Cripps Appeals for Higher Output from the Individual

Grey River Argus, 13 November 1948, Page 8

Cripps Appeals for Higher Output from the Individual

LONDON, Nov. 11. Unless Britain, with her existing labour force, continued to increase the output per head substantially, because there was very little fresh labour which could be drawn in, said the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Sir Stafford Cripps, at a press conference, at which he reviewed the productivity position. . . “Having come so far and having managed in the first half of this year to make such an impression on our balance of payments, we must earnestly tackle the productivity problem,” he said. “Henceforth for as long as we can see into the future, we will be engaged iji competition in the overseas markets which demands for success every economy and efficiency that high productivity can give us. Oup trouble is that we lost ground owing to the exigencies of the war effort. “We must make up the ground and go forward, or else we will drop back again. We have been able to do better in 1948 on investment than had been thought possible, partially because more steel and housing materials have become available than was originally considered likely. There has been a very large volume of investment in industry, but about 20 per cent, of the national income is being devoted to building up capitalist assets in the cause of future productivity.”