THE FINANCIAL LIBRARY SOME INTERESTING ADDITIONS. ON another page I
have referred to the manner in which a comprehension of banking and finance has been aided in recent years by the many excellent treatises • whiCh have appeared. This is a period of the year when there is usually a special outpouring of such volumes. Space alone prevents my drawing the attention of readers of this column to a great number of valuable books which have made their appearance recently, but there are one or two of outstanding importance which seem to call for special mention, the more so, perhaps, as these volumes do not obtain the publicity they deserve in the columns of the daily Press.
FALL IN THE FRANC.
Much has been said and written during recent months upon the great fall in the franc, and we are told in the various money articles of some of the immediate causes of the slump such, for example, as apprehension of a Capital Levy and delay in funding the French External Debt. Needless to say, however, the fundamental causes of the fall in the franc go very much deeper and the influences extend over a much more lengthy- period than is indicated in the explanations given of the daily fluctuations in French currency. Those, therefore, who wish to obtain a really comprehensive view of the position will do well to obtain a book which has just been published by Macmillan and Co., on The Financial Crisis of France by Mr. George 'Peel. In this volume we find such subjects as the big expenditure of France, the imperfect system of Budget-making, and the question of taxation dealt with over a period covering many years previous to the War. As a consequence it is possible, after reading this historical survey, to follow with much greater comprehension the manner in which the financial crisis has steadily developed to its present stage. It is a work which Mr. Peel was eminently qualified to prepare, and I- can confidently recommend the book to those who wish to obtain something more than a superficial know- ledge of the influences affecting French currency. A. W. K.
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