ABSTRACT
The editor of the Daily News asserts that "the capital of the individuals of the nation has increased during the war from £16,000 millions to £20,000 millions". This statement, or others in similar terms, forms the basis of the case for the Capital Levy. It seems so equitable to argue that "the propertied classes have added £4,000 millions to their wealth during the war; therefore they should be made to pay that sum to redeem the War Debt". The national "capital," in the sense of commodities, machinery, plant, and so on has undoubtedly been lessened by the war; yet at the same time the amount of stocks, bonds, shares and certificates has grown. In the Economic Journal, Dr. J. C. Stamp, whose work on British Incomes and Property, makes him one of the leading authorities on the subject and possibly the first among them, conducts a careful inquiry into the pre-war and post-war wealth of individuals in the United Kingdom.
