Financing Industry
Details of the plans announced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer on Tuesday for the financing of industry are set out in our City columns on another page. There are many great industries which even before the war could have benefited greatly by large-scale expenditure on re-equipment, but which, on their public record, could not have secured capital on sufficiently advantageous terms by means of public issues. Yet large expenditure would often have been abundantly justified, and would be capable of cheapening and expanding produc- tion. What is needed is an elastic conception of the possibilities of industry, and an organisation prepared to lend money on the basis of an enlightened appraisement of what an industry can do when it is unstintingly developed. Similarly, in regard to smaller busi- nesses which under post-war conditions may not easily find the money needed for rehabilitation or expansion, the second company will serve to fill the gap. The existence of these two companies, supplementing other agencies for providing capital, should encourage bold expenditure on promising enterprise, and at the same time harmonise with the Government's plans for expanding or contracting expenditure in accordance with a stable employment policy.
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