produce is increasing too rap idly in view of the demand. The cement manufacturers must give more attention to colors. 29. Expenditures for plant and equipment in 1962 will Increase, supplemented by large appropri ations for repainting factories and offices in many colors. 30. Newsprint production de pends upon the number of news id le-! papers and the amount of wrttsing sold. I forecast a dine in the amount of newspjint sold during 1962, but advert^ » receipts may increase throi rh the better use of colors. -j may result in the increased fie of coated paper to better t j^e printing — With a 50 percent in crease of advertising rates. 01. Furniture mamufaetU] a-s are marking up prices so t tat young couples will buy fufl, ^ in the raw and paint same th m selves. 32. There wfll be some incre ses m color TV sales in 1962. ln j ^t, I think the present TV mai cet is far from being .saturated 33. First-class postage j tes will not be increased during i (62. Hence, more money will he 8] ^ on direct mail selling, •