BASIC DATA OF THE AMERICAN ECONOMY,

by W. Nelson Peach and Prof. Walter Krause. Richard D. Irwin, Inc., Chicago,1948, 209 pages.

This book is a compendium of statistical information drawn from a variety of sources and designed, according to the authors, "to provide factual information to accompany the discussion of the principal topics usually covered in Elementary Economics courses." The material is presented entirely through the use of charts and tables and brings together in one volume a large variety of statistical materials otherwise available only in numerous and widely scattered publications.

Virtually no interpretation is attempted by the authors, except through the use and selection of certain concepts and definitions over others, such as in the cases of "national income," "gross national product," "labor force," etc. The book is printed on large format and spiral bound, with the statistical data generally presented in both tabular and chart form on facing pages. The topical breakdown of the material is as follows: "National Income, Savings, and Consumer Expenditures," "Population and Working Force," "National Resources," "Money and Banking," "International Trade and Finance," "Government Expenditures, Taxes and Debt," "Price Levels and Business Fluctuations," "Manufacturing, Antitrust Action, and Business Income," and "Agriculture."

Basic Data is attractive and usable in design and the material selected ideally fills a need for an up-to-date and handy source of supplementary statistical material for economics courses.