Page:Walter Renton Ingalls - Wealth and Income of the American People (1924).pdf/196

174 by virtue of rising prices and omits any writing down. Making due allowances for those conditions there will be no very great discrepancy in the two estimates, as I have said. Working backward in this way we may arrive roughly at an estimate of 235 billion dollars to 240 billion dollars for the national wealth at the end of 1912, which may be compared with the census estimate of 188 billion dollars for that year.

As for what happened after 1916 an analysis of the inventory in comparison with that for 1920–1921 is illuminating and instructive. This is made by grouping the several items as is done in the accompanying table. This does not indicate the position of any classes of people, and is no intimation of ownership, but simply is a grouping of things. Public utilities and some minor items are omitted.

In automobiles, furniture, etc., clothing, jewelry, etc., we gained about five billion dollars. This group comprises things that are consumed with more or less rapidity and which depreciate rapidly in value once they have been put into use. A good deal of what is comprised in this group, including a large part of the automobiles, may be classed as luxury goods.

In farm lands and buildings, farming implements and live stock—in general the things pertaining directly to the agricultural industry of the country—we also had again. The actual gain of this branch of the industry was greater than is indicated by the figures grouped for it, for a large portion of the items assembled in the first group, especially the automobiles, pertain