ECONOMIC WAR.

Auckland Star, Volume LXX, Issue 306, 28 December 1939, Page 3

ECONOMIC WAR.

GREAT BRITAIN'S POLICY.

COUNTER TO GBRMAN DRIVE

Methods by which Britain's economic war, running counter to the German trade drive in the Balkans and South-eastern Europe, is I>eing wajred, are outlined in the "Financial News." The possibility of coinlKiting tlie German drive depends only wpon the determinaI tion of the British people and the ability of tihe Government to provide the neeessary organisation. It is considered that there must be Government help on a grand scale. Whether the process takes the form Kf direct subsidy or of differential exchange rates d?pen<ls upon tfhe individual countries concerned. B;iX' a powerful effort of co-ordination there must Ibe. British economic policy towards Turkey has been conceived "on the right lines, ami similar effnn ts should be directed towards the five Balkan countries. "These countries," tiie "Financial News" states, "urgently need development: they have tremendous capacity to absorb goods, and their resources are coveted by Germany. If the German economic drive in Souti:-eastern Europe can be checked then tJhe British blockade will squeeze the German economy decisively. In Scandinavia the technique of the Turkish agreement is unnecessary. The Scandinavian trading system is still free, and the problem is simply one of price— in particular, the price of coal. Outside Europe the problem is more straightforward; it is one of supplying British rds where German jroods used to go. these foreign markets Great Britain can expect to recoup some of the funds whic+i will be lost in combating Germany's continental drive. Co-ordination there must be, and planning, with willingness to spend resources now. Any money lost in destroying Germany's markets will be trivial compared with the cost of carrying on the war longer than is necessary."