DISCUSSION.

The article presents comments of Gerhard Colm on the paper regarding postwar federal budget written by W.L. Crum. According to Colm, professor Crum's estimate of the federal budget total for the annual average of the postwar decade is 22 to 36 billion dollars. This estimate will come as a shock to those who have relied on the much lower estimates of other students of postwar finance. Even more important in accounting lot the comparatively high level of expenditures foreseen by Crum is his inclusion of what he calls "discretionary" expenditures. These include foreign capital investments; public works; subsidies and aids to industry, transportation, and agriculture; payments under additional veterans' legislation; additional social security outlays; relief; etc. Crum's budget predictions cover a ten-year period with an average national income and price level assumed for the whole period. There is no relationship between his budget forecasts on the one hand and general economic conditions on the other hand. By this method he avoids hypothetical or alternative estimates.