52 HOW TO PAY FOR THE WAR

There are two central objections to rationingand price control unaccompanied by a with-drawal of consumers' purchasing power. The firstobjection arises out of the great variety of per-sonal consumption between one man and another.If our needs and tastes were all the same, therewould be no real loss in abolishing consumers'choice. In fact there is a great deal of waste,both of resources and of enjoyment, in allottingto each of us identical rations of every consumableobject. There are some articles of consumption—bread, sugar, salt, bacon perhaps—where no greatharm is done, though even here there are in factwide differences of personal habit. But as oneproceeds through the list—milk, coffee, beer,spirits, butcher's meat, clothing, boots, books,articles of clothing, furniture—the variety oftaste and need dominates the scene. It becomesludicrous to compel everyone to divide his expen-diture between the different articles of expendi-ture in exactly the same way. Moreover, it wouldnever be practicable to cover every conceivablearticle by a rationing coupon; and if there arecertain articles uncontrolled the pressure of pur-chasing power will tend to divert production intheir direction, although they may be what theconsumer least wants and what it is least desir-able that he should have. Finally, if by a miraclethe method was substantially successful, so thatconsumption was completely controlled and con-sumers were left with a significant fraction oftheir incomes which they were unable to spend,we should merely have arrived by an elaborate,