TWO KINDS OF SAVING.

Evening Star, Issue 24294, 8 September 1942, Page 2

TWO KINDS OF SAVING.

TO THE EDITOR. Sir,—Personal or individual saving—mi*, called thrift—however necessary it may b» for people living in a regime of planned scarcity, or however unavoidable in war time, is definitely anti-social, and it is th* simple truth, in spite of the oft-quoted proverb to the contrary, to say that “ A penny saved is a,penny lost” —to the community at large, ror, while the saved penny has been added to the price of the goods it helped to produce, it is no longer available as part of their purchase price, and, in consequence, some part of these goods must either remain unsold or be sold on credit, in either case increasing the shopkeeper’s costs, and tending to raise the cost of living all round. Not only so, but the saved penny (or the saved £1,000) is usually reissued a* part of a new loan to be used in further production, with its fresh train ,of costs, and, before very long, the saved penny ha« grown into a shillindg’s worth of debt, to be added to the cost of production and to increase the total indebtedness of .the country. On the other hand, national or community saving, comprising all permanent assets, public and private, together with the man power of the nation, constitutes the accumulating wealth of the country, and forma the foundation on which rests the monetary credit of the nation. Unlike- personal hoarding, this kind of saving is based upon confidence in the future, and is wholly beneficial. Unfortunately, the right to exEloit the national credit has been granted y charter to private banking interests, which, in consequence, now occupy every vantage point in the economic field, and wield a power over the lives and conditions of the people that is adverse in the extreme. This is the source of the fear that is referred to in the Atlantic Charter and this fear must be removed before ” the four freedoms ” promised by that charter can be realised.— l am, etc., S. August 31.