Word: slump
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Dates: during 1940-1949
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...Coming Slump. One target of Stabler's sarcasm was Major L. L. B. Angas, the ruddy, cigar-smoking Briton who made a considerable splash in 1934 with his The Coming American Boom. Since then, Major Angas has offered his prophecies, at $25 a year ($100 an hour for private consultations). Last week some of Angas' titles were typical of his gloomy views : Psychology of the Coming Slump, Short-Run Rally, Not a Bull Market - Don't Be Fooled by the Rally...
Even better news for Democratic regulars was the condition of party fortunes as a whole. From a post-election slump (down to 47% last Christmas), the Democrats had bounced back into favor with 55% of U.S. voters, exactly the same percentage with which Roosevelt beat Wendell Willkie in 1940, 1.2 points more than the margin by which Roosevelt beat Tom Dewey...
Buoyed by such news, most businessmen began to find new and softer meanings for the term recession. After the downturn this spring, many an economist had feared a fairly sharp drop. Yet even in industries where there had been a sudden slump, notably textiles, the readjustment had been made with no more than a tooth-shaking jar. Now there was hope that other adjustments could be made in a gradual, orderly fashion. So when businessmen talked of recession, most of them no longer meant a big, sudden crack un the whole economy, but a continuation, industry by industry...
With rising costs and a box-office slump, there was bound to be a squeeze. Producers and writers "whose assignments have been completed," were being laid off by studios. Monogram, which specialized in Westerns and quickie "Bs," closed down for the summer. Bankers were cutting down on the percentage they would loan on a picture. The major studios were trimming their production schedules. They could afford to cut down because they had so many pictures "in the can," i.e., completed but not released...
Nobody thought that the box-office slump was going to shake the industry. Most studios were in the best financial position they had ever known. Last year they showed a total net profit of $125 million. This year, if box office held only "sensational," they might do $100 million. And by turning choosy again, U.S. moviegoers stood to gain. They would frighten Hollywood into making better pictures...