And that condition of
things could not possibly endure for very long. If it were to continue
indefinitely, it would lead in the end to our having, say, half a dozen
ships for every ton of wheat or cotton which there was to carry. You
have there a maladjustment, which must be corrected somehow; and the
longer the readjustment is postponed, the bigger the readjustment that
will ultimately be inevitable. Now that means, first on the negative
side, that, when you are confronted with a trade depression, it is
hopeless to try to cure it by looking for some device by which you can
give a general stimulus to all forms of industry. Devices of that nature
may be very useful in the later stages of a trade depression, when the
necessary readjustments both of the price-level and of the relative
outputs of different classes of commodities have already been effected,
and when trade remains depressed only because people have not yet
plucked up the necessary confidence to start things going again. But in
the early stages of a depression, an indiscriminating stimulus to
industry in general will serve only to perpetuate the maladjustments
which are the root of the trouble.
Pages:
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256