THE ECONOMICS OF UNEMPLOYMENT. By J. A. Hobson. (G. Allen
and Unwin. 4s. 6d. net.) Mr. Hobson, as usual, states a heterodox proposition with considerable ability. There is, he thinks, too much saving on the part of the well-to-do. From their surplus incomes they set aside an excessive amount for capital, so that industry tends to produce more than can be consumed and is subject to recurring crises. If income were more evenly distributed, he contends, the creation of fresh capital would proceed more slowly and accord more exactly with the needs of industry. He admits that the distribution is less uneven than it was before the War, for wages are higher and the Income Tax has become an intolerable burden for all between the labourer and the millionaire. He admits, too, that no one country, acting by itself, could prevent trade panics by ceasing to save. But his theory is none the less inapplicable to a country like ours, which lives by manufacturing for the world-market. Our industries, if not maintained in a high state of efficiency by the continual investment of new capital, would fall behind their foreign competitors and lose their customers abroad. This island cannot support nearly fifty million people on the home trade alone.
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