MARKETPLACE
NEWSLETTER
PAGE 8, APRIL 30, 1975
How Y'Doin' With
Your 2¢ Quarter?
As of January 1,'75 your Quarter was worth 2.2¢. Up to that date, and since the last
half of '74, the Quarter had a purchasing power value of 2.5¢ compared to the full and
honest 25¢ Quarter of 1939. So that when you price your music and games at "1 Play 25¢",
you have to take in almost 12 times more Quarters to equal the purchasing power value of
the Quarter you earned in '39.
That should give you a most revealing idea of how galloping inflation over the past
18 years has clobbered the value of the dollar. In fact, when you get right down to the
nitty-gritty, from this 2.2¢ Quarter you're now taking in you're not only paying the
highest overhead expenses in all the history of this industry but also the highest taxes
you've ever paid.
In fact, taxes went up even more than your food bill last year. Taxes zoomed up 27%
as against inflation's wild smash at your food bill of 14.4%. That's only part of the
taxation problem. Because you pay Uncle Sam on the new high inflationary rate, not on
the actual value of the money you earn. As reported here in "Marketplace", and like
Canada is already doing, there is a move afoot among the nation's knowledgeable legis-
lators to arrange for "indexing" your income, so that you won't have to pay on inflation
distortion of your yearly earnings.
"How Y'Doin' With Your 2¢ Quarter?" Even tho inflation has somewhat slowed down this
first quarter of '75 when your Quarter was worth 2.2¢, it'll fall to 2¢ in actual pur-
chasing power value before this second quarter is over. Furthermore, while your Quarter
falls in value, your overhead expense is destined to go up by 20% due to the forthcoming
higher cost per gallon of gasoline demanded by the President and the Congress.
•
..
Somehow, from som~where, you've got to get back that 20% extra load on your overhead
expense. Tho inflation may not continue to gallop at the 15% rate, inflation isn't halt-
ing, and won't halt for the rest of this decade. How can you get back that additional
20% being added on to your overhead expense? Simply by eliminating the antique, outworn
and completely rediculous 50/50 commission basis that came into effect in 1931 when
butchers, bakers and candlestick makers rushed into this industry •
Switch to 70/30 commission basis. There's the 20% difference from 50/50 you need.
That doesn't mean, of course, you're getting away from the 2¢ Quarter. What it does mean
is that you're easing the pressure of the inflation millstone that's become so choking
tight around your neck. Your best bet is music at 1/25¢, 3/50¢ and 7/ $1. Straight 25¢
play for amusements. Paying 30% commission to all your locations. Then, a few months
after you've made these changes, let's hear, "How Y'Doin' With Your 2¢ Quarter?"