THE WAR EFFORT

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 2, Issue 167, 31 May 1940, Page 6

THE WAR EFFORT

SAVING, SPENDING AND TAXES Despite repeated pressing on the subject, Government spokesmen are evidently unwilling to give specific advice on the matter o!' economies in personal expenditure . . . The fact is that the individuals, composing the nation must spend, as a whole, less than they did before the Avar, although their power to spend may be very much larger. If they fail to refrain from exercising such increased spending power by saving, either of their own free will, or because some definite restraint is imposed, as through a compulsory savings plan, which postpone direct consuming power, then prices are bound to rise, To counter such a rise in advance, indirect taxes may be imposed, so that the benefit of the price advance \vill affect living costs and so be used as a justification for higher wage rates. We can be sure only of one thing, namely, that the greater our willingness to accept a somewhat lower living standard at the present time, by deliberately refraining from adding to the demand for goods the less will be the risk of having a generally lower standard forced on us by deterioration in the purchasing power of our money.— The Scotsman, Edinburgh.