DEPRESSION AND CURRENCY.
AN AUCKLAND SUGGESTION. PRODUCE AS A UNIT. If any proof were needed of the I growth of popular interest in current economic problems, it would be found in the multiplication of books on these subjects. The public is busying itself with such questions as exchange and currency because It realises that these questions affect daily life. The gold standard is becoming almost as popular a subject of discussion as Rugby football, and the orthodox battle with the unorthodox. Among tlie latter is Mr. Hedley Stewart, an Auckland resident, and he expounds his unorthodoxy in lively fashion in "The World Depression." Mr. Stewart has little use for the gold standard. He traces the world depression to the Act of 1844, and other Acts, which arbitrarily fixed the price of gold. The nursing of gold reserves by the bankers prevented this defiance of the fundamental law of supply and demand from taking full effect; but the Great War upset everything, and left some nations oversupplied and others undersupplied. Mr. Stewart's comments on the war settlements are severe. He regards it as inexplicable that Britain, with lessons of history before her, should have saddled Germany with such a grievance •as the reparations "settlement." Tariffs, reparations and the American debt, added to the confusion caused by the waft The behaviour of gold, says Mr. Stewart, is becoming the riddle of the universe. It is not essential to exchange, and any other material valuable throughout the world would be equally useful in adjusting the balance of trade. Mr. Stewart proposes that we in New Zealand should use a unit of produce for both internal and external exchange, and he would develop this form of currency throughout the Empire, to what he considers the Empire's advantage. The unit would be a pound of produce, formed by taking an average of the leading export lines. ° Orthodox economists may scoff at Mr. Stewart's ideas, and certainly the idea of using butter and wool as currency is rather startling. Bankers do not seem to have given him much encouragement. He tried two banks, but apparently did not get a hearing. He regrets that he is unable to give the opinion of the banking world, but it seemed to him to be that the book is silly, futile, and indeed "rotten." However, Mr. Stewart has written a thoughtful book on a subject of the utmost°importance. Copies may be obtained from the publisher, Box 1866, Auckland.
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Auckland Star, Volume LXII, Issue 72, 26 March 1931, Page 3
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408DEPRESSION AND CURRENCY. Auckland Star, Volume LXII, Issue 72, 26 March 1931, Page 3
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