bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Political Economy and Enterprise
Authors: Easterbrook W. T. 
Published: June 2006

There is much talk in our time about freedom and economists have not been silent on the subject. It is apparent that in discussing the meaning and conditions of freedom they are moving beyond the limits of economics “proper” into the realm of political economy, which as O. H. Taylor has recently pointed out “… involves the latter [economic science] plus all other social or human sciences, plus philosophical, ethical and political reflection, plus thoughtful study of human history.” And since freedom involves value judgments, “ … is itself an ethical category …,” economics, in so far as economists concern themselves with freedom, cannot be regarded as a neutral science. There are deep waters here, deeper than many of freedom's advocates seem to realize. It is argued in this paper that while many economists writing about freedom will pay lip-service to the ideal of political economy as described by Professor Taylor, the strong tendency to remain economic scientists in thought and method is likely to produce in the end a flabbier economics and very little new light on freedom.An approach very common in economic literature is to identify extremes of (i) freedom in thought and behaviour and (ii) authoritarian control, and then to suggest some happy middle way, preferably one which combines the “best” features of each. Freedom is identified with change, uncertainty and “progress” (these somehow identified with competition in free markets) and its absence with concentrations of power which threaten essential liberties. The problem appears to be that of reconciling liberty with stability, freedom of competition with an unseemly demand for security. To make the best of both worlds there must be some planning for stability, but not too much planning because it is so debilitating. Extremes must be avoided, some compromise sought; it is as simple as that.
Some Theoretical Schemes of Proportional Representation
Authors: Black Duncan 
Published: June 2006

We have already considered the election of a single candidate to represent a constituency. Now we turn to the problem of choosing the group of representatives who will best reflect the political opinions held throughout a country or constituency. The desirability of proportional representation, ceteris paribus, we take to be self-evident; a change in the electoral system that makes the legislative bodies more truly reflect the citizens' opinions will certainly be desirable, provided the party system and the system of cabinet government remain as effective after the change as they had been before. Of course, the source of difficulty, the opponents of proportional representation would add, is that when proportional representation is introduced other things do not remain the same: instead a degeneration of the party and cabinet system sets in.These “dynamic changes” include alterations in party structure, a heightening or lessening of the political interest of the voters, alterations in the type of persons who stand for Parliament, new problems of cabinet formation, and increased or lesser control by the electorate over the course of government. And we readily concede that these are the aspects of the problem that it is most important to investigate to decide whether proportional representation would, in practice, do good or harm. The present paper will make no reference to them, and is not, indeed, much concerned to answer the broad question of whether proportional representation would, in any particular circumstances, be a good thing or a bad thing. A proper scientific procedure permits the treatment in isolation of particular aspects of each wider problem; and our concern is with the “statics” of the problem. (We only consider one or two small dynamic changes which are intimately connected with the course of the argument.)
The Territorial Waters of Newfoundland
Authors: Gushue Raymond 
Published: June 2006

The use of the term “territorial waters” herein is that generally applied in international law to the strip of water where the open sea washes the edge of the land territory of a state, within which strip the state has certain jurisdiction over its own nationals and those of other states. It does not include more extensive strips of water over which some states have asserted jurisdiction for certain purposes over their own nationals or in which, by treaty, adjoining states have asserted jurisdiction over the nationals of both.There is no generally accepted rule of international law which may be regarded as universally applicable with respect to the right of dominion or jurisdiction over a particular belt of ocean adjacent to a country. It may be said at the beginning, however, that most countries have abandoned the old theory of Mare Clausum, under which coastal waters were sometimes fixed at sixty miles, one hundred miles, two days' journey, etc., from the shore, and under which claims were also made by agreement between two or more countries over an ocean common to them. In the decision of the Permanent Court of Arbitration at the Hague (1910), a member of the Tribunal referred to Selden's doctrine of Mare Clausum and to certain ancient treaties based upon it as “wild, obsolete claims over the common ocean which all nations have of old abandoned with the progress of an enlightened civilization.” In the early nineteenth century Russia claimed the Behring Sea as Mare Clausum. This was protested by Great Britain and the United States of America, and in treaties in 1824 and 1825 with the United States of America and Great Britain respectively, Russia recognized that “jurisdiction in the said Sea should be regarded as the reach of a cannon shot from the shore.” It may be of interest to note, however, that the theory is not entirely dead, for within even recent years Russia has applied it to the White Sea, with such effect that Norwegian sealing ships can no longer operate in this area.
Elite Groups: A Scheme for the Study of Power in Canada
Authors: Porter John 
Published: June 2006

