Commodity Statistics, The 1942 Commodity Year Book.Review by: Oscar L. EndlerJournal of the American Statistical Association, Vol. 38, No. 222 (Jun., 1943), pp. 260-261Published by: American Statistical AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2279557 .

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260 AMERICAN STATISTICAL AssoCIATION-

The extreme empiricism of the author, however, may be justified by the unsatisfactory state of the theory of the business cycle. In its present situa- tion, the theory may be regarded more of a barrier than a help to a theoretico- empirical approach of the subject, and may contribute to extreme empiricism of even those investigators who are conscious of the dangers of extreme em- piricism, as is the author.

The book may be used advantageously in advanced courses on the busi- ness cycle, particularly in special seminars, though the general reader will hardly get a general picture of the business behavior during 1919-22. Those interested in the behaviors of separate industries during that period will find the book interesting and useful reading.

V. P. TIMOSHENKO Food Research Institute Stanford University

Commodity Statistics, The 1942 Commodity Year Book. New York: Com- modity Research Bureau. 1942. 294 pp. $5.00, and Commodity Year Book. New York: Commodity Year Book. New York: Commodity Research Bureau, Inc. 1942. 413 pp. $7.50. The volume on Commodity Statistics is the fourth of an annual statistical

series. Descriptive materials on the background, processing, and marketing of commodities have been omitted from the 1942 volume. Such information covering all the commodities listed in the statistical volume and in addition virtually all of the important crude and semi-finished products used in the national economy are presented in the Master Edition, Commodity Year Book. The latter, therefore, is a commodity encyclopaedia designed for permanent reference use.

Commodity Statistics presents data in 61 individual or group sections for the 75 important crude and semi-finished materials covered in previous statistical editions. Statistics reported are for commodities generally classified as animal and animal products, beverages, forest products, fuels and electric power, metals, nonmetallic minerals, vegetable foodstuffs, vegetable oils and fibers, and such specialties as rubber, silk, and tobacco.

Data presented in each section vary in length from 1 or 2 pages to 16 pages depending on available information and the importance of the commodities. The sections generally comprise statistics on consumption or sales, produc- tion, prices, exports and imports, and stocks. Frequently statistics are given on such subjects as yields, taxes, kinds of uses, and sizes. All the statistical tables are simply arranged and easy to read. Footnotes are given but in some tables, particularly those involving estimates and comparability of a series of data, technicians may desire more detailed explanations.

The data have been compiled from a variety of recognized sources such as Government agencies, Boards of Trade, commodity exchange bureaus, and other institutions. Source references to the pertinent agencies and institu-

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* BOOK REVIEWS 261

tions are printed at the foot of each table. This source information could be more helpful to statistical workers if it also included references to the names of the current publications of the particular agencies. Technicians using the volume may find it necessary to look up available current data.

Information in the 1942 Year Book has been somewhat clouded by war conditions. Only data that have been officially released by governmental and quasi-official sources as not being detrimental to the war effort have been published. Consequently, statistics for strategic and critical commodities generally are not shown after the first 9 to 11 months of 1941.

The Master Edition is composed of separate articles on over 800 different crude and semifinished commodities. These articles contain brief descriptions of available information on such subjects as physical characteristics, methods of production, marketing and transportation methods, comparative prices over recent years, principal types and grades, possible substitutes, and government regulations. An attempt was made to use the same general out- line for all commodity articles, but variations are frequent because such data for many commodities are lacking in part or otherwise do not warrant such specific treatment. Amount of material presented for each commodity varies from part of one page for the less used commodities up to 16 pages for a group of commodities such as plastics. Notable features of this volume are its brief historical and economic reports on rubber, plastics, and many com- mon and rare chemical and vegetable commodities.

The two volumes should be valuable to statisticians, investigators, and research workers, because extensive statistical and informational data for so many important commodities are to be found in one set of reference books. It is hoped that the editors will find it possible and necessary to expand the coverage of their statistical volume to include some data for all commodities described in the Master Edition.

OSCAR L. ENDLER National Resources Planning Board

Make or Buy, by James W. Culliton. Boston: Harvard University, Bureau of Business Research. 1942. iv, 130 pp. $1.50. Every business purchase, the author points out, involves at least a tacit

decision that it is more desirable to buy the article in question from an out- side supplier than to produce it within the organization. Conversely, every production schedule indicates at least a tacit decision that each item in- volved can more satisfactorily be made by the company than purchased out- side.

While there are limits to the field of such choices, the author believes that too often a decision to make or buy a particular item, regardless of its original merit, continues to stand as an established policy long after changing con- ditions call for further review. Obviously, few companies will find it economi- cal to make their own lead pencils or stationery; a specialty manufacturer

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