the labour movement for selective import controls. These are both economically wrong they would not achieve the desired results and in many cases they are politically reactionary - suggesting that we support the sacking of German or Pakistani workers if it will save British jobs.
But there is no doubt that an integral part of any programme for meeting the slump must include control of foreign trade. This is both because in the early period of economic revival inflation could be produced - which would suck goods into the economy and lead to a rapid deterioration in the payments situation and because radical working class measures to deal with the crisis could lead to huge mancreases and a massive programme of public works - protected by a sliding scale, a state monopoly of foreign trâde to prevent domestic polices from being destroyed by a payments crisis, and work-sharing, and nationalisation of firms creating redundancy - can both protect the working class and provide an immediate stimulus to the economy. these can only be short term measures. if they are not followed by radical measures to solve the crisis of lack of investment and it it is only by overcoming this that a long term expansion in production can take place will create gigantic and uncontrollable inflation which will be followed by mass unemployment.
The measure most widely supported within the labour movement for overcoming the investment crisis - proposed for example both in the original plans for the National Enterprise Board and in the Tribune group statement on the economy ments. The basic aim of this strategy, to ensure that investment begins to be controlled not by profit but by social and productive priorities, is perfectly sound. put forward, a doubling of investment in manBut it is quite clear that Indeed they 32 per cont.
cent of funds take over control of industry.
is that of planning agreeThe targets (b) Nationalisation of the banks and finance ic industry: system: The banks are a vital linchpin of any economy, In the present state of economic crisis in Britatin their role becomes even more important. Taking their direct role in company finance alone, in 1971 out of total funds for industry of £6.41 billion only £732 million were drawn from bank borrowing. By 1973, however, bank borrowing represented £4.5 billion out of total funds of £13.98 billion, i.e. between 1971 and 1973 bank borrowing as a percentage of funds went up from 12 per cent to With Britain rapidly moving towards the European model of company fin where the banks provide up to 70 per the nationalisation of the banking system is even more vital in any move to FINANCE SYSTEM As for the rest of the finance system, again even its direct role in industry is immense. For ecample, nearly one half of shares in Britain are held by insurance companies, pension funds and other financial institutions. Securing conThe public ownership of a mere 250-300 companies would provide effective control of the economy.
STRUGGLE DECIDES The proposals which we have put forward are, of course, in themselves only a means to an end — a step towards the full nationalisation and planning of the economy. The resources which would be created by this would com pletely dwarf even anything put forward here. But the proposals we have made are indispensable steps towards this goal.
One final point must be made however -and it is really the most important question of all. No economic policy is worth anything at all unless it is completely linked to and based on a mass movement of struggle by the work ing class. Only such a link can drive forward the relation of class forces which makes possible the implementation of a socialist economic policy, only mass struggle and organisation by the working class can smash the economic sabotage the capitalists will carry out against such a pol icy, and only the might of the working class
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