The effect of foreign investment – Canada, 1946-1951.

The development of any closed national economy from an agricultural, extractive economy to a highly industrialized one is dependent on the proportion of its national income (in real terms) which it is willing to devote to investment or capital accumulation. There are many definitions as to what constitutes investment but there is substantial agreement among economists as to the types of flows of goods and services covered by the term investment: “(1) expenditures on durable physical assets by entrepreneurs which (expenditures) consist of a) outlay on construction projects and the purchase of machinery and equipment; b) outlay on new house building including major improvements and alterations made by both homeowners and landlords; and c) outlay by governments on public buildings, engineering works, installations, resources development, and machinery and equipment”