WAR  BORROWING

166

Month

Wholesale

Retail  Food

i  —
January

[1913=  100]
18s

160

February

187

l6l

March

188

154

April

191

154

May

191

158

June

193

162

July

198

167

August

I7'I

September

207 8

178

It  appears  from  the  above  that  wholesale  prices
began  to  rise  in  the  mid-summer  of  1915,  that  the
upward  movement  continued  steadily  through  the
first  six  months  of  1916,  that  thereafter  it  proceeded
with  great  violence  until  the  summer  of  1917  when,
after  a  period  of  stability  tending  to  slight  recession,
the  upward  tendency  resumed  early  in  1918  and
thereafter  developed  with  increasing  momentum.
In  the  case  of  retail  prices  there  has  been  the  customary ­
  “  lag.”  The  earlier,  more  gradual  rise  continued ­
  through  the  autumn  of  1916,  the  sharp  upward ­
  movement  extended  for  some  months  beyond
the  mid-summer  of  the  same  year,  and  the  period
of  comparative  stability  and  recession  continued
through  the  early  spring  of  1918.
Concentrating  attention  upon  that  period  of  our
war  borrowing  for  which  data  are  at  this  time  available— ­
  May,  1917,  through  September,  1918  —  it
appears  that  for  the  first  seven  months  (May-December,
  1917)  wholesale  prices  were  subject  to  narrow ­
  fluctuations  and  underwent  no  eventual  change,
and  for  the  second  nine  months  (December,  1917—-8
  Preliminary.