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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 07 November 2014
The phrase “Progress and Poverty” in this title is borrowed from Henry George, but in this paper it is applied to a geographic paradox much broader than the one the famous single-taxer had in mind. For Henry George the principles implicit in the expression were universal; but the paradox of the inevitable survival of poverty in spite of economic progress existed within the limits of each nation or even of its smallest community. Progress and poverty as Henry George saw them were ubiquitous and inseparable companions. The progress and poverty referred to in the present paper are, it is true, inseparable companions in history; but the contrast is not between classes within one country or region, but, more generally, between different countries, between different regions of the world.
As for the disequilibrium mentioned in this title, it is broader than that about which so much has been written recently and which is sometimes referred to as “the Dollar Problem.” The condition referred to here is not merely a condition of the present day; it is very old. It embraces the dollar problem and many others. It is not exclusively economic but has implications of equal importance for political and social life. It is the disequilibrium which arises from the persistent disparity in rates of technological progress between different areas or regions of the world.
This paper was presented at the annual meeting of the Canadian Political Science Association in Montreal, June, 7, 1951.
1 At a meeting of Commonwealth foreign ministers in Colombo, Ceylon, in January, 1950, the “Spender Resolution,” introduced by Mr. P. C. Spender, Australian Minister of External Affairs, recommended a project of economic co-ordination for assistance to the countries of South-East Asia and proposed the establishment of a Commonwealth Consultative Committee to formulate a specific plan. The Consultative Committee met first in Sydney, Australia, in May, and again in London in September. At the latter meeting the six-year plan was embodied in the report made public under the title, The Colombo Plan for Co-operative Economic Development in South and South-East Asia, Cmd. 8080 (London, 1950).Google Scholar
2 Cf. Report to the President on Foreign Economic Policies (Washington, 11 10, 1950), iii Google Scholar; hereafter referred to as the Gray Report.
3 The proposed distribution of the total expenditure is as follows:
4 The proposed national allocation of funds is as follows:
Of this sum it is proposed that £785,000,000 should be raised internally, £246,000,000 would derive from sterling balances, and the remainder would require external financing.
5 The Observer (London), 11 19, 1950, 4.Google Scholar
6 Jeudwine, J. W., Studies in Empire and Trade (London, 1923), 50.Google Scholar
7 Hobson, J. A., Imperialism: A Study (rev. ed., London, 1905), 21.Google Scholar
8 In most of the countries of Asia and the Far East agriculture provides from 50 to 75 per cent or more of the national income and employs from 60 to 75 per cent of the gainfully employed population. Cf. Economic Survey of Asia and the Far East 1949, issued by United Nations, Department of Economic Affairs (Lake Success, N.Y., 1950), 300.Google Scholar
9 Hobson, , Imperialism, 21.Google Scholar
10 Hobson said, “Imperialism implies the use of the machinery of government by private interests, mainly capitalists, to secure for themselves economic gains outside the country.” Ibid., 83. Jeudwine said, “… the word [empire] suggests that the stronger race, being firmly persuaded of its moral superiority, when it comes into conflict with and absorbs a politically weaker people, will, so far as may be humanly possible, shape their social and political institutions in accordance with its own interests.” Studies in Empire and Trade, xxix.
11 United Nations, Economic Survey of Asia and the Far East 1949, 382.Google Scholar
12 Ellsworth, P. T., The International Economy (New York, 1950), 792.Google Scholar
13 President Truman described Point Four as “a world-wide effort for the achievement of peace, plenty and freedom.” Referring to economic development the Colombo Plan says: “It is of the greatest importance that the countries of South and South-East Asia should succeed in this undertaking. The political stability of the area, and indeed of the world, depends upon it, and nothing could do more to strengthen the cause of freedom.” The Observer (London), featured Nora Beloff's comments from Washington on the publication of the Gray Report. She said, “American policy makers are hoping to induce Congress to accept a programme big enough to obtain an immediate psychological impact, notably in the Middle East and Asia, as well as to secure long-term benefits. They hope that such a programme would provide an instrument through which they could wrest the championship of reform and social progress from Russia.” Barbara Ward writes at considerable length in her Policy for the West about developmental plans as a means toward the “containment of Communism.”
14 International Journal, VI, no. 1, Winter, 1950–1951, 11.Google Scholar
15 The goal of full employment was specifically recognized in the Articles of Agreement of the International Monetary Fund, in the Havana Charter of the International Trade Organization, and in the Charter of the United Nations, Article 55.
16 National and International Measures for Full Employment, Report by a group of experts appointed by the Secretary-General, United Nations, Department of Economic Affairs (Lake Success, N.Y., 1949), 12.Google Scholar
17 Quoted in Hobson, , Imperialism, 79 n.Google Scholar
18 Ibid.
19 Ibid., 46. Hobson's further comments on colonial expansion might be paraphrased with reference to current plans for economic development in underdeveloped areas. He said in part: “In all the professions, military and civil, the army, diplomacy, the church, the bar, teaching and engineering, Greater Britain serves for an overflow, relieving the congestion of the home market and offering chances to more reckless or adventurous members, while it furnishes a convenient limbo for damaged characters and careers. The actual amount of profitable employment thus furnished by our recent acquisitions is inconsiderable, but it arouses that disproportionate interest which always attaches to the margin of employment. To extend this margin is a powerful motive in Imperialism. These influences, primarily economic, though not unmixed with other sentimental motives, are particularly operative in military, clerical, academic, and Civil Service circles, and furnish an interesting bias towards Imperialism throughout educated classes.” Ibid.
20 United Nations, Department of Economic Affairs, Methods of Financing Economic Development in Under-Developed Countries (Lake Success, N.Y., 1949), 91.Google Scholar
21 Benham, Frederic, “Full Employment and International Trade,” Economica, New Series, XIII, 08, 1946, 167.Google Scholar
22 P. 9.