Industrialists Say“Britain Living Beyond Her Means”

Greymouth Evening Star, 17 August 1949, Page 5

Industrialists Say—“Britain Living Beyond Her Means”

LONDON, August 16 (Rec. 11 a.m.). —Warning that the “vast increase in State expenditure” is an inflationary influence in Britain’s economy, the Federation of British Industries says that Britain is still living beyond her means. In a statement on the economic crisis, the federation says that Britain is in grave danger of being unable to get the food and raw materials she needs.

The federation added that unemployment and more austerity would result if a solution were not found. Britain had a special responsibility to play its part in the establishment of Western recovery. If she did not earn it, she had no right to expect a higher standard of living than hop neighbours. “Evidence is accumulating that Britain is believed by other countries to be attempting to achieve too quickly what she can no longer afford,” the statement says. “Taxation, and therefore Government expenditure, must come down. The tax gatherer collects 8s from every pound that the nation produces. Profits are taxed even more heavily than this

and no opportunity is left to create adequate reserves.” The federation urges further lifting of controls and the adoption of all aids, to poductive efficiency. It contends that schemes like the nationalisation of the iron and steel industries are “irrelevant to the present crisis and distracting and damaging to prospects.”