ABSTRACT
Measures taken by the government to influence the course of economic events can be divided into two broad categories. On the one hand, the government can take steps to influence the expectations of private decision-makers. It is this range of measures which we have discussed at length in Part 3 of this volume. In the absence of forward markets, the government can organize a system of indicative planning in order to reduce market uncertainties and to enable private decision-makers to anticipate more correctly what will in fact be the market conditions which will accompany the various possible future courses of the outside events. The consequential improvement in anticipations will affect present decisions and will make them less liable to future regret.
