GOVERNMENT: How to Make a Buck

Not every man can turn an $85,000 investment into a profit of $1,005,000 in two short years. Last week Robert Hirsch, a Bridgeport, Conn, insurance man, turned the trick with the help of some Fair Deal bumbling in Washington.

In 1950, Hirsch and four associates signed a contract with the Government's General Services Administration to buy a surplus aircraft plant in Stratford, Conn, that had stood empty since Chance Vought moved to Texas in 1949. After the Korean war began, GSA checked twice with the Munitions Board to make sure the plant would not be needed. The board assured GSA...

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