ABSTRACT
The extent of long-term international investments, the purposes for which they were made and the ways in which they were used, must always, therefore, remain something of a mystery. In case of United States investments, the proportion is somewhat smaller—50 to 60 per cent. Borrowers of this type are welcomed by those who invest abroad. The post-war borrowing of most European countries can be roughly divided into three categories, viz. stabilization and relief loans, post-stabilization borrowing, both public and private, and re armament loans, though it is often difficult to draw sharp distinctions. In short, the economic conditions under which foreign investment in Germany took place were radically different from those surrounding British and American investment in British Empire and in Latin America. These transactions were very different in kind, not only from contemporary transactions between the creditor countries and most other debtors, but also from pre-war international investments which consisted almost entirely of capital exports to primary producing countries.
