ABSTRACT

Europe consists of the densest aggregation of population in the history of the world. In relation to other continents Europe is not self-sufficient; in particular it cannot feed itself. The coal production of Europe as a whole is estimated to have fallen off by 30 per cent; and upon coal the greater part of the industries of Europe and the whole of her transport system depend. The problem of the re-inauguration of the perpetual circle of production and exchange in foreign trade leads to a necessary digression on the currency situation of Europe. The inflationism of the currency systems of Europe has proceeded to extraordinary lengths. In most of the other countries of Eastern and South-Eastern Europe the real position is nearly as bad. The terms of the Peace Treaty imposed on the Austrian Republic bear no relation to the real facts of that State’s desperate situation.