Gaetano Mosca, in his work which has been translated as The Ruling Class, engaged in an extensive criticism of the democratic theory that stems in particular from Rousseau. In the light of the historical evidence which he considered important he concluded:Among the constant facts and tendencies which are to be found in all political organisms one is so obvious that it is apparent to the most casual eye. In all societies—from societies that are meagerly developed and have barely attained the dawnings of civilization, down to the most advanced and powerful societies—two classes of people appear—a class that rules and a class that is ruled. The first always the less numerous, performs all political functions, monopolizes power and enjoys the advantages that power brings, whereas the second, the more numerous class is directed and controlled by the first ….Mosca, of course, is but one of a long line of writers who have tried to show that as an explanation of the power processes democratic theory is absurd. At the same time, however, most of these anti-democratic writers grant that there is, in all human beings, a compelling sentiment that justice and equality should temper power; that the masses should enforce some restraint on their leaders; and that government always involves some kind of consent of the governed. Those who bring an empirical method to the study of power are frequently condemned on the ethical grounds that they seek to justify some kind of tyranny, but what they do more than anything else is to show up the realities of power. Only after some examination of a power system has been made, can it be determined whether or not that system conforms to some ethical ideal. The ideals which are widespread in the Western democracies are, first, that there is popular participation in decision-making; and, second, that the class system is open, that is, that recruitment to positions of power is the result of personal achievement in a competitive society.
The Theory of the Consumer Price Level
Authors: Weintraub Sidney 
Published: June 2006

The theory of prices developed by Keynes in the General Theory is always likely to appeal strongly to the student approaching the subject from the side of value theory for in his analysis customary supply-demand categories are reaffirmed. Yet, despite its insights, his analysis here is incomplete: although there is a fairly detailed account of the supply curve the chapter is vague on the exact composition of the corresponding demand function. This paper reviews the problem, constructs an appropriate demand-supply apparatus, and uses it to analyse the determination of the price level of consumer goods, as measured by index numbers. It appears, however, that the same technique can be extended to explain the price level of investment goods if certain of the functional connections are modified.The essential distinction between the analysis of the firm (or industry) and the analysis of the economy is that in the former supply and demand can be regarded as independent, whereas in the latter interdependence must be stressed from the very beginning. Causally, however, it is usually argued that the initial impetus comes from the supply side. Factors are viewed as being paid for by reason of entrepreneurial decisions to hire them for productive uses, and resource owners as thereafter expending these earnings, in whole or in part, on the forthcoming consumer good output. Viewing this as the essential proposition descriptive of the economic process, let us develop its implications for the theory of the price level.
Membership Participation in Policy-Making in the C.C.F.
Authors: Engelmann Frederick C. 
Published: June 2006

The Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (C.C.F.) claims to open all its policy-making agencies and channels to its dues-paying membership. This very claim runs counter to what is usually considered the proper operation of political parties. Most groups of active supporters, if they enrol in a party at all, do so primarily for the purpose of closer identification and to lend more substance to their support, but not in order to determine the party's affairs. Even in the case of the major U.S. parties where voters enrol as members with the purpose of helping to nominate candidates, and of those interest-based parties such as the British Labour party and the Mouvement Republicain Populaire, where the party consists of constituent organizations with dues-paying members, the claims of the members to participate in the direction of party affairs receive little support from party theorists. And even where the legitimacy of an assertion by members of a right to participate in policy-making receives consideration, we find at once an insistence that apathy toward public affairs on the part of most people renders widespread membership participation in policy-making nugatory, and that parties, engaged as they are in a struggle for political power, demand in their operations secrecy, flexibility, and unity, none of which permits the kind of open policy-making in which lay members can freely participate.Policy-making in the two major parties in Canada follows the traditional parliamentary pattern. The parliamentary leader is responsible for the initiation and execution of policy, which he discusses with advisers of his own choosing.
Welfare and Direct Taxation
Authors: Koo Anthony Y. C. 
Published: June 2006

