FOOD PRICES are at their lowest in five years. On the Government's price index, the average cost of food in January tumbled 6% below the 1952 peak, with meat 22% cheaper.
FARM MACHINE SALES are slipping sharply from their 1955 level. With lower farm income and rising dealer stocks, International Harvester, Minneapolis-Moline, Oliver and other big producers report that 1956 sales are lagging as much as 25% behind 1955, have trimmed production as much as 20% in some plants.
CRUDE OIL OUTPUT by the free world is smashing all records. Though Middle East production declined slightly in December, zooming U.S. production of 7,155,000...