§ 21. Mr. Ginsburgasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will give the figures for the United Kingdom for increases in industrial production for the third quarter of 1952 to the first quarter of 1955, for the first quarter of 1955 to the third quarter of 1958, and for the third quarter of 1958 to the second quarter of 1960; and if he will give, on the basis of statistics available to him through the Organisation for European Economic Co-operation, the corresponding aggregate figures for the same periods for the European Economic Community countries.
§ Mr. BarberAs the Answer contains a number of figures I will, with permission, circulate it in the OFFICIAL REPORT.
§ Mr. GinsburgDo not those figures show that between 1955 and 1958 while this country stood still Europe surged ahead? Is not this a strong argument for ending the credit squeeze now, otherwise the same thing will happen again?
§ Mr. BarberIn the economic debate earlier this week I dealt at considerable length with the question of growth. Simple comparisons of the rates of growth of production are certainly no index of economic success.
§ Following are the figures:
| PERCENTAGE INCREASES IN INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION (SEASONALLY ADJUSTED)* | ||
| Period | United Kingdom | Countries in the European Economic Community |
| 3rd Quarter, 1952–1st Quarter, 1955 | 23 | 24 |
| 1st Quarter, 1955–3rd Quarter, 1958 | 1 | 22 |
| 3rd Quarter, 1958–2nd Quarter, 1960 | 14 | 18 |
| *The figures published by the Organisation for European Economic Co-operation for the European Economic Community countries exclude the construction industry in the definition of industrial production and the United Kingdom figures have been adjusted to a comparable basis. |