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EUROPE AND THE LTNITED STATES249l'"nr-:i soclal insur'ance. As ai-rr'?e lrercentage of the cost of:,'c'ial insnlirnce is paid by the':1trlrlo\-ers thev amount tcl aleal aclclitiori to wag'es, risingrl ser.eral European countr,iesi-' o\-el' i5% of the m,one.r' wzggi,r.id,Distribution Problems-f- H I'l gror-tlr irnt'l irrrlrrove-I nrent of means ol eomruunicationancl the spr:ezrc-l ofmole refined tastes cl-en amongtire less developed social clas-q-,:,r, dLre partiy to impror.ed puhiicit;'-anci aclr'ertising methotls,uzrle cleprir,'ed many categories,tf producers ancl traclers, bothiarge and small, of the pr.ivilegeclposition the,v used to occu1tr.in relation to consumers.Salesmanship, in the best sense,rf the worcl, has become an essentialfeature in the make-upof the business man, and in arricler sense the problem of clistril-rutionis one claiming the attentionof all rvho desire topromote social prosperit,v.This fundamental evolutionin lhe relations between con-,rumels and producers has beenaccompanied b"v nerv aspects irrthe competition of produccr.sas among theniselves, rnore especiallyin ihe Unitecl States.where it woultl seem for irrstancethat competition is nolonger limited to procluccrs ofsimilar goods but exists alsobetrveen proclucers of difterentkinds of goocls representing alternativeclaims for a share oftlie consumer's c1olla,r-As a rnatter of fact the rnainconclition gor.erning the marketfor: consumers' goods isthe econornic status or purchasingpo\r-er of the population.Hnl substantial ililTerencebetween European anclAmerican purchasing power,along rn'ith the different size oftlie two markets, goes a longl,'a,\' to erplain the difference-qin the deveiopment of their. r.e-:pecli\'e tli:tIilrrrtiVr, s1-stcmsantl of the studies concerningthem in Europe and in thcLrnitecl States. The progressmac'le in this fie1d by the New,as conlpareci to the 01d Contin-Dr. Alberto Pirelli\ .\thrtr: ::'Sxd'r,.,1.1.;l'i$t'ent, is truly remar.kable antlclaims our adnrirzrtion.I n'ill only point to :r factrvhich perhaps lrns counter tocurrerit opinion but to rvhichzrvailaltle dzrta clearll' point;given the purchasing power,ancl allowing for a certain timelagclue to slon'cr acl.justmerrtsto norrelt)', the European consumerdoes clesire and doesbuy the sarne comforts, conveniences,and lururics as havecreated "the new competition"rvhich, a-q I har.e zrlreadv said,is prevalent irr the tiniterlStates. This justi{ies the forecastthat methods of tlistributionn4rich have provecl theirr-alue in the far more sparsely1;opulatecl areas of Aurericashould establish tiremseh,'es inclue course throughout Europc.fn the Lrnited States the feelingof living in a countr-l,' exceptionall5.privileged in itsriatural resources, utilized Jtr. acomparatively small population,the consequent certaintrthatthere is an opportunity athand for everybody, that thereis "ahvays roorn at the top,"ancl the joy of success, havc'createcl a rvide-spread optirnism, a _-r'outhful con{idence, astrivirrg for progress, a clogma,of higJr productior] even alnousthc x.orking classes, iill ofwhich are trcmenclous arssetsin the economic trnd sor:ialfield-s.The pi'oblern of the procluctionof new r.ealth has been anrlstill is paramount in the LilileclStatcs, whereas that of tlistribution of existing rvealth appearsto be pa,ramount inBurope.Trade Developments tsetweenthe United States andEurope] \. errrrnirrins tr.a,lc r.elalionrI hetweerr Eur.opc arrd -\rncr.icawe are at once str.uch by tlrrrirlportance of the -lmerica,rrmarket for Europe. FromI910-1.1 to 1926-29 Eur.opearrexports to the {Initetl Statesincreasecl bv an annual average of nearlv 500 rnillion rlollars.We mr:rst bear in mirrd thzli,it is dilfrcult to speakof l{uropeas a Continental exporting unitfor the total is constructed orrthe basis of national trarle statistics n hich inr:lurle the ex,changes ltetn'ccn the sevcralErropean countries as well asthose betrveen them and ul'el.-seas markets. This retluces the1:rercentage ratio of Europeanexports directed to ovLrrsea,scountric.s, ernci arnong theut l.lreUnited States. Yet if we wereto exclucle from our consiclerationinter-European exports afalse impression would begiven, for each of these colrntriesis an independent rnarket.ff we bear this in mincl rveshall not ).re sur.prisecl to frndthat the European nationsplace in the tlnited States onlv(Continued on parlc 278)