SIEPMANN, CHARLES A. Radio, Television, and Society. Pp. vii, 410. New York: Oxford University Press, 1950. $4.75
| Published date | 01 March 1951 |
| Date | 01 March 1951 |
| Author | Kenneth G. Bartlett |
| DOI | 10.1177/000271625127400172 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
241
of
interest
and
value
in
itself,
but
the
author’s
objective
requires
the
second
part,
devoted
to
an
allocation
of
interest
receipts
by
income
classes.
Together
they
permit
a
comparison
leading
to
a
conclusion
as
to
the
net
effect
of
the
debt
on
income
dis-
tribution
and
volume.
The
author’s
first
problem
in
Part
One
arises
from
the
troublesome
issues
of
in-
cidence
associated
with
the
components
of
the
federal
tax
system,
particularly
the
corporate
income
tax
and
the
employer’s
payroll
tax.
After
reviewing
the
literature
on
these
subjects,
the
author
concludes
in
favor
of
two
calculations
on
the
corporate
tax:
one
on
the
assumption
that
it
is
borne
entirely
by
the
stockholder
and
the
other .
that
it
is
shifted
forward
to
the
extent
of
one-third.
The
incidence
of
the
payroll
tax
is
allocated
one-third
to
each
of
the
three
groups,
stockholders,
em-
ployees,
and
consumers.
The
final
result
shows
a
marked
increase
in
the
degree
and
consistency
of
progression
over
that
found
in
Temporary
National
Economic
Committee
study
of
the
prewar
tax
system.
In
the
allocation
of
interest
payments
to
investors,
the
author
confronts
the
forbid-
ding
task
of
tracing
the
gains
of
banks
and
insurance
companies
to
individuals.
The
interest
going
to
banks
is
divided
among
stockholders,
time
depositors,
and
demand
depositors,
the
latter
portion
being
justified
on
the
ground
that
the
banks
might
other-
wise
have had
to
levy
service
charges.
The
conclusion
reached
is
that
in
1945
the
redistributional
effect
of
the
tax-debt
structure
was
relatively
small-some
$239
million
at
most-and
from
the
lower
to
the
higher
brackets
of
income.
The
author
also
concludes,
perhaps
without
adequate
qualification,
that
this
transfer
to
groups
with
low
marginal
propensity
to
consume
probably
reduced
the
national
income.
The
book
is
an
exhibit
of
the
courage,
diligence,
and
patience
required
for
such
work
in
the
social
studies.
Almost
every-
one
will
take
exception
to
this
or
that
decision
among
alternatives.
But
all
should
agree
that
the
work
is
high
grade
and
use-
ful.
HAROLD
M.
GROVES
University
of
Wisconsin
SIEPMANN,
CHARLES
A.
Radio,
Television,
and
Society.
Pp.
vii,
410.
New
York:
Oxford
University
Press,
1950.
$4.75.
This
is
a
book
that
treats
radiobroadcast-
ing
and,
incidentally,
telecasting,
as
fully
responsible
members
of
the
&dquo;press.&dquo;
For
most
entertainment-conscious
radio
listen-
ers,
this
book
will
be
a
new
approach.
Those
of
us,
however,
who
have
spent
half
a
lifetime
working
with
radio’s
more
serious
programs
and
particularly
its
social
mean-
ings,
both
potential
and
real,
find
here
a
comprehensive,
fundamental
approach
to
radiobroadcasting.
This
is,
in
this
review-
er’s
judgment,
one
of the
very
few
excellent
books
on
radio.
Fortunately,
it
is
not
a
book
on
how
to
broadcast;
neither
does
it
contain
the
usual
complimentary
claims
that
the
in-
dustry
periodically
awards
to
itself;
and,
equally
important,
it
is
even-tempered
enough
to
avoid
many
of
the
unreasonable
indictments
of
some
of
radio’s
past
prac-
tices.
Rather,
it is
a
highly
readable,
phil-
osophical
analysis
of
the
basic
problems
that
face
aural
broadcasting
and
reaches
the
reading
public
just
as
the
Federal
Com-
munications
Commission
is
attempting
to
adopt
a
plan
for
the
allocation
of
television
frequencies.
In
this
respect,
it
could
be
highly
significant,
although
I
am
not
con-
vinced
that
the
publication
of
a
good
book
on
radio
will
have
any
immediate
effect
on
either
radio
or
television!
&dquo;David’s
sling,&dquo;
however,
can
be
significant
in
the
long,
hard
road
ahead,
for
here
is
a
fine
text
for
radio
courses
and
for
the
several
new
offerings
in
&dquo;communications.&dquo;
Here,
too,
is
a
good
reference
book
for
political
science,
history,
and
sociology.
It also
makes
for
fine
general
reading
for
those
who
ponder
the
relationship
of
a
free
press
to
a
free
and
strong
society.
If
enough
listeners
understood
the
material
in
the
Siepmann
book,
there
would
be
greater
public
participation
in
radio’s
basic
prob-
lems.
His
analysis
of
the
American
system.
and
of
other
systems
of
broadcasting
offers
an
opportunity
to
see
the
relationship
of
the
type
of
system
that
a
nation
adopts
to
the
program
fare
that
results.
To
this
reviewer,
this
is
the
best
part
of
the
book,
and
should
be
read
by
every
broadcaster,
par-
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