lion dollars, or
more than 43 per cent of the total.

The war has made important changes in the wealth and income of the
principal powers. The wealth and income of Europe have been reduced,
while the wealth and income of the United States have been greatly
increased. This increase is rendered doubly emphatic by the
demoralization in foreign exchange which gives the American dollar a
position of unique authority in the financial world.

The latest wealth estimates (_Commerce and Finance_, May 26, and July
28, 1920) in terms of dollars at their purchasing-power value, makes the
wealth of the whole British Empire 230 billions of dollars; of France,
100 billions; of Russia, 60 billions; of Italy, 40 billions; of Japan,
40 billions; of Germany, 20 billions, and of the United States, 500
billions. These figures are subject to alteration with the alteration of
the exchange rates, but they indicate the immense advantage that is
possessed by the business men of the United States over the business men
of any or of all of the other nations of the world.

Before the war, the British were the chief lenders in the international
field. In 1913 Great Britain had about 20 billions of dollars of foreign
investments, as compared with 9 billions for France and about 6 billions
for Germany. At the end of 1920, the British foreign investments had
shrunk to a fraction of their former amount, while the United States,
from the position of a debtor nation, had become the leading investing
nation of the world, with over 9 billions of dollars loaned to the
Allied governments; with notice loans estimated at over 10 billions;
with foreign investments of 8 billions, and goods on consignment to the
extent of 2 billions.

The United States therefore began the year 1921 with a greater financial
lead, by several times over, than that which she held before the war,
when she was credited with a greater wealth and a larger income than
that of any other nation in the world. The extent of the advantage
enjoyed by the United States at the end of 1920 cannot be stated with
any final accuracy, but its proportions are staggering.

7. _The Economic Position of the United States_

Economically the United States is a world power. She occupies one of the
three great geographical areas in the temperate zone. If she were to
include Canada, Mexico and Central America--the territory north of the
Canal Zone--she would have the greatest unified body of economic
ad