§ Sir N. Grattan-Doyleasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether the Treasury will obtain from the professors 416W of economics who advise His Majesty's Government an explanation as to why the cheap money rates, under the present system of managed money, have not prevented the fall in prices coupled with the trade recession now being experienced; and whether the economists recommend a further cheapening of money rates?
§ Sir J. SimonWholesale commodity prices in this country are about 21 per cent. higher and the prices of primary commodities about 48 per cent. higher than in September, 1931. As however has repeatedly been made clear in the declarations issued by this Government and by the Governments of the other parts of the British Commonwealth, it is not possible to ensure a satisfactory price level by monetary policy alone in the absence of the international action necessary to remove the non-monetary factors which from time to time depress prices severely.