THE NEXT WORLD WAR

Alan corrects an omission from his synopsis in last month's Pump

The October 2005 issue of The Village Pump carried a synopsis of my new book Magnificent Vision: The Right to Work. Due to a printing error it included a sentence which did not make sense: "The effect of such major slumps is not the reduction of wealth but the disturbing impact of mass unemployment". Of course, it is wrong to suggest that a major slump cannot mean reduced wealth. Furthermore, a chunk of the synopsis was omitted. The correct version of the erroneous paragraph is shown below, followed by the missing chunk:

The main trouble with such major slumps is not the reduction of wealth but the disturbing impact of mass unemployment. It is argued that unemployment was the underlying cause of the two World Wars. In his Why Not Work? (Adam Smith Institute 1992) Sir Ralph Howell asserted that it was unemployment that gave rise to the Bolsheviks and the Nazis. My book provides compelling evidence that that was indeed so. It warns of disaster if something radical is not done about the next long-wave trough.

Here I refer to an item not mentioned in the book:

The Guardian's presentation on 14 April 2005 of the views of ten scientists on the biggest threats to Earth, each dealing with different threats. It should have included an economist writing about the mass unemployment coming from the next long-wave trough - more proximate than any of the other ten dangers. Nuclear war was included but that may stem from mass unemployment. Mention might be made also of nuclear terrorism which also might stem from mass unemployment which fosters aggressive fundamentalism. Three potential nuclear flashpoints were identified: the Middle East, India-Pakistan and North Korea. That did not go far enough. France is a nuclear power, already with high unemployment, political instability and fascist potential. The USA and Israel might also be seen potentially as rogue states, given their aggressive fundamentalism and contempt for international law. Even Britain has voiced the right to a nuclear response to a non-nuclear threat. There is also China, unfriendly to neighbours and already seriously troubled by its unemployment. The danger, as so often in history, is war as a diversion from internal turmoil.

The book costs £9.99, post free, from FURI, Coachman's Cottage, High Street,Stoke Ferry, Norfolk PE33 9SF

Alan, apologies for the miss-print. My scissors slipped!

Editor

Alan Whitford