Finance—Public and Private
The Past Year
TILE year 1927 may be Said to have been characterized by slow, but steady, recuperation from the effects of the industrial crisis of the preceding year, a crisis, of course, which was aggravated by the fact that we are still under the influence of the after-effects of the Great War. The difficulty in fairly appraising the significance of the developments during the past year lies in the fact that artificial as well as natural influences have operated ; and because it is impossible to make any intelligent forecast of the coming year without comprehending the significance of the forces during the past year, I propose -to make a few comments on some of its outstanding features, first because it is possible to do so rather more intelligently when looking back upon them than at the time of their occurrence, and second, because they form a necessary introduction to next week's consideration of the outlook for 1928. I know that, properly speaking, one should be giving the forecast for 1928 before 1927 has closed, but it is of set purpose that I am refraining from that procedure, so as to escape somewhat, if possible, from the atmosphere of ultra-optimism n which usually characterizes the closing days of a year.
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