Sunday, 13 February

Dull

The Presidents of the American Chamber of Commerce, Eric Johnson and William Benton, visited Britain on behalf of the American business circle last autumn. They were in touch with many people, and published articles in American newspapers (Benton published his article in Life, 25 October 1943 issue), saying that recently British and American viewpoints were very different. The most prominent one was that British industrialists absolutely did not oppose government management, and was not against [unclear]. They were different from American industrialists who advocated absolute developmental freedom. Britain is gradually aware that they have no choice but to adopt a planned economy. For example, leaders of the Labour Party have advocated that 75% of British industry should be put under government management, and the first step should be 25%. Probably Britain has learnt a lesson from this war, and awakened to the fact that thorough reform is necessary, but the United States still has no such insight. Attaché Hu showed me her article which was published in China. It is quite good.