The New York firm of Arthur D. Little was commissioned by OPEC (the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries) to make a report on the economics of Middle Eastern oil. Tne results of the survey eovering the years 1956 to 1960 were staggering, they show an annual average net profit of 66 per cent. on capital invested. among the companies reported on are Iraq Petroleum (62%) Q@tear Petroleum (114%) (yest thats right its not a prirting error), Arameo (61%) and the Persian consortium (71%). No wonder Western imperialism is willing to spend vast sums propping up stooge governments to keep ‘their’ investments safe. And yet side by side with this immense profit-making we have people living in absolute poverty.
The latest survey carried out by the Institute of Marketing and Sales Management shows a significant drop in orders on hand in the last six months. On the other hand industrialists are increasing their sales staff and expenditure on advertising. Only five concerns had more than 6 months or more work on hand as compared with 18 in the last survey, whereas 41 companies had increased their sales staff by 5% or more. 42 companies had increased their advertising by at least 5%. Over 150 large companies made returns.