Journal Article “Elasticity of Demand” from Budget Studies Get access Albert E. Waugh Albert E. Waugh Connecticut Agricultural College Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Volume 47, Issue 1, November 1932, Pages 134–137, https://doi.org/10.2307/1885189 Published: 01 November 1932
Introduction: doubts concerning stabilization of prices, 251. — Purchasing power reducible to labor, 254; with certain qualifications, 256. — The nature of monetary instability, 259. — Bad effects of it, 260. — True stability eliminates these, 263. — Basic labor standard superior to others in this respect, 265. — The debtor-creditor problem, 266. — No allowance for subjective side of labor, 267; or for changes in efficiency, 268. — The problem of detection, 269; of measurement, 274. — Practical considerations: production data alone an inadequate guide, 275; mild inflation easier to attain than stability, 277; corrective measures not always advisable, 279.
The Review of Economics and Statistics193214(1), 27
W HEN the I930 balance sheets of the leading copper companies of the Western Hemisphere appeared in I93I, it was evident that with certain significant exceptions these companies could, if they chose, go on for some time producing copper at then &rrent rates, sell most of it for less than total true cost, if need be, and stock the rest, without worrying unduly about working capital. This, most of them did for a time. The rest of the world's producers, for one reason or another, also generally went on producing copper at previous rates. The consumers of copper finally chose to stop, look, and listen. Six-and-a-quarter cent copper was one result. Excess world stocks of refined copper at the yearend, amounting to at least 500,000 tons, were another. A third consequence was the series of intercontinental conferences and conversations which lasted from early autumn until the second half of December and brought about further cuts in production. There was, to be sure, substantial curtailment of output in the United States in I93i, as compared with I930. It amounted to about I90,000 tons out of a total world curtailment of approximately 250,000 tons. The major part of the domestic decline was accounted for merely by the fact that production during the first half of I93I was about on a level with that of December I930, when output was well below the average for the other eleven months of that year. Further curtailment including that resulting from the shutdown of the United Verde property in May -occurred in the second half of I93I. Elsewhere in the world, changes were relatively small. The American Bureau of Metal Statistics was forced in October to discontinue the publication of its regular monthly statistics. The data of the Bureau of Mines of the Department of Commerce indicate smelter production in the United States from domestic ores of about 525,000 tons of copper. This figure, in conjunction with the American Bureau's figures for the first nine months of I93I, points to domestic mine output of about 500,000 to 5I0,000 tons, as compared with 69o,ooo to 700,000 tons in I930. Domestic outpuit was just about one-third of total world production of approximately I,500,000 tons. The latter figure, as has been said, represents a decline of some 250,000 tons from the I930 total of I,750,000 tons. In I93I, therefore, curtailment by United States mines accounted for 75 to 8o per cent of world curtailment, a rather smaller ratio than in I930. Curtailment by Latin-American mines was apparently responsible for the greater part of the 5o,ooo-odd tons reduction outside the United States. Changes elsewhere were quite minor. In Canada, production declined about 4 per cent. In Africa, reductions at some properties were virtually offset by increases at others. In Europe, it is probable that the little curtailment which occurred was principally by Rio Tinto. The I93I world output of I,500,000 tons was less than 30 per cent below the I929 production of approximately 2,I25,000 tons, and was only slightly below the output of I924. World consumption of copper, however whatever it was for the year I93I as a whole -had apparently by the end of the year declined to a level that represented an annual rate not exceeding that of IgIo, or about i,000,ooo tons, and was perhaps below that level. For September, the last month for which figures were made available by the American Bureau of Metal Statistics, there was an increase of more than 24,000 tons in the stocks of refined copper in the yards of refineries in the Western Hemisphere. Doubtless stocks increased elsewhere, also. Since there was a world output of blister copper that month of around I20,000 tons, September shipments to consumers at an annual rate between i,000,ooo and i,I00,ooo tons were indicated. There is good reason for believing that in the last quarter of the year both takings and consumption were below, rather than above, the September figure. Output, however, apparently continued at about previous rates, so that stocks of refined copper in WesternHemisphere refineries at the end of I93I may have been as high as 55o,ooo tons, in addition to stocks in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is therefore conservative to say that excess stocks of at least 5oo,ooo tons of refined copper existed in the world at the close of last year.
Abstract Accountancy instruction has to a large extent followed the lines of accounting practice and accounting practice has in general adjusted itself to changes in business practice, although at times this adjustment was made with hesitation and reluctance on the part of some accountants. During the past fifteen years, however, accountants, both public and private, have shown a larger willingness to render a more varied and more valuable service to clients and employers along the lines of interpreting the accounts. Realizing that accounting services were being extended beyond the function of recording into the field of accounting analysis and interpretation, teachers of accountancy have quite generally bent their instruction in the direction of management. Textbooks now guide students into accountancy through the doorway of business problems, commonly referred to as the balance-sheet and profit and loss statement approach. Therefore, when new methods of control are employed by management, such as fixing standards of accomplishment or forecasting operations in order to direct and coordinate all phases of a business, it is quite proper for teachers of accountancy to take notice of such methods and train future accountants to some degree at least in those problems of management that can not be solved unless the accounting records are intelligently analyzed and interpreted.