NEW PLAN

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 64, Issue 4544, 4 March 1942, Page 7

NEW PLAN

SAVE WHILE YOU SPEND “ From the United States comes the suggestion of a plan, said to have been invented by Mr Wallace,, the Vice-President, for saving and spending at the same time. " - “ Briefly, the suggestion is that whenever a purchase of non-essential goods is made, an amount of Savings Stamps shall be bought as well. Thus the buyer would have to subscribe to the Government securities in proportion to the amount of his purchase. The proportion might vary with, the type of goods, as does our present Purchase Tax. “ It is claimed that the plan would necessitate such a large cash outlay on expensive goods as to reduce their sale. To the extent that they were sold despite this, the Government would gain by automatic subscriptions to loans. “The details of such a plan offer plenty of scope for adaptation. Undoubtedly there is still much money being spent on non-essentials, the prices of which will be forced up as supplies dwindle, and the temptation to manufacturers of them to employ labour and material to meet the. demand will increase. “ A scheme such as that propounded in the United States is well Worth while examining carefully, for it seems to be the first countering of inflation by a method which would serve to keep down the prices of goods while rendering them less accessible to the buyer.”—The Scotsman, Edinburgh.