War-time financial problems

CONTENTS
i

THE OUTLOOK FOR CAPITAL PAGE

The Creation of Capital—The Inducement—War and Capital . I

II

LONDON'S FINANCIAL POSITION

London after the War—A German View—The Rocks Ahead—-
Our Relative Position secure—Faulty Finance—The Strength
we have shown—The Nature and Limits of American Com-
petition—No other likely Rivals . . . . - . 15

III

WAR FINANCE AS IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN—I
Financial Conditions in August, 1914—No Scheme prepared to
meet the Possibility of War—A Short Struggle expected—The
Importance of Finance as a Weapons-Labour's Example—
The Economic Problem of War—The Advantages of Direct
Taxation—The Government follows the Path of Least Resist-
ance—The Effect of Currency Inflation . , . 31

IV

WAR FINANCE AS IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN—II
The Changed Spirit of the Country—A Great Opportunity thrown
away—-What Taxation might have done—The Perils of Infla-
tion—-Drifting stupidly along the Line of Least Resistance—
It is we who pay, not " Posterity ".....48

V

A LEVY ION CAPITAL

The Objects of the Levy—Its Origin and History—How it would
work in Practice—The Attitude of the Chancellor—The
Effects of the Scheme in discouraging Thrift—Its Fallacies and
Injustices—-The Insuperable Obstacles to its Application—
It.s Influence on Production,—One of the Tests of a Tax—
Judged by this Test the Proposed Levy is doomed . . 63

VI

OUR BANKING MACHINERY

The Recent Amalgamations— Will the Provinces suffer ?—Con-
solidation not a New Movement—The Figures of the Past
Three Decades—Reduction of Competion not yet a Danger—
The Alleged Neglect of Local Interests—Shall we ultimately
have One Huge Banking Monopoly ?—The Suggested Repeal
of the Bank Act—Sir--E. Hoiden's Proposal ... 76