Point for Point Four

In the two years since Harry Truman pulled Point Four out of a hat and stuck it into his inaugural speech, it has remained largely a plan without a program. But last week a board headed by Nelson Rockefeller and comprised of representatives from business, labor, agriculture, health and law, handed the President a carefully worked out program for giving point to Point Four.

The board proposed the creation of a massive Overseas Economic Administration, to absorb ECA and all foreign-aid programs now scattered among 23 U.S. agencies. It proposed the appropriation of $500 million for OEA to spend on aid projects--railways, harbors, irrigation, health, training programs. It also proposed a $200 million U.S. contribution to a $500 million International Development Authority for the construction of public works.

But the board's major contribution was its emphasis on private enterprise and the provisions for its encouragement. Businessmen, wary of risking their capital in areas where currencies fluctuate wildly and governments are unpredictable, were to be offered special inducements:

P:Exemption of U.S. businesses in foreign countries from U.S. taxes, so that business profit abroad would be taxed only once.

P: Bilateral treaties to eliminate discriminatory taxes against U.S. businesses.

P:Establishment of a $100 million authority in the Export-Import Bank to underwrite, for a fee, the transfer risks on new foreign securities. This would insure U.S. investors against the rise & fall of currency values.

P: Creation of a new $400 million International Finance Corp., affiliated with the International Bank, to make loans in foreign currencies to finance private businesses. U.S. contribution: $150 million.

With such encouragement, the board thought that foreign investment by private enterprise should at least double the present $1 billion-a-year rate. In addition, the board estimated, "two billion dollars energetically and strategically invested over the next few years could swell the outflow of vital materials from the underdeveloped regions by $1 billion a year. This increased production can best be carried out under private auspices."

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