Book Reviews and Notices : Monetary Reconstruction In Italy. BY BRUNO FOA. (New York: King's Crown Press. 1949. Pp. x, 147. $2.25.)
| Author | Howard McGaw Smyth |
| DOI | 10.1177/106591294900200436 |
| Date | 01 December 1949 |
| Published date | 01 December 1949 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
652
&dquo;through
measures
appropriate
to
its
political,
economic
and
social
in-
stitutions.&dquo;
The
International
Trade
Organization,
in
contrast
with
the
International
Monetary
Fund,
is
said
to
have
too
little
power
to
control
the
commercial
policies
of
its
members,
but
it
seems
improbable
that
any
nation
would
grant
such
authority
to
an
international
agency.
The
diag-
nosis
of
the
Great
Depression
is
inadequate
and
will
not
prove
particu-
larly
useful
to
students
of
the
business
cycle.
The
book
in
general
is
loosely
organized
and
repetitious,
perhaps
because
much
of
the
material
consists
of
articles
published
at
various
times
in
business
newspapers
and
journals.
Yet,
all
things
considered,
this
work
is
stimulating
and
ingenious
and
the
views
it
propounds
may
be
of
some
importance
when
Congress
finally
gets
down
to
considera-
tion of
the
Havana
Charter.
_
- - -
CARL
McGUIRE.
University
of
Colorado.
Monetary
Reconstruction
In
Italy.
BY
BRUNO
FOA.
(New
York:
King’s
Crown
Press.
1949.
Pp.
x,
147.
$2.25.)
Mr.
Foa
has
done
an
excellent
job
with
a
difficult
subject.
After
an
initial
chapter
describing
the
basic
economic
facts
regarding
modern
Italy
he
traces
the
impact
of
the
war
and
war,time
inflation
and
outlines
the
situation
at
the
end
of
active
hostilities.
He
then
describes
the
beginning
of
recovery
which
was
brought
about
by
American
aid;
discusses
the
trade
policies
of
March,
1946
and
their
inflationary
effects;
analyzes
the
pat-
tern
of
inflation;
and
describes
the
methods
of
the
Italian
government
in
deficit
financing.
He
carries
the
story
through
the
turning
point
in
the
autumn
of
1947,
the
industrial
and
business
recession
which
was
brought
about
by
Einaudi’s
policy
of
credit
control.
The
author
does
not
hesitate
to
criticize
governmental
decisions
whose
consequences
he
considers
socially
undesirable.
He
points
out:
the
neglect
of
the
Allied
occupational
authorities
to
take the limited
steps
which
might
have
mitigated
the
impact
of
inflation
(pp.
20-21);
the
failure
to
adopt
an
extensive
system
of
emergency
controls
such
as
was
contem.
plated
by
the
Parri
government
(p.
31);
the
unused
opportunity
of
levy-
ing
a
tax
on
outstanding
currency
(p.
76);
the
avoidance
of
stringent
monetary
and
tax
measures
by
the
De
Gasperi
government.
He
concludes
that
the
success
of
the
European
Recovery
Program
for
Italy
will
de-
pend
on:
(1)
governmental
control
of
the
price
structure;
(2)
modern-
ization
of
methods
of
tax
assessments;
(3)
co-ordinated
public
and
pri-
vate
planning
on
a
large
scale;
(4)
full
employment
policies;
(5)
cheap
money.
The
closer
economic
integration
of
Western
Europe
is
essen-
tial :
Italy
has
a
labor
surplus
although
in
the
whole
area
there
is
a
shortage
of
labor.
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