Book Review: India Today, the Story of Burma
| Author | A. C. Cooke |
| Published date | 01 July 1946 |
| Date | 01 July 1946 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/002070204600100308 |
| Subject Matter | Book Review |
International
Journal
fair
price
only
when
it
is
among
a
relatively
large
number
of
firms;
and
when
there
is
in
an
industry
a
relatively
small
number
of
highly
cap-
italized
fitms-as
is
the
case
with
many
important
Canadian
industries-
then
price
competition
will
produce
unstable
conditions
and
if
carried
to
its
logical
conclusion
will
put
all
firms
excepting
one
into
bankruptcy
and
will
produce
a
monopoly.
In
an
industry
of
this
type,
therefore,
unless
a
monopoly
is
desired,
some
form
of
arrangement
is
necessary
to
provide
a
reasonable
degree
of
price
stability.
Obviously,
government
regulation
is
required
to
see
that
this arrangement
is
not
abused
and
does
not
result
in
curtailment
of
output
and
in price
enhancement
instead
of
price
stability,
as
quite
easily
could
happen.
To
introduce
such
Government
regulation
raises
many
problems,
for
it
is
difficult
to see
how
it
can
be
done
without
considering
the
eco-
nomic
effects
of
the
agreement
and determining
whether
or
not
it
is
functioning
to
the detriment
of
the
public
interest.
This
is no
easy
matter,
because
it
involves a
judgment
of
economic
consequences
rather
than
a
determination
of
legal
facts.
If
the
report
had
recognized
this
and
had
discussed
the
many
complicated
and
difficult
implications,
such
as
the relation
between
combines
and
other
rigidities
in
the
economic
system,
it
would
have
made
a
much
more
valuable
contribution
to
Cana-
dian
knowledge
of
the
problem
of
regulating
cartels and
combines.
Montreal,
May
1946.
C.
H.
Herbert
INDIA
TODAY.
An
Introduction
to
Indian
Politics.
By
Raleigh
Parkin.
1946.
(New
York:
John
Day.
Toronto: Longmans,
Green.
387pp.
$4.00)
THE
STORY
OF
BURMA.
By
F.
Tennyson
Jesse.
1946.
(London,
Toronto:
Macmillan.
206pp.
$3.50)
Two
previous
editions
of
INDIA
TODAY
by
W.
E.
Duffett,
A.
R.
Hicks,
and
G.
R.
Parkin
provided,
a
useful
and objective
survey
of
the
background of
Indian
nationalism.
The
present
revised
and
enlarged
edition,
completely
rewritten
by
Mr.
Parkin
alone,
is
in
reality
a
new
book,
and
probably
the best
available introduction
to
the
complex
problems
of
Indian
politics.
The
essential
facts
and
figures
regarding
the
social
and
economic
structure
of
the
country,
a
brief historical
survey leading
up
to
the
constitutions
of
1919
and
1935,
and
an
account
of
the
civil
services
and
defence
establishment, are
given in
the
first
chapters.
It
is
pointed
out
that,
despite
Indian
nationalism,
the
absence
of
a
feeling
of
national
unity
has
thrown
upon
Great
Britain the
task
of
bringing
together rival
political
parties
which
increasingly
reflect
divergent
economic
and
social
interests.
While
warning
against the
over-simplification
of
any
of
the
complex
Indian
problems,
Mr.
Parkin
clarifies
the
outlook
and
objectives
of
the
main
political
groups,
and
skilfully steers
the reader
through
the
cross
currents
of
the
nationalist
movement
in
the
period
from
the
beginning
of
the
second
world
war
to
the autumn
of
1945.
In
most
controversial
268
To continue reading
Request your trial