No Takers

Why are U.S. investors reluctant to send their money abroad? In Manhattan, Andre Istel, a French banker and onetime delegate to the Bretton Woods monetary conference, looked no farther than the U.S. stock market to find one answer. Said he: "The shares of more than 100 American ... corporations of good standing and high yield are selling on the Stock Exchange at prices lower than the per share values of the working capital of these corporations. In other words, the purchaser of stock of these corporations acquires at no cost [his share of] their fixed assets, equipment, good will and technical ability."

In short, Banker Istel found it perfectly logical that U.S. investors should buy bargains at home before looking across the seas. Not until the market rose to levels reflecting a truer value for stocks, and the chances for profits were thus lessened, could Americans be expected to start looking for more profitable enterprises abroad. In addition, said Istel, foreign investors face currency difficulties, "run the risk of not being able to repatriate [their] capital," for the chance of profits which are smaller than in the U.S. It was "not surprising" that since the end of the war, private international finance has been almost nonexistent. Said Istel: "The game is not worth the candle."

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