SECTIONAL TRANSACTIONS.— F. 453 



government finance are not well suited to encourage spending in periods 

 of depression ; (2) economic — the close interlocking of public and private 

 investment in many fields, especially the trading services ; (3) technical 

 and administrative — the difficulty of commencing and discontinuing large 

 schemes of capital expenditure at short notice : it is suggested that control 

 over ordinary repairs and renewals expenditure might be useful here ; (4) the 

 relative narrowness of the field — the long-term trend of investment by 

 local authorities in the near future may well be sharply downward, unless 

 new fields of activity are rapidly developed. 



Friday, August 19. 



Presidential Address by Mr. R. F. Harrod on Scope and method of 

 economics (lo.o). (See p. 139.) 



Mr. J. M. Keynes, C.B. — The policy of Government storage of foodstuffs 

 and raw materials (11.30). (Read by Mr. G. F. Shove.) 



It is an outstanding fault of the competitive system that there is not 

 sufficient incentive for the storing of raw materials so as to average periods 

 of high and low demand, except by means of excessive price fluctuations. 

 There is, therefore, a prima facie case for government action to supplement 

 this deficiency, which is not easily supplied by the competitive system from 

 within. In present circumstances three considerations combine to rein- 

 force this prima facie case : (i) storage for war purposes ; (2) with the object 

 of mitigating the fluctuations of the trade cycle ; and (3) the stabilisation of 

 prices by holding some part of the Central banking reserves, not in gold, but 

 in a composite commodity. 



Afternoon. 

 Prof. M. Ginsberg. — The present position of sociology (2.45). 



Mr. T. H. Marshall. — Professionalism (3.45). 



All civilised societies — and possibly primitive societies as well — have 

 recognised a certain group of occupations as superior to all others. The 

 principle of selection varies, but the superior occupations have usually been 

 referred to as ' free ' or ' liberal ' in contrast to commercial and industrial 

 pursuits. Our first task is to see whether this distinction has any foundation 

 in the real character of the professions, or whether it is a rational cloak for 

 the self-interest of those who give a scarcity value to their services by creating 

 monopoly rights for themselves. Any conclusion reached for the professions 

 in England a century or more ago must be revised for the present day. The 

 lists of professions has lengthened and their character has changed. 



The development can be related to three causes, the growth of science, 

 the evolution of capitalism, and the advance of democracy through equali- 

 tarianism towards the social service State. Contemporary changes in the 

 organisation of commerce and industry have further weakened the contrast 

 by which the professions used to be recognisable. Should we describe the 

 process by saying that the professions have been commercialised or that 

 commerce has been professionalised ? The answer should probably be 

 that both groups have shifted their position, but that the meeting-point 

 at which they tend to coalesce is somewhat nearer to professionalism than 

 to commercialism, in the old meaning of those words. 



