THE DEVIL OF THE MACHINE AGE

Abundance is the ""devil of the machine age"": relative scarcity its god. Smith analyzes the devices for maintaining scarcity, on the part of manufacturers, labor and government, and shows how they have jointly strangled industry. He goes into causes:- the end of free land, investment famine, surplus savings, the shift from the struggle against scarcity to the struggle to maintain it, false frontiers (war, installment selling and buying, relief, pump priming). He outlines an economic plan:- intelligent pricing to extend distribution (example, electric power in the T.V.A.), repeal of restrictive legislation on price control; consumer organization; cooperatives on the Scandinavian plan; non profit industry; service exchange; a new system of taxing reserves. Stimulating reading today.