The New Inflation

All over the U.S. last week, the prices of meat and many other products rose with a rush that was painfully like the burst of inflation in 1948. Booming industrial production sent metal markets soaring: copper jumped 2¢ a Ib. to 22½¢; nickel was up, and even magnesium, which hadn't shown a rise since 1943, moved up 1¢ a Ib.

With steel mills running at better than 100% capacity for the eighth consecutive week, the wildest commodity of all was steel scrap. Top-grade scrap climbed to $46 a ton last week, a 48%...

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