Military Goods Take Half Output For Year
In a Dec 31 Associated Press survey, the United States faces a massive wartime mobilization with a $68 million defense program cascading into a $150 million Victory campaign after Pearl Harbor. The piece notes America’s vast industrial capacity, with planes and ships production scaling up, the political and economic resolve, and projections of heavy future spending, including estimates of $60 billion in 1942-43, while outlining the nation’s income and price-control considerations.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
New York
America
Pearl Harbor
Auto Plants Build For War And Equal Car Peak Too
Detroit reports the auto industry will end 1941 with most capacity shifted to defense and about 5 million passenger cars and trucks produced. Contracts total around $4 billion for aircraft engines tanks and planes. $2 billion delivered with several billion more expected. Auto show canceled as consumer demand softens and government curtailments loom. Production is set to shrink for 1942 with war needs rising, civilian car rationing likely, and 1943 models unlikely without material supplies.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Detroit
Volume of Freight at Record High in 1941
The Associated Press reports that 1941 freight ton miles on U S railroads reached about 450 billion, the largest ever. Carloads totaled 42.59 million, with gross operating revenues near 5.33 billion and net income around 500 million, the best since 1930.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Associated Press
New York
Wickard's Vision for Agriculture in 1942 Goals
Secretary of Agriculture Claude R. Wickard outlines the 1942 farm plan to boost food and fiber production for wartime and postwar needs. He notes adjustments to reduce cotton, wheat, and tobacco while increasing milk, meat, eggs, vegetables, and oilseeds. Producers face longer hours and hard work, with price floors at 85 percent of parity for key crops and dairy and livestock products.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Washington
Treasury gears for war costs
United Press reports Washington crunching fiscal machinery to raise nearly 4 billion dollars a month to fund the victory program. Experts peg total cost at about 150 billion, with defense outlays already rising and taxes to bear the heaviest burden in 1942 and beyond. Government debt has climbed as revenues lag behind expenditures. Congress plans add 5 to 8 billion in war taxes to offset a projected 45 billion outlay in 1942.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Washington
Treasury
United States
Japan
Germany
Italy
Gov
Prices rise as controls loom in 1941 year end
The 1941 price surge followed higher arms demand and wages, with living costs up 10.6 percent since 1939 for wage earners, while hourly wages across 25 industries rose 18.5 percent. Price ceilings appeared on many materials as Henderson prepared new controls, amid looming war costs and tax increases.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
New York
National Industrial Conference Board
Henderson
Congress
Washington
Conference Board
Steel Exceeded Output Record By 25 Percent In 1941
Walter S. Tower of the American Iron and Steel Institute notes 1941 saw U.S. steel output rise to over 82.8 million net tons, about 25 percent above the 67 million tons produced in 1940, despite strikes and raw material shortages. The industry shifted to a 24 hour day seven day week to meet wartime needs.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Walter S. Tower
American Iron & Steel Institute
American Steel Companies
United States
Far East
Army
Navy
Maritime Commission
Lend-Lease Administration
End of a turbulent year for labor activity in 1941
Organized labor dominated headlines through 1941 as strikes surged in the months before the war. CIO and AFL confrontations tested gains, while Congress fretted over defense industry slowdowns and anti-strike rhetoric. Roosevelt’s appeals secured a modest repeal of the neutrality act as wage gains persisted amid pivotal labor battles.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
CIO
AFL
Congress
Roosevelt
John L. Lewis
Lewis
North American
Inglewood
Calif
Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock
Kearny
N. J
Air Associates, Inc
Bendix
Also Mentioned on This Page
Claude A. Jagger
Associated Press Financial
France
National Association of Manufacturers
Wall Street
Department of Commerce
David J. Wilkie
Wickard
Claude R. Wickard
Nat l. Indust
United Press
U. S
John L. Beckley
U.S
Standard and Poors
Great Bull Market
F.D.R
Russia
USA
John Grover
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