XV POST-WAR FINANCE Taxation after the War--Mr. Hoare's Scheme described and analysed--The Position of the Rentier--Estimates of the Post-War Debt--The Compulsory Loan Proposal--What Advantages has it over a Levy on Capital?--The Argument from Social Justice--Questions still to be answered--The Choice between a Levy and Stiff Taxation--Are we still a Creditor Nation?--Our Debt not a Hopeless Problem--Suggestions for solving it XVI THE CURRENCY REPORT Currency Policy during the War--Its Disastrous Medievalism--The Report of the Cunliffe Committee--A Blast of Common Sense--The Condemnation of our War Finance--Inflation and the Rise in Prices--The Figures of the Present Position--The Break in the Old Relation between Legal Tender and Gold--How to restore it--Stop Borrowing and reduce the Floating Debt--Return to the Old System--The Committee's Sane Conservatism--A Sound Currency vital to National Recovery XVII MEETING THE WAR BILL The Total War Debt--What are our Loans to the Allies worth?--Other Uncertain Items--The Prospects of making Germany pay--The Right Way to regard the Debt--Our Capital largely intact--A Reform of the Income Tax--The Debt to America--The Levy on Capital and other Schemes--The only Real Aids to Recovery XVIII THE REGULATION OF THE CURRENCY Macaulay on Depreciated Currency--Its Evils To-day--The Plight of the Rentier--Mr Goodenough's Suggestion--Sir Edward Holden's Criticisms of the Currency Committee--His Scheme of Reform--Two Departments or One in the Bank of England?--Not a Vital Question--The Ratio of Notes to Gold--Objections to a Hard-and-fast Ratio--The Limit on Note Issues--The Federal Reserve Act and American Optimism--Currency and Commercial Paper--A Central Gold Reserve with Central Control XIX TIGHTENING THE FETTERS OF FINANCE The New Meaning of Licence--The Question of Capital Issues--Text of the Treasury Regulations--Their Scope and Effect--The Position of the Stock Exchange--Wider Issues at Stake--Should Capital be set Free?--The Arguments for and against--Perils of an Excessive Caution--The New Committee and its Terms of Reference--The Absurdity of prohibiting Share-splitting--The Storm in the House of Commons--Disappearance of the Retrospective Clause--A Sample of Bureaucratic Stupidity XX MONEY OR GOODS? "Boundless Wealth"--Money and the Volume of Trade--The Quantity Theory--The Gold Standard--How is the Volume of Paper to be regulated?--Mr Kitson's Ideal INDEX WAR-TIME FINANCIAL PROBLEMS I THE OUTLOOK FOR CAPITAL _September_, 1917 The Creation of Capital--The Inducement--War and Capital