Help Yourself

When the Asians heard that Ludwig Erhard was coming, many of them expected to see an open purse. Was not Economics Minister Erhard the engineer of the West German recovery "miracle"? Was not West Germany so prosperous, its coffers so filled, its technicians so talented that it could give help to poorer nations?

Setting forth last month, armed with a hoard of cigars to chain-smoke, rotund Minister Erhard announced that he was going East with an open mind.

As he rolled across Asia, Ludwig Erhard opened his mouth but not West Germany's purse. Everywhere he went, he dropped free--and sometimes unwanted--advice.

India. West German industrialists are eager to invest in India, he said--if they get 51% partnership in the capital of new industries. Indian private enterprise, he told Nehru, should have more freedom, and India should beware of "too much planning." Foreign investors want guarantees against "political risks."

Ceylon. "I cannot deny that among all the countries I have visited, Ceylon is politically perhaps the most restless, and this causes concern." Ceylon is too conscious of its past colonial subjugation, he said. "It will be much better to ask for foreign aid. It will increase your national income so that you can increase taxes. You need not fear foreign influence, or new foreign domination."

Viet Nam. Raw material producers who suffer from falling prices should not simply increase production of their rice, tin or rubber. They should boost quality, not quantity: rubber producers, for example, should strive to make their product more competitive against synthetic rubber.

South Korea. "How can you expect foreign investment when your own businessmen distrust your own currency, and your own banks charge your businessman interest of 4% a month on loans?"

Japan. "Japanese exports to Europe are too low-priced. If your prices are 10% lower than ours, that can be tolerated. But they are between 30% and 50% lower, and that cannot be tolerated. Your wage levels will have to rise. Japan is placing too much emphasis on exports."

The Japanese had hoped for German "cooperation" in recovering markets in Southeast Asia. They could expect competition instead. Said Erhard: "Competition is not an act of hostility, but a method of development: the more, the better. Japan has an important role to play in developing Southeast Asia, but she will find it quite a task. I have noted certain resistances to Japan in those countries."

Erhard's summary of Asia: "Far too much trading, far too little production. They all want giant plants. This makes little sense. They have to work from the bottom up and enlist the masses in projects that the masses can see are for their good. Instead of giant plants, there should be improved farming and simple machines for small-scale craftsmen."

And then, having told everybody what to do, Erhard headed home.

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