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: FULL EMPLOYMENT PLANS
COULD QUICKLY DISSOLVE
... IS U.N. CONCLUSION
By PHILIP M. WEATE, B. Com., Herald Finance Staff
Too many of us fear that all the armory
of full employment policies and plans built
up in Australia, paraded with such bravado
by some, would be quickly dissolved in the
powerful acid of a declining oversea demand
for our goods.
An ominous conclusion is among those
drawn in a recent survey by a United
Nations committee.
It is that fluctuations in the demand of
some countries for other countries' goods could
create instabilities; and that the least adequate
part of present international trading arrange
ments is in their prospect of handling these
instabilities.
The committee's analysis Is
published in a recent United
Nations book, "National and
International Measures for Full
Employment"— a report pre
sented to the United Nations
Economic and Social Council
by a group of experts headed
by Australian economist Dr. E.
Ronald Walker.
After giving a thumbnail
sketch of Keynslan employment
theory In a closed economy,
and considering the familiar
domestic devices available to
Governments to counteract un
employment, the authors turn
to the international scene.
They realise that many coun
tries are prone to suffer enor
mously from declines in their
exports or a sudden withdrawal
of oversea Investment.
International demand plays
an important part in maintain
ing employment in many coun
tries—Australia, New Zealand,
England, Europe, and parts of
Asia.
ian Lines
Of Hone
The committee suggests that
the main lines of hope lie In the
following directions: —
(1) Co-operation between
nations in framing long-term
development policies to ensure
over-all international , equi
librium. But the committee Is
conscious that it is only too
easy to suggest international
conferences as a panacea for
resolving all problems.
(2) Stabilising the flow of In
ternational investment. This
could be helped by a more con
scious direction of policy from
the advanced countries. Pow
ers of the International Bank
for Reconstruction and De
velopment could be widened to
channel Government borrowing
and lending.
(3) Steps to assist stability
in international trade, the crux
of the problem. Here the com
mittee recommends that the
international Monetary Fund
be set up as an agent to make
more currency available tem-
porarily to a country faced
with a lack of monetary re
serves when oversea depression
strangled its exports.
Such a country would then be
able to buy from others, pro
moting activity abroad and
reversing the deflationary
Jobs Require
Resources
Stockpiling stabilisation
schemes, and Import subsidies
are also advocated, all aiming
to hold up the level of inter
national spending.
Of interest, the report men
tions a type of unemployment,
discussion of which has not yet
found its way into many texts.
It arises because of a lack of
resources necessary to keep
wage-earners, at work.
Underdeveloped countries
suort of capital equipment ex
hibit this condition. Balance
of payment difficulties and
natural phenomena, such as
frosts, earthquakes, etc., could
easilv force it on to more Indus
trially advanced countries.
H. A. Goddard Pty. Ltd.,
255 a George Street, Sydney,
are Australian agents for
united Nations publications
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