| Show Program fo for r Recovery By John T. T Flynn I NEW YORK Seven young economists from Harvard and Tufts colleges have fabricated a program for economic recovery It appears in a small book jest published As in 32 1931 a stream of programs programs programs pro pro- grams for rehabilitating America pours out upon our desks This is the he most interesting I have seen chiefly because it comes from the hands lands of men who understand the anatomy of the capitalist system The program is based upon the theory that the continuing functioning functioning of the capitalist system requires a continuing flow of in In- In vestments The authors point out quite properly that this means that hat private industry as a whole must pay payout out in capital and operating operating operating oper oper- expenditures more than it receives back in prices Strange as this may seem it is true Governments Government's Job Private industry has ceased to todo todo do this because capital investment has almost come to an end Therefore Therefore There- There fore ore these gentlemen ground their whole plan upon the proposition sWon that as private investment has seemingly come to an end the government must step in and be become become become be- be come the great investor The whole problem therefore is s to organize and finance a vast government investment program which will be permanent The authors disclaim any plan to disrupt disrupt disrupt dis dis- dis- dis rupt the economy of private own own- Private te ownership having I abdicated at present the function of capital investment expansion the he government will undertake it merely to protect the remaining function of private ownership Point Five-Point Plan Here is the program 1 A 50 year program of rebuilding Amer- Amer ica its ca its houses starting with homes for the slum dwellers 2 A vast expansion of our recreational recreational ional facilities 3 Great projects to o modernize our traffic facilities 4 A great program of conservation conservation conservation conser conser- of resources particularly soil through reforestation and fire protection engineering works to retard surface ion erosion and a national national na na- na- na program of river and dam coordination for flood control 5 National program of educational and health expansion On the welfare side they would extend old age benefits to all classes and abolish the old age re reserve reserve reserve re- re serve account and would reorganize ize unemployment benefits to in include include in- in clude elude all workers and supplement benefits by elastic work projects to afford longer subsistence when insurance insurance- benefits run out The Tough Part Tart The problem of financing government government government gov gov- investment becomes the terrifying orgy in any such plan The authors advocate both taxation taxation taxa taxa- u tion and borrowing They insist tax revenues can be expanded enormously by putting an end to existing evasions and by abolish abolishing ing tax-exempt tax securities They also advocate what this wr writer ter has advocated the taxing of corporate earnings in the hands of stockholders stockholders stockholders stock stock- holders rather than in the hands bands of corporations taxing corporations taxing earnings rather than dividends As for borrowing th thy they y face with equanimity continuous borrowing borrowing borrowing borrow borrow- ing wholly by the constantly rising level of the p public pub pub- public b lic debt The rising tide of t taxes to pay interest they dismiss with the proposition that this can be rendered harmless in economics if the ownership is spread out among all the people Then as all the people will be taxed to pay the interest the interest will go back to them as owners of the bonds As to private business they urge an end of trust busting Great aggregations of capital are useful The government should regulate those that can be regulated by controlling prices and should take takeover takeover takeover over those which do not yield to regulation It should take over the railroads regulate prices of great basic industries and try both regulations and ownership of ties These measures they think would restore better times and keep them among us Copyright 1938 for The Telegram |
