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HOW TO PAY FOR THE WAR
£2,500 million into the pockets of the entre-preneur class.
In the last war we achieved the miracle ofmaintaining aggregate working-class consumptionat, or near, its pre-war level,—the fall in realwage-rates being offset by increased employmentand hours worked. I am not yet convinced thatwe may not achieve the same result this time.Until the full economic demands of the war havebeen disclosed, one cannot tell. But if aggregateearnings at the existing wage-rates increase be-cause of overtime and full employment, a rise inbasic wage-rates sufficient to compensate forhigher prices would set our national economy theimpossible task of raising consumption above thepre-war level. We cannot reward the worker inthis way, and an attempt to do so will merelyset in motion the inflationary process. But wecan reward him by giving him a share in theclaims on the future which would belong other-wise to the entrepreneurs.