Word: markets
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1910-1919
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...again come before the Interstate Commerce Commission asking for an increase of rates, as under existing conditions they are rapidly approaching financial exhaustion. Not even the most cynical anti-capitalist can deny that the plight of the railroads is desperate, and that as a direct result of this the market is now in a panic condition, with consequent business demoralization throughout the land. It has been estimated that seventeen billion dollars have been invested in American carriers, and short sighted is the government which for political reasons, is going to prevent such investors from getting a reasonable return on their...
...half our own, and weakened by two and a half years of war, cheerfully subscribed to an even greater sum. The average American has not yet reached that point of patriotism where he will invest all his savings in government bonds, while the present state of the stock market, lowered to panic level by vast liquidation of British collateral, offers him a chance to buy some gilt-edged security at an unusual bargain. In reality he is defeating his own ends, as should the loan fail, taxation would of necessity be largely increased, and the war considerably prolonged...
Economists are generally agreed that speculation normally performs some very vital functions. The economist does not defend monopolistic speculation--the effort to "corner" the market. Such efforts--more likely to be successful in the stock market than in the grain market, because the capital required to control a corporation is vastly less than that required to control the world's stock of a great staple grain--have been made, and have at times had demoralizing effects. When made, they should be punished mercilessly. It does not appear, however, that monopolistic combinations by speculators dealing in "futures" is the cause...
...make it safe for farmers, millers, and others to rely on the prices as guides for further production. This "directive function" of speculation is perhaps most important of all. A fifth point, which should receive greater stress than is usually given it, is that speculators, by making an active market, make it safe for banks to lend on goods that are being carried over to a later season--make bank loans "liquid." The speculator also, by putting up a "margin," protects the banks from risk in financing such operations...
...existing stocks of grain and flour and the probable future demands for various purposes at various prices. With these data, they could perhaps estimate the prices needed to bring supply and demand together. Such estimated prices might tell the truth better than the present prices in a demoralized market are doing. Such a report might clear the air. We should stop the use of grain for whiskey and beer during the war. For the rest, I am inclined to the view that the Government should move cautiously, and always in co-operation with the leaders in the grain and flour...