by Alexander Raven Thomson
In this booklet the problem of the cycle of slumps and booms in the economy, and the unemployment and poverty it brings, are described. The search for solutions through international conferences so diligently sought out, called for and attended byRamsey MacDonald had all proved fruitless.
The answer, claims the writer, was to be found in Economic nationalism in an Empire system containing all the foodstuffs and raw materials it could require. Instead of looking for foreign trade the government would look for a market within Britain and the Empire. A new high wage system to enable a great increase in the purchasing power of the masses would provide the stimulus. The slack being taken up with public works projects.
The liberalFree Trade Manchester School of thought is discussed and dismissed. Thomson says that no nation suffering from scarcity in a fertile country should keep its workers idle; and those unemployed could then be found work making those goods which were previously imported. This should done even if the home made article was dearer and required more labour. Tariffs and quotas would be set up and Free Trade would perish.
