Today and Tomorrow: Preventive Action
ALONG WITH a new trade policy the most far-reaching ÐÊ proposal in the message is that the President be given powers to catch the next recession before it gathers momentum. It is widely reported that Congress will re-fuse to do that. But' what wonÛªt Congress do?</br></br>Will it refuse to prepare now to stop the next recession? Or will it take upon itself the responsibility which goes with its power, and find some other way of accomplishing the same result?</br></br>The one thing that Con-' gress cannot afford is to let the country drift unprepared into the next recession. For the longer the delay in combatting the recession, the greater will be its Û¢ momentum, and the stronger will have to be the measures to deal with it.</br></br>THIS IS NOT a trumped-up issue. During the past seven years we have suffered three recessionsÛÓin 1954, in 1958, and in 1960. They have not been catastrophic like 1929. Much has been done since then to stabilize the American economy. But' the three recessions have been costly not only to the unemployed but to the whole Nation.</br></br>There has been an enormous loss of wealth that could have been produced and was not. In 1960, the loss from idle plant and idle men is estimated at between $30 billion and $35 billionÛÓ $500 per American household, two thirds of what we spend on national defense, twice what we spend on public educa-t'on.