AUSTRALIA'S WEALTH

Dominion, Volume 20, Issue 42, 13 November 1926, Page 9

AUSTRALIA'S WEALTH

LESS PER HEAD THAN - - .- 25 YEARS, AGO COMPARISON WITH AMERICA ’ AND CANADA ■7 T 7 ’J 1 ‘/.h.*.'A’ POOR OUTPUT FOR GREAT HORSE-POWER Mr. Benham, Lecturer in ~ .. Efonomics .at . Sydney.- Univen 7sity».’-says: .the ..naiional. wealth ' of Au.st’raliaj per head of populatiou; is less than in 1901, -and,, although there has-, been ' an':, increasein horse-pouer- -of " 88 per cent., the output has inK- credsed only 8 per Icertti-' - ; " "Bi - TELEGRAPH.—PRES's' Copyright. - Melbourne, INovember-12. ■: ‘ Giving: evidence ‘ in - 7 ; the' -fdrty-four hour week - inquiry before the-Arbi-tration,. Court, Mr. F.. C.j Benham, Lee- . turef in. Economics at .Sydney - University, said - that the national wealth of Australia,, measured, per head, of (population,: .in 'terms of commodities, .-was less than it was in - 1901. It was less in 1921 than that, of Canada, the country with which Australia- could best be compared. The national income, measured per head of population in terms ot com,_lßQdities, was less than before the war. The public external debt was :£B3 per head, compared with £l5 in Canada. The interest payable on the .external debt had increased at a.greater' rate than the national income in the past fifteen years. The private wealth ..of the United States, in 1922 was £6OO per head of population; in regard to Canada in 1921 it was £519, and in Australia in 1923 it was £426. Mr. Benham said that with an 88 per cent, increase in horse-power in "Australia it was surprising that there was only an 8 per cent, increase in output. The..net. .horse-power per wage-earner in the United States from .1914 to 1923 increased by 17 per cent. This was accompanied by an increase of 26 per cent, in output.: In reply to a question, the witness said that, ecpnotnically. the country was in a better position'than it was at the • beginning : of' the' century.