Discussion of the issue of the welfare effects of direct, as compared with indirect, taxes have been greatly clarified by the recent contributions of Mr. Little and Professor Friedman. Both of them show that the usual method of using indifference curves to prove the superiority of income tax over sales tax makes “no overt reference to marginal costs. Yet it is well known that nothing can be proved without some such reference.” They employ an alternative mode of analysis which is designed to take account of conditions of cost of production.Before the appearance of their articles, Professor Boulding showed the comparative welfare effects of proportional, progressive, and regressive income taxes by the use of indifference curves. His conclusion is that, even if the same amount of revenue is exacted, an individual is better off under a proportional than under a progressive income tax and still better off under a regressive one. Friedman questions the validity of Boulding's result because he thinks Boulding is one of those who base their arguments on a fallacious proof, although Friedman does not set out his criticism in detail. Since Boulding's results, if valid, are of great significance and since the weak point of his analysis cannot be derived directly from Friedman's contributions, it is the purpose of this paper to show the limitations of Boulding's conclusion, which, if known, would deprive it of much of its generality and usefulness.
Ground Rent for Provincial Forest Land in Ontario
Authors: Wilkes George C. 
Published: June 2006

Ground rent for provincial forest land in Ontario, dating back as it does to the mid-nineteenth century, is among the earliest means whereby the provincial government has sought and obtained revenues from the forest. As this charge on licensees of Crown timber-lands has been established for so long, it is pertinent to review its history and to record its place in the annual revenues yielded by the province's forests over the past century.These annual forest revenues have in the past come chiefly from stumpage—the price paid for timber cut on Crown lands. Forest revenues have also included, besides ground rent, bonuses paid by licensees in order to acquire their limits at auction from the Crown, tolls for the use of certain timber slides built by the government, and small sums collected as penalties for trespass and other infractions of the law. Slide tolls ceased to form a part of provincial revenues after Confederation as they were then collected by the Dominion government. Today the province's revenue from the Department of Lands and Forests comes from a variety of sources. For comparison with the forest revenue of early days, forest revenue in this study is equated with the revenue of the Department's Division of Timber Management. This includes stumpage—the chief component and now comprising Crown dues and the Crown evaluation and bonus payments—ground rent, fire tax, mill licence fees, certain payments for scalers, and sundry other small items.
Statistics Of Canada's Balance of Payments
Authors: Blyth C. D. 
Published: June 2006

Everyone expects the statistician to be the foe of easy generalization and glib phrases. Hardheadedness and a sceptical approach are occupational characteristics of those who spend their days measuring the world objectively. In talking to you about statistics of the balance of payments I am therefore going to stay on firm ground by discussing several recent developments in Canada's balance of payments and in the statistical tools which have been devised for observing them.Balance of payments developments have close interrelationships with the internal economy, which, I feel, have never been satisfactorily elucidated. For those interested in studying them further there are two new statistical sources which will facilitate closer analysis. These are new reports soon to be published by the Dominion Bureau of Statistics showing quarterly statements of the national accounts and quarterly statements of the balance of payments in the post-war period. Quarterly statistics of this kind are comparatively new tools and consequently must be used with care, particularly when relationships between internal and external factors are being explored. A thorough knowledge of concepts, definitions, and sources is indispensable before even the obvious steps in comparison may be taken with confidence. Knowledge must also be acquired of the seasonal behaviour of the various series entering into these statistics, in order to distinguish the special and non-recurring from the seasonal. Frequent data on the monetary background published by the Bank of Canada also throw new light on related transactions.
Grants in Lieu of Taxes on Crown Property in the United Kingdom: An Historical Note
Authors: Clark Douglas H. 
Published: June 2006

The rating, that is, the taxing, of property in England by local government is based on the Act of 49 Elizabeth. While this statute did not specifically declare Crown property exempt from rating, it did provide that for property to be ratable there must be an occupier and that his occupation must be “beneficial.” By “beneficial occupation” the law means “an occupation from which the occupier derives either a pecuniary profit, or some personal advantage or convenience.” All buildings such as post-offices, customs-houses, barracks, prisons, belonging to the Crown and occupied for public purposes are therefore exempt from rating. Crown property in the possession of an occupier who has a beneficial occupation is ratable, and hence tenants of Crown property are required to pay property taxes. Occupation of property by nationalized industries does not amount to occupation by the Crown and these premises are also ratable. Lands occupied by the royal family are exempt for different reasons arising from the prerogatives of the Sovereign.In 1874 the Parliament of the United Kingdom approved a system of grants in lieu of property tax which are known as “contributions in lieu of rates.” Under this system the United Kingdom makes ex gratia payments, generally equivalent to full taxes, to all county boroughs, boroughs, urban districts, and rural districts containing Crown property beneficially occupied. Other local government units do not receive these grants since they are not taxing authorities. The United Kingdom was quite certainly the first country in the world to make such payments. It may therefore be of interest to record the events leading up to this historic decision and to trace briefly the growth of these contributions.
A Note on Taxation and Inflation
Authors: Higgins Benjamin 
Published: June 2006

