Blood, Toil, Tears & Money

In Parliament last week Chancellor of the Exchequer Sir Kingsley Wood announced that Britain was spending -L-13,000,000 ($52,000,000) a day (or $2,166,666 every hour) on World War II. This was 50% greater than the peak spending of World War I.

Total British spending during the first two years of World War II was -L-7,018,000,000 ($31,231,100,000), of which war services took -L-5,668,000,000 ($25,122,600,000). This was 150% greater than 1914-16 spending.

Other Wood points on the cost of war:

> Forty per cent of war's expenses are being met out of current income, as against 25% during World War I.

>The high-bracket income-tax ceiling has already been reached. If taxation were increased to make a net income of more than -L-1,000 impossible, it would yield not more than an additional -L-106,000,000 yearly.

>Inflation is more than possible, less than probable.

None of Sir Kingsley's figures took into account U.S. Lend-Lease aid to Britain. When the Chancellor was through, Parliament voted its third -L-1,000,000,000 war credit during 1941.

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