BRITISH BUSINESS

Evening Post, Volume CXXX, Issue 156, 30 December 1940, Page 6

BRITISH BUSINESS

"ECONOMIST'S" VIEW

WORK AMID BOMBS

GREATER EFFORTS WANTED

LONDON, December 28

The "Economist's" Trade Supplement takes a fairly favourable view of the business position in Britain. It says that the air raids and transport difficulties continue to hamper production, but the output is considerably higher than might be expected for a period of intensive bombing. Germany has obtaine4 results nothing like those that she expected. The actual destruction of munition factories has been very small.

"The experience of the last few months has shown that night-bombing on the present scale does not curtail the volume of production sufficiently to cause serious anxiety," the writer states.

"Though the shipping losses are heavy, large imports of essential materials still arrive safely, but still greater efforts are needed to speed up the turn-reund of ships in the ports and to accelerate distribution of the cargoes to the centres of consumption."

The writer concludes: "British industry has done wonders of improvisation in the last year and has achieved a measure of success in adjusting itself to the new and difficult conditions. The progress in many directions has been very considerable; but all told our achievements in 1940 have not been commensurate with our needs and resources, and only a maximum effort in 1941 will see us through the critical period."