Word: nathanity
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Challenge to Labor. Nathan's unsurprising findings and explosive conclusions were these: although hourly wage rates have increased, labor's real wages have gone down because of 1) elimination of overtime, and 2) rising living costs (up nearly 20% since January 1945). If the present trend continues, he said, a wage increase of 23% will be necessary to bring real wages back to the January 1945 level...
Turning to corporation net profits. Nathan found that they have increased 50% over the war peak of 1943, and are approaching $15 billion for 1946 (according to Department of Commerce figures). This compares with average annual profits for 1936-39 of a little less than $4 billion. Return on net worth in the last quarter of 1946, Nathan estimated, will be 9.1%; this compares with a net return...
...other words, Nathan concluded, U.S. corporations in 1946 made a "lavish profit," and show every sign of continuing to do the same in 1947. Therefore, industry can grant labor a substantial wage boost without raising prices. The total boost could be $5.1 billion for workers in manufacturing plants-in percentage, 21% ever present rates. U.S. business as a whole, he figured, could grant a 25% boost...
...effect, the "report" asked all U.S. workers: What are you waiting for? In a way, they were waiting for something just like the Nathan report to spark their long-planned wage drive with "facts...
Wages v. Profits. But facts, like the Bible, can be used to justify almost anything. Industry economists immediately claimed that the Nathan report was full of gimmicks. One of them: he used as a standard for wages a peak period (January 1945) when labor was mining a war bonanza. On the other hand, he took as a standard for corporation profits the comparatively depressed period...