INTERNATIONAL CO-OPERATION.
There is, also one general point in the Macmillan Report which, I think, will strike most practical men, namely, the great stress which is laid upon the necessity for close co-operation between the Central Banks of the world if the international credit system is to work smoothly and if there is to be anything like general world prosperity. It is to be the responsibility of these Central Banks to co-operate, first in raising price levels, and then in maintaining their steadiness. Now I am far from overlooking the value and importance of international co-operation, especially in these difficult years following upon the War. Nevertheless, I suggest that the idea of the welfare and prosperity of this country resting upon the co-operation of other Central Banks con- stitutes in some respects a rather dangerous doctrine and smacks too much of the doctrinaire theories of economists with insufficient recognition of human realities. In this respect I find myself very much in agreement with Mr. Robert Brand, who, in the course of the interview which appeared in-the Daily Mail of Friday in last week, said : " I personally am strongly impressed by the feeling that inter- national bankers are too far ahead in their international comradeship and co-operation with the politicians and the peoples.
" We have acted in the last few years as if the world is going to be governed rationally and by people who understand the problems involved. We have acted also on the supposition than the naticns will try to be friendly with one another and endeavour to maintain
peace rather than the opposite." -
Previous page