The cold war has resulted in levels of government spending in advanced countries far bigger than the post-war deflationary gaps as estimated by the most pessimistic of the pessimists. Deflationary gaps have been over-filled, and the postwar situation in the advanced countries has been one of chronic inflation rather than chronic under-employment. The high level of demand in the advanced countries has also aggravated the chronic inflationary pressure in the less developed countries. It is natural, therefore, that the attention of economists and laymen alike should have turned from public spending policy to tax policy.The general tax problem which seems to have aroused most interest is, “What are the limits to taxable capacity?” Among business men, trade union officials, government advisers, and even among professional economists, from Canada to Indonesia, one often hears today the statement that when tax rates reach a certain limit, further increases in tax rates will be inflationary rather than deflationary. It is the present writer's opinion that this statement is based upon a misunderstanding, and that its frequent repetition in high places calls for a restatement of home truths regarding the economic effects of taxation. What follows is certainly not original analysis; but sometimes a simple application of familiar but appropriate tools can help to clarify an economic policy issue. Such clarification is the purpose of this note.
The Price Mechanism in the Market for Mortgage Loans
Authors: Macintosh R. M. 
Published: June 2006

R. F. Kahn's recent review article on the literature of “full-cost pricing” brings out the fact that the controversy which began with the article by Hall and Hitch in 1939 remains unresolved. Because the actual pricing of manufactured products takes place within a very restricted range of plant capacity, and under dynamic conditions which limit the entrepreneur's horizon, some writers have argued that the pricing process is necessarily arbitrary and based on rule of thumb. Most theorists, on the other hand, maintain that, however restrictive the data from which business-men form their decisions, the pricing process may be interpreted by marginalist concepts of profit maximization.The gap between these points of view has been substantially narrowed in recent years. Extended subdivision of the theory of imperfect competition into individual market situations has brought that theory close to the methodology of “industry studies,” at least of those studies which have included some attempt at generalization. There remain, however, several obstacles to closing the gap between the deductive and the inductive analysis of the price mechanism. In particular, the available data are usually so unrefined that appeals to empirical cost and revenue schedules are misleading, or inconclusive, or contradictory. Joint costs, indeterminate demand schedules, and the natural reluctance of producers to reveal their private information all hinder the theorist searching for empirical support. In the face of these formidable difficulties some economists (notably the exponents of full-cost pricing) have turned to the technique of the questionnaire. This procedure is open to a serious methodological criticism: information derived from questionnaires is more likely to reveal the entrepreneur's idealized conception of his own behaviour than to show what his behaviour actually is. The phrases “usually full cost,” “cost is the normal guide,” or “the initial guide” recur throughout the replies to the Hall-Hitch questionnaire. These qualified answers are unrevealing for the same reason that the Marshallian long run (when all the various forces have had time to work themselves out) is a poor guide to real-world price determination. Normative statements such as those obtained in the studies mentioned above cannot be regarded as empirical data.
The Development of British Exchange Control, 1939-45
Authors: Clayton G. 
Published: June 2006

Exchange control can be considered as an extension of the principle of war-time rationing. There is a scarcity of the means available for making payments and therefore purchases abroad are limited. As a result the central authority allocates these resources according to its own list of priorities, instead of leaving the selection of the needs to be satisfied to be determined by competitive bidding in the market. This requires the control of imports and may also be taken to include restrictions on transfers of capital and other foreign payments. Another feature of exchange control—the requisitioning of assets which can be realized for foreign exchange—can similarly be regarded as part of the general policy of commandeering resources necessary for the purposes of war. But a comprehensive system of exchange control involves a further essential feature—the pegging of exchange rates. Theoretically it would still be possible for the central authority to leave exchange rates to be freely determined in the market, although the quantities demanded and supplied were controlled by such methods; for the possible dangers of inflationary increases in domestic prices could be overcome by the use of subsidies to offset exchange depreciation.However, several important reasons can be given for a country at war maintaining fixed exchange rates. Bear speculators might have a bad effect on the country's prestige especially when the fortunes of war were adverse. Secondly, it is easier to requisition international assets on terms which do not give large windfall profits to the sellers, if extensive depreciation of the currency can be avoided. Thirdly, consideration of the “terms of trade” offers the most substantial ground for maintaining exchange stability. In conditions of total war the resources that are used to produce exports must be reduced to the minimum. For this reason the object of policy must be to achieve the best possible price for a restricted quantity of exports rather than to expand the volume of exports by offering them as cheaply as possible.