Christmas jingle: do it again next year

EVERYONE may be happy to know that Christmas is again scheduled for the same day in 1985. It has been approved by the business community.

Words ringing out from the Commerce Department almost double for Christmas carols. When the department puts out a statement something like, ''retail sales, after adjusting for seasonal variation, rose a record $110.3 billion since November'' it seems to go with the tune of ''Deck the halls with boughs of holly , tra la la la la. . . .''

Or again, when Commerce Secretary Malcolm Baldrige sends out his glad tidings , saying, ''The Christmas season is off to a cheerful start . . .'' it sounds a bit like ''Good King Wenceslaus,'' even though ''cheerful'' refers to separating consumers from their money.

If sales are up 1.8 percent over last year, Christmas is proclaimed a success by department stores. Apparently this bestows a blessing and a recommendation that Christmas be continued for another year.

But economists always hedge on being totally hopeful about anything. They have built-in warning systems which are set off when they begin to smile. Although sales were up this Christmas and carols were chiming on the cash registers, economists found a dismal side to it. They point out that the midyear slump of the middle class is caused mainly by excessive Christmas spending. The very jingle of coins that points the Christmas economy upward is used as an indicator of disaster.

So, maybe we've got everything in the wrong order.

Being a cautious writer, I decided to take an informal poll, and as a result I found that everyone seems completely satisfied with Christmas, regardless of the economic trends, and approves of a repeat celebration. So by popular demand, Christmas will be scheduled as usual in December of 1985.

It follows that the economy will continue to be OK.

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