John Ise

What is Rural Economics

Three groups of rural economists, 300. — Dominance of the first group, emphasizing farm management, 301. — Its position unsound in principle, 302. — Difficulties of combining the individual with the social point of view, 303. — Multiplicity of subjects treated, 304. — Doubtful whether rural economics can be separated from general economics, 308.

CHILDS, MARQUIS W., and DOUGLASS CATER. Ethics in a Business Society. Pp. x, 191. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1954.

Board of Governors could synchronize the flow of dollars to the flow of consumer goods, thereby eradicating instability within our economic system. If his program should be adopted, he recommends abolition of unemployment insurance, placing old age pensions on a payas-you-go basis, and the allowance of a credit for charitable contributions to the full extent of the federal estate tax. He claims that the adoption of his program would, among other things, eliminate the need for minimum wage legislation, eliminate the discrimination in pay between men and women, eliminate racial discrimination, bring about lasting peace, and make the farmer permantly prosperous. Although the arguments advanced are supported principally by the repetition of commendatory expressions and promissory representations, Mr. Czerwonky points the finger of &dquo;economic illiteracy&dquo; at the Congress, the entire nation, and even at the economists. Naturally, it is claimed that the fault lies with our educational institu-

2.75:

volved in the fiscal authority of the local governments, the centralized system in Hawaii approaches the ideal of students of public finance. The limited use of earmarkings of funds further suggests another desideratum of sound fiscal administration. These, however, are much more administrative goals and have limited relationship to the over-all impact of the taxes on the fiscal and economic structure of the territory. Principally an administrative essay, the book may be recommended not only for officials and students of public finance but also for the public in general. Its minimum use of technical phraseology will enable most taxpayers to understand substantially the general impact of each tax studied.

WARD, A. DUDLEY (Ed.). Goals of Economic Life. Pp. x, 470. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1953.

mon characteristics, centering about the &dquo;rates of change&dquo; of various factors in the economic equilibrium. The specific causes of the present depression she classifies as the underlying, the precipitating, the continuing, and the cumulative causes. Among the underlying causes she emphasizes the distortion of international relations, the artificial agricultural situation, excess in capital equipment, speculation in securities, and over-optimistic &dquo;New Era&dquo; doctrines-the last point being particularly well handled. The year 1926 was the &dquo;turning point,&dquo; when serious discrepancies in values and volumes appeared; and after various mistakes in policy, by business leaders as well as political leaders, the seeming price stability of 19~8 broke in the crisis of 19~9. Various signs of serious weakness appeared before 19~9, in fact the author notes

4.00:

plete monopoly, or monopolistic competition. Like the first edition, the revision is concerned almost entirely with theoretical principles. There is little discussion of history, legislative acts, or other factual material, and no discussion at all of other possible economic systems-socialism, communism, and fascism. The style is simple and clear, admirably adapted to underclassmen ; and the brevity of the book should make possible the use of a considerable variety of collateral readings.

DULLES, ELEANOR LANSING. Depression and Reconstruction: A Study of Causes and Controls. Pp. xii, 340. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1936.

rassed authoritativeness only less than that of the emperors of the ancient Celestial Empire, presents &dquo;to the makers of a new civilization&dquo; in America and China his estimates of &dquo;the good and the bad, the advantages and the disadvantages&dquo; in both Oriental and Occidental civilizations. His criterion, offered as &dquo;the safest and surest policy that will lead the world to a higher level of civilization,&dquo; is none other than the Confucian and Aristotelian Doctrine of the Mean. But since that doctrine, according to his own understanding of Aristotle, is to be interpreted differently for each people and individual, it seems to become each person’s rationalization of his own peculiar standards and beliefs, requiring only that he occupy a place from which he can point to conduct too lofty on one side of him and too base on the other side. At any rate, the flexibility of such a doctrine allows Mr. Pao the opportunity to praise what he likes in Orient and Occident, to chide lightly what he dislikes, and, from his vantage point between, to stand as the determining judge of civilization’s achievements and behavior, foibles and fancies, in the family, the church, education, government, and even the New Deal. A role with possibilities of entertainment! And the author uses it well. But to take seriously what Mr. Pao says about the &dquo; materialism &dquo; of the West versus the &dquo;spiritualism &dquo; of the East, or numerous other sweeping references to China and the Occident, would be to assume quite naively that Harvard or any other college

3.00

man potash syndicate, who in the spring of 1929 invited the attention of the reviewer to the &dquo;moderate&dquo; price policy pursued by the potash syndicate in comparison with the &dquo;less-restrained&dquo; policy pursued by American business men alleged to dominate the copper price situation. In truth, it may completely undermine confidence on the part of those whose industries were subjected to searching study, the findings of which (objective though they may be) are by their very nature calculated to condemn the particular type of control under which the industry has operated. Despite these shortcomings, which in the reviewer’s opinion are serious, International Control of Raw Materials is a study of value. Its conclusion with regard to the inadequacy of relief through national action from the irritation and the economic hardship which nationalistic control has worked in the past, and its suggestion for an international conference for the formulation of