eport:
Nebraska
economy
declining
Even though Nebraska cities along Interstate
80 are doing better financially than last year, the
state is in a recession, according to a report by
the UNL College of Business Administration.
In the latest issue of Business in Nebraska, a
monthly publication, Edgar Z. Palmer, a retired
economics professor, wrote that some cities
along the interstate had an increase in taxable
retail sales volume this year compared to last.
Those cities showing an increase retail sales tax
volume were York, Grand Island, Kearney,
Holdrege, Lexington and Ogallala, according to
the report.
Palmer based the percentages in the report on
statistics for the calendar year from January
through November of 1974.
About two-thirds of Nebraska's cities,
however, showed a decline in taxable retail sales,
according to the report. The overall decline in
sales tax revenue was five per cent, which is an
indication of a recession, Palmer wrote.
Banking activity declines
Another sign of a recession is the 15 per cent
decline in banking activity, he wrote. He called
the banking volume, which is a measure of the
volume of checks charged against individual and
corporate accounts, the most definite indication
of a recession.
Wallace C. Peterson, chairman of UNL
economics department, said he thought the
unemployment rate of 8.2 per cent was an
important indicator of the recession the country
the
than
were
600,000
is experiencing. He added that
unemDlovment rate is actually higher
government statistics indicate.
Peterson reported that 7.5 million persons
out of work in rcoruary, uiu'
persons decided not to see
t The number of unemployed
rvrc rrQ firm thet nersnns who decided not to seek
work can be coupled with a decrease of 500.UUU
jobs in Febryary to produce an unemployment
rate of about nine per cent, he said.
No increase in output
If the United States is experiencing a
recession, there will not be any increase in
industrial production or total output, Peterson
said. He said there is no way to predict when the
volume of business investment and consumer
spending will increase to end the recession.
Consumers are cautious about spending money
and business investment has not begun to
increase, he added.
Peterson said a federal tax cut is needed to
offset the effects of decreases in business
activity. Congress is attempting to legislate a tax
cut.
While the federal government is contemplating
anti-recession measures, state governments also
feel the effects of the recession, Peterson said.
"There is little th3t state governments can do
to offset the effects of a recession," Peterson
said. "State governments are cutting back on
spending, which helps to feed the recession."
Kurtenbach: council awes Lincoln ites
By Ron Wylie
Most Lincolnites are awed by the city's business establishment,
City Council candidate Ron Kurtenbach said Thursday.
"With this lack of public skepticism," he contended, "they are
unprepared to develop any regulations of Lincoln's commercial
interests."
Kurtenbach, 32, a UNL janitor, is one of the 15 candidates in
Lincoln's April 8 primary. He publishes The Lincoln Gazette and is
on the board of directors of the Sunrise Communications Corp., a
nonprofit radio enterprise.
Council's attitude
Kurtenbach said the City Council's attitude toward cable
television first attracted his attention to city government, and
added that lack of city responsiveness to a range of public issues
provoked him to run for office.
"I wanted to challenge them in a public arena," he said. "I'm.
he is working for a classless society.
"I think we need democratic control of the means of
production," he said.
As a councilman, Kurtenbach said, he could offer support for
democratic union activities and be supportive of city workers'
efforts in negotiations with the city.
Kurtenbach also said he favors a city originated policy of rent
control to "regulate price fluctuations and excesses in profits by
renters."
Sales tax replacement
Kurtenbach also said he wants to replace the sales tax with some
system of progressive income or property taxes, but he added "a
sales tax on luxury items might be feasible, as long as there's no
added burden to the low and middle income people."
Considering Lincoln's Alcohol Safety Action Program (ASAP),
he said, "drunken drivers should be stopped and removed from our
not likely to be successful, but I might be, and it's important that streets, but I think there are ways to do that without taking away
people have a chance to elect progressive officials.
Kurtenbach referred to himself as a Christian Socialist and said
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Photo by Td Kirk
Ron Kurtenbach, Lincoln city council candidate
their civil liberties.'
Kurtenbach said he opposes the part of the ASAP program
which compels people to take an anti-alcohol drug (antibuse).
"This is unfair, and not rightfully something a society should have
the power to do," he said.
"Policemen tend to have authoritarian attitudes," he said, "and
that is not really necessary for good law enforcement."
Kurtenbach, a native of Mitchell, S.D., and a graduate of Wayne
State College, has been active in anti-war and draft counseling
movements. He served as a VISTA volunteer in Newark, NJ., in
fulfillment of his alternative service obligations. Kurtenbach is a
conscientious objector.
Kurtenbach said his campaign is very low key.
"What we're doing is very minimal. We're trying to share
information about the issues," he said.
Press releases and public meetings are the major means of
campaign communication in his informal effort.
"We don't have a lot to spend and wouldn't spend a lot of
money anyway, because it's not one of our priorities," he said.
Media access
A recurring campaign problem, he said, is access to the media.
"But that's a problem the people have all the time; that's why
we publish The Gazette.
Kurtenbach said he respects fellow-candidate Steve Tiwald, but
said he fears, "Steve's playing too safe of a game."
If elected, Kurtenbach said, he hopes to exert a progressive
influence in city government. "At least," he added, "maybe we can
have some influence on the city election and the issues."
Kurtenbach is married and the father of a 4-year-old boy,
Aaron. Before coming to lincoln as a graduate student in English
in 1970, he taught in Sioux Falls, S.D., and worked in a settlement
house in Philadelphia, Pa.
Grocery
store
liquor
discussed
Nebraskans would pay
higher prices for liquor sold in
some retail businesses if a bill
pending in the Legislature's
Miscellaneous Subjects
Committee is passed.
The bill, LB204, primarily
affects supermarkets and other
retail businesses that do not
strictly market liquor, James
Moylan, attorney for the
Nebraska licensed Beverages
Association, said. Moylan
testified in committee
Thursday for the bill,
introduced by Neleigh Sen.
John DeCamp.
Moylan said many
supermarkets sell alcoholic
beverages at or below the
wholesale price, which gives
them ah unfair advantage.
"Supermarkets that sell
packaged beer and other liquor
are only doing it to attract
customers to the store,"
Moylan said. "They aren't
selling liquor to make a
profit."
Cm the other hand, liquor
retailers depend on their sales
to pay all overhead costs
incurred in operating a
business, Moylan said. Liquor
store owners cannot afford to
lower their prices to compete
with the supermarket that sells
alcoholic beverages as a service
to its customers, he added.
Another bill reviewed by
the committee would allow
16 -years-olds 'to handle
package liquor when working
at a retail store. The bill,
LB 143, would change the
present provision prohibiting a
minor to have in his possession
or physical control any
alcoholic liquor.
Moylan asked the
committee members to amend
the measure to allow
16-year-olds to make sales to
customers.
"Young persons working at
liquor retail stores would be
more of an asset to the owners
if they could carry out
packaged liquor," Moylan
explained. "Under present law,
a young person is limited in
what jobs he may perform at
liquor establishments."
Other bills heard in the
committee were:
-LB68, which would limit
the number of retail alcoholic
liquor licenses issued in each
county to one for each 1,500
residents.
LB421, which would
permit cities and villages to
have beneficial interest in mere
than two liquor licenses.
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Raymond Millar
Rm. 205
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page 14
daily nebraskan
friday, march 21, 1975