DISCUSSION.

This article discusses various articles on the U.S. import demand, which were published in the May 1, 1953 issue of the journal "American Economic Review." Both economists, Hans P. Neisser and Arnold C. Harberger have pointed out the difference between the consumption function and the import function and that imports are the difference between total demand and domestic supply. In the exposition of Harberger imports play a peculiar marginal role: imports are called in for assistance only if and when total demand must be readily satisfied by domestic output. The result is a high volatility of imports near the full employment level and a squeeze play on foreign producers when domestic resources unemployed. Harberger's observations regarding the interplay of domestic production and the demand for imports are nevertheless important because they show the limitations of the concept of the marginal propensity to import. These limitations are probably less important for the U.S. than for any other country.