The economic future of Europe and the E.R.P.

Abstract

The article argues that Europe is experiencing her present difficulties because she has forfeited the economic, political, and scientific-technological supremacy, that she had over the other Continents prior to 1914, a supremacy which has now passed over to the United States. Two World Wars have accelerated and made more apparent this process which, however, had already started before then. Furthermore, the loss of supremacy had been aggravated in the case of Europe by the economic nationalism and the protectionist policies of extra-European countries; but further and yet more dangerous factors will arise in the future as a result of the policy of full employment. Referring to the Marshal Plan, the author notes that it is not without advantages for the United States as it helps them to secure a balance between production and consumption. Europe might increase her production to a marked extent if she were to give up some traditional ideas to which she is obstinately attached. But she will continue to remain in a condition of instability if she goes on expecting her problems to be solved by some deus ex machina such as American intervention.

JEL: E24, E61, E23