Book Review: France and Britain
| Published date | 01 April 1946 |
| Author | Malcolm W. Wallace |
| Date | 01 April 1946 |
| DOI | 10.1177/002070204600100213 |
| Subject Matter | Book Review |
International
Journal
It
is
stated
in
the foreword
that:
"The social
and
economic
content
of
full
employment
cannot
be
determined
by
the
economist.
The
econo-
mist
must
indicate,
however,
the
choices
before
the
community
and
the
price
which may
have
-to
be
paid for
them....
The
result'of
the
analy-
sis
is
neither
a
blueprint
of
full employment
...
nor
a
reconstruction
scheme,
but an
outline
of
the
strategic
factors
in
a
policy
of
permanent
full
employment
in
industrial
countries."
As
logical
analysis
the
six
studies
merit
careful study. Nevertheless
it
seems
fair
to say
that
they
need
to be
read
in
the
light
of
the
particular
climate
of
opinion
and
institutional
framework
of
present-day
Britain.
In
attempting
to
relate
their
conclusions
to
Canadian problems, various
alternatives
suggest
themselves
as
warranting
greater
emphasis.
One is
that
competition
might
be
made
to
work
sufficiently
well
to
avoid
the
necessity
of
price
control
or
subsidies.
Another
is
that
in
our
circumstances
rapid
techni-
cal
change
may
be
desirable
despite
its
concomitant
cyclical
fluctuations.
There
-is
evident
in
this
country
a
determination
and,
it
is
hoped,
the
knowledge,
to
prevent
a
recurrence
of
the
waste
and
frustration
of
the
-thirties.
Nevertheless,
as
a
general
observation,
it
would
appear
from
our
knowledge
to
date
that
an
attempt
-at
100%
perfection
in
the
maintenance
of
full employment
may
demand
a
disproportionate
price.
Perhaps
in
the
beginning,
at
any
rate,
it
might
be
better
to
aim
at
a
more
comfortable
level.
Toronto,
February
1946.
John
Emery
FRANCE
AND
BRITAIN.
A
Report
by
a
Chatham
House
Study
Group.
1945.
(London: Royal
Institute
of
International
Affairs.
Toronto:
Canadian
Institute
of
International
Affairs.
110
pp.
$1.75)
This
little
volume,
the
product
of
a
study
group
in
the
Royal
Insti-
tute
of
International
Affairs,
is
of
extraordinary
interest,
and
can
profitably
be
read,
re-read, and
pondered
by
the
serious
student
of
world affairs.
A
world system
of
international
security
is
taken
for
granted:
within
such
a
system
Britain and
France and
Western
Europe
will
constitute
one
of
the most
important
of
those
regional
groupings
for
the existence
of
which
the
larger
plan
makes
provision.
The
authors
look
forward
to
a
much
closer
and more
harmonious
relation
between
the
two
powers
than
they
have ever
known
in
the
past.
Britain
is
now committed
for
the
first
time
in
her history
to
playing
a
full
r6le
in
Europe,
and she
can
honour
this
commitment
only
through
a
close
understanding
with
France.
In
the
past, instinc-
tive
antagonisms,
flowing
partly
from differing
national
temperaments,
partly
from
a
real
or
supposed
divergence
of
national
interests,
have
made
their
co-operation
intermittent
and
occasional.
France
has
been
obsessed
by
the
question
of
immediate security, while
Britain
has
been
more
concerned
with
-the
question
of
wider
world
security.
Today
we
are
much
more
inclined to
admit
that
France
may
have
been
right.
Moreover,
our
authors
are
willing
to
recognize
that
our
recent
estimate
of
French performance
has
been
less
than
generous.
No
European
power,
they
admit,
could
have
survived
alone
the
German
onslaught
180
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