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ESSAYS IN PERSUASION

PART

delays long before following our example. WillHolland deal final ruin to the rubber and sugarindustries of the Dutch Indies by keeping themtied to gold? There will be strong motives driv-ing a large part of the world our way. Afterall, Great Britain ’s plight, as the result of thedeflation of prices, is far less serious than thatof most countries.

Now, in so far as this is the case, we and allthe countries following our example will gainthe benefits of higher prices. But none of uswill secure a competitive advantage at theexpense of the others. Thus the competitivedisadvantage will be concentrated on those fewcountries which remain on the gold standard.On these will fall the curse of Midas. As aresult of their unwillingness to exchange theirexports except for gold their export trade willdry up and disappear until they no longer haveeither a favourable trade balance or foreigndeposits to repatriate. This means in the mainFrance and the United States . Their loss ofexport trade will be an inevitable, a predictable,outcome of their own action. These countries,largely for reasons resulting from the war andthe war settlements, are owed much money bythe rest of the world. They erect tariff barrierswhich prevent the payment of these sums ingoods. They are unwilling to lend it. Theyhave already taken nearly all the available sur-plus gold in the whole world. There remained,in logic, only one way by which the rest of theworld could maintain its solvency and self-