Douglas Jay, H.P,. for Battersea North, and well-known for his right— wing views has an article in the September issue of The Stock Exchan Journal, He says that under.a Labour Government there would to an increasi— ngly busy Stock Exchange. Jay explaina that a Labour Government must seelc to taild a society in which both public and private enterprise flourish, He sees two main forms of public enterprise, One is the ¢stablished pattern of state ownership of utilities and natural monopoly industries. The other, veriousa forms of state participation in "competitive snterprise,"
As a large field of activity will romain open to private enterprise there will clearly be a noed for a Stock Sxchango to bring together supply and demand for savings. Saying he would like to see the state itself supply equity capital and become a part=-shareholder, Jay adds: “But this will supplement, and not supplant, the free flow of private savings. And in the expansionist economy which ea British Labour Government will seek to create, not merely will wages, salaries and profits be more bouynnt; but the flow of savings channelled through the Stock Exchange machine must be oxpected to rise." He puts forward several methods aimed at achieving a more even dist=ribution of wealth. Despite many yoars of death duties and “allogedly high direct taxation" 1% of the population still owns 40% of tha private proporty. He therefore wants private "ownership of "growth types of property" spread more evenly.
A suggested stop in this direction is for the Fost Office Savings Banlc +o run a public unit trust of its ow, selling 5s. or 10s. units to individuals with £100 in the P.0.5.B. and investing the proceeds in ocuity shares, Another step is to encourage the present movement for trade unions and local suthorities to keep a proportion of their funds in Ordinary shares, These methods will not be sufficient by themselves and mst be reinforced “through the powerful instrument of taxation and through public investment in all ths social assets wa need,"
Says. Jay: "Such taxation should, I beliove, mainly take the form, not of high rates on personal earned income, tut rather on distriluted business profits and porsonal inherited wealth." He urges "the various institutions of private enterprise," including the Stock @xchange to “co-operate actively in the maintenance of high rates of social investment" and the “reasonably high rates of progressive taxation" needed to even out the distribution of