Organization for European Economic Cooperation

Annual Report: The fourth annual report of the Organization for European Economic Cooperation, which was approved by the Council of Ministers on December 12, 1952, differed from previous reports in that in its preparation the United States and Canada played parts entirely similar to those of member countries and that the recommendations made applied equally to west Europe and North America. The current situation was regarded as unsatisfactory: production in west Europe was either not rising or rising very slightly; inflationary tendencies in some countries and deflationary pressures in others stood in the way of stable development; several OEEC members still suffered from balance of trade disequilibria and nearly all had dollar shortages; and progress toward trade liberalization had halted and even retrogressed in some major instances. These difficulties, the report pointed out, could not be attributed to unusual or temporary factors; such temporary factors as Korea and World War II dislocations were no longer of major significance in the economic situation while such elements as defense expenditures and interrupted east-west trade could be considered permanent.