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Spiritual Awakening

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The Gypsy Economist

Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in the History of Economic Thought ((PHET))

