WORLD PROBLEMS OF TO-DAY.

Press, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20550, 19 May 1932, Page 14

WORLD PROBLEMS OF TO-DAY.

' "ECONOMIC PLANNING." ADDRESS BY MR G. LAWN. "Economic Planning" was the subject of an address delivered by Mr George Lawn,. Lecturer on Economics at Canterbury College, at the annual meeting last night of the Christchurch branch of the Town Planning Institute of New Zealand. He dealt 1 interestingly with many of the economic problems of the world at the present time. Mr Lawn said that if human beings were classified according to their degree of intelligence no better standard could Ix* adopted. probably, than their ability to visualise the ideal form of society aud their ability to plan constructively for its realisation. A complete change in economic environment would have to be based on a' high degree of co-operation. The extent to which they, were able to co-operate harmoniously determined their standi ard of civilisation and their ability to attain to the. high ideals of human development. Object of Economic Planning. The end of economic planning was the realisation of tho highest possible standards of life for all members of society, involving a full ■ knowledge of natural resources, the provision of the most efficient forms of capital equipment, and the production of those things that administer to human wellbeing and the equitable distribution of wealth. " Obviously, the goal of economic pin lining, wag never reached, tor in each new generation there wero fresh advances in science and invention, making possible' greater advances in well-being, and extending the horizon of human endeavour. Standards of Consumption Too Low. A competent engineer recently said that the engineers could smother tliein «"ith a plethora of goods at any time ii they wished to do so. In the light of that statement there was certainly: no validity in tho argument that tho peoples ol the world bad been living beyond their means, or that their standard of living was too high. Rather, he suggested, that the opposit© was tlie case—their standards of consumption had been too low, and they had not been, and thev were not, consuming enough, Various classes of producers were urging more consumption. The paradox of misery and 'privation in a world possessing such immense productive powers was a symptom of bad organisation.. The economic formulas of a past age were people" 861 acceptable to intelligent Capitalism and Communism. The two rival forms of economic or* ganisation were capitalism and communism. The supporters of capitalism mainfairied that private ownership gave scope for the development of enterprise and initiative and provided for economic organisation in such a way that the. present maladjustments could be eliminated without bureaucratic con-" trol, or the regimentation of masses of people under the direction of State officials. Supporters of Communism said that only. under, a systemof public ownership and .control of land and capital could there be effective economic planning. The . ecqnomic planning in Russia probably would determine, bv-its sucsuccess or failure the extent of the adoption of-the. one or the other, of these forms of organisation by other countries. It was possible, he thought, for the two systems; to exist together, side by side. Scope of investigation. , There were matters that would have to be to provide the basis for economic planning, and it was necessary that the data should be collected by "technical experts. He suggested that some of the matters they would have to investigate in a country , lilto New Zealand were: Land utilisation, extension and diversification of manufacturing industries, rationalisation of industry (including marketing), stabilisation of. employment and the control erf trade, management of currency and credit, and the need of flexibility in the planning and controlling bodies. Mr Lawn dealt in detail with each of these matters. As to land utilisation, he said that they too readily accepted the assumption that the small farm and closer settlement were the ends to which their policy should be directed. There was need for a complete investigation of the relative advantages of large and small farms. He thought it probable that if . New Zealand continued to rely on such a narrow range of exports as it relied on at present, it would be subjected to greater fluctuations in value in the. future than had been the case recently. He suggested that there was great scope '".New Zealand for the development of -joint committees—usually called shop committees—to discuss • matters affecting each industry, not in an. atmosphere' of dispute, but as a regular * matter. This tended to anticipate industrial trouble and to smooth over those regrettable incidents like the one recently experienced in Christchurch. If the State was to take over any part of the task of economic ; planning there must be a very .considerable modification of the present Parliamentary machinery; it was not able effectively to exercise economic control and direct economic forces. There was something to be said for a small body of legislators': elected on . a geo- : graphical basis, and for a larger industrial Parliament, based on occupational representation. v. Some matters raised, by the address were discussed by members, and Mr Lawn answered several questions. Bj/ acclamation,. Mr Lawn was accorded a vote of thanks. I I