Archive Report
Archive Report
Uncertainty in Business Outlook for 1936
The Year 1935 marked the first broad and sustained business revival since the beginning of the depression. Recovery was made in all lines. Retail trade improved; industrial output advanced; capital flotations, machine tool production, building construction, and carloadings increased; the number of business failures declined. Alexander Dana Noyes, financial editor of the New York Times, wrote January 2, that “although every responsible business body recognizes genuine industrial recovery, nevertheless there exists reluctance to predict its unbroken continuance.” One of the reasons for the absence of greater optimism is the fact that 1936 is a presidential election year, and according to business tradition, the months leading up to a presidential election are apt to be months of uncertainty. The principal ...