Book Reviews : The Balance of Payments and the Standard of Living. By R. G. HAWTREY. (London and New York: Royal Institute of International Affairs and Oxford University Press. 1950. Pp. 158. $1.75.)

• Published date: 01 September 1951
• Author: Howard L. Dalsley
• Date: 01 September 1951
• DOI: 10.1177/106591295100400339
• Subject Matter: Articles

530

aware

of

the

shortcomings

of

the

nineteenth

century

&dquo;pure&dquo;

Austrian

and

Jevonsian

economics

to

the

solution

of

problems

of

conflict

between

eco-

nomic

power

groups.

He

refers

to

that

type

of

theory

as

being

mechanis-

tic

(pp.

257, 287),

individualistic

(p.

24),

based

on

egoistic

&dquo;pleasure-pain&dquo;

psychology

(p.

29),

and

concerned

with

the

logical

deduction

of

competi-

tive

equilibrium

values.

He

proposes

a

pragmatic

system

of

&dquo;volitional&dquo;

(p.

13),

&dquo;collective&dquo;

economics,

based

on

the

&dquo;negotiational

psychology

of

courts

of

law,

of

businessmen,

of

legislative

bodies ...&dquo;

(p.

109),

and

concerned

with

the

working

rules

of

collective

bargaining

(p.

29)

and

with

the

formation

of

&dquo;reasonable&dquo;

value

(chap.

xi).

Although

Commons’

later

path

of

investigation

was

directed

toward

a

socially

useful

aim,

the

author

did

not

succeed

in

this

book

in

creating

a

set

of

sufficiently

precise

concepts

to

permit

clear

reasoning.

As

an

example

of

confused

thinking,

the

following

paragraph

may

be

cited:

Thus

market

value,

equality,

and

liberty

are

the

related

meanings

of

value

in

eco-

nomics

which

change

when

economists

change

from

physical

or

hedonistic

philoso-

phies

to

legal

and

political

philosophies,

and

when

political

government

changes

from

slavery

and

peonage

to

New

Era

or

New

Deal,

and

the

meaning

of

&dquo;capitalism&dquo;

itself

changes

with

new

and

revolutionary

meanings

of

value

(p.

161).

In

chapter

xvi

on

&dquo;Capital-Labor

Administration&dquo;

and

Appendix

I

on

&dquo;Economic

Government

by

Corporate

Management,&dquo;

the

author

suc-

ceeded

in

explaining

in

plain

language

his

personal

and

interesting

view-

point.

The

remainder

of

the

book

provides

tiresome

and

disappointing

reading.

The

author’s

level

of

abstraction

is

too

low

to

satisfy

a

philosophi-

cal

mind,

and

his

concepts

are

too

obscure

to

appeal

to

any

logician.

The

book

is

praiseworthy

however,

inasmuch

as

it is

an

honest

attempt

at

understanding

the

process

of

change

in

the

institutional

frame-

work

of

the

economy

and

a

search

for

&dquo;fair&dquo;

or

&dquo;reasonable&dquo;

(how

question-begging

such

a

word

may

bel)

solutions

to

the

contemporary

power-antagonisms.

University

of

Montreal.

ROGER

DEHEM.

The

Balance

of

Payments

and

the

Standard

of

Living.

By

R.

G.

HAWTREY.

(London

and

New

York:

Royal

Institute

of

International

Affairs

and

Oxford

University

Press.

1950.

Pp.

158.

$1.75.)

A

thesis

has

been

advanced

that

where

a

prolonged

adverse balance

of

trade

exists,

i.e.,

an

excess

of

value

in

imports

over

exports,

corrective

measures

may

be

adopted

in

three

situations:

(1)

Where

monetary

causes

can

be

dealt

with

by

monetary

measures;

(2)

Where

the

causes

of

the

adverse balance

are

outside

the

monetary

sphere,

but

monetary

measures

can

apply

a

sufficient

remedy;

(3)

Where

monetary

measures

fail,

and

restrictive

measures

become

necessary.