Businessmen keep a sharp eye on a trio of supremely important and closely related factors that make up the economy's three-I league: inflation, inventories and interest rates. When businessmen start building up their inventories at a rapid pace, they have historically helped bring on inflation, which the Government then seeks to curb by boosting interest rates and slowing down the economy. The current economic expansion has been long-lived and steady precisely because inventories have stayed lean, prices stable and credit free and easy. Last week, however, there were rumblings, rumors and signs of concern on all three fronts.
Overworked Steelmen. The...