Abstract

Can Private Capital Go Abroad?

The article explores the possibilities available for private investment in Western Europe, especially in France, as governments are encouraging huge loans and other plans for the resuscitation of broken European economies. It is quite evident that France, with its controlled economy and with the majority of its key industries nationalized, prefers government loans to private investments. This is not, however, always in the interest of the lending nation; not only for reasons of profit, although, theoretically at least, an investment brings in more than a loan, but also because public loans always present budgetary problems which are avoided by private investment. On the other hand, private foreign investors will encounter great technical difficulties in France and other countries as a result of those countries' over-all plans for reconstruction and the nationalization of many industries.