The Waikato Times TUESDAY, MAY 19, 1936. ECONOMIC NATIONALISM.

Waikato Times, Volume 119, Issue 19889, 19 May 1936, Page 6

The Waikato Times TUESDAY, MAY 19, 1936. ECONOMIC NATIONALISM.

During a debate in Parliament last week the Rev. Clyde Carr, Labour member for Timaru, who was recently elected to the highest office in the party, surprised the House by advocating a policy of economic nationalism as an escape from war. The matter was reviewed, with the usual thoroughness, in a recent issue of the Round Table, and it said: “ This economic nationalism caused partly by fear of war, partly by the nationalist desire for a rounded economic life and partly by the organised pressure of vested interests, has perpetuated and intensified the economic dislocation arising from the war.” The Round Table then went on to review the three major effects that this policy has had. It has immensely lessened the volume of international trade, and prevented the development of backward countries, thus causing unemployment elsewhere. It has prevented highly industrialised countries paying in manufactures for the raw materials they require and has almost stopped migration. There is a tendency to attribute the international problems of the day to conflicting political policies, hut it would he more correct to say that they are due to opposing economic policies. After the war there was a period of intense nationalism, and nearly every country aimed at economic independence. There are more tariff walls in Europe to-day than at any time in history. Many are there to enable uneconomic industries to continue, and all of them constitute barriers to the free flow of trade. Economic nationalism, as it is called, is really not economic. It is a phase of that intense nationalism that has been such a disruptive force the world over. It is also an unattainable goal, because no country is completely self-sufficient. The experience of the United States during the depression has shown clearly that the nation with the largest resources cannot escape the influence of world movements.

The belief of Mr Carr that “international trade meant international war” cannot be proved. The standard of living cannot be raised until the trade of the world is again active. The Round Table sums the position up in these words: “ Either the nations can relax that nationalism, and once more make possible the adjustment of supply and demand, the world development of trade, investment and migration, that are essential to the continuance of democracy, to the peaceful survival of individual enterprise as the basis of our economic system and to the avoidance of war and the success of the League. Or they can shut their eyes to the inevitable consequences of an entirely self-centred economic policy and stumble blindly towards a new abyss of Fascism, Communism and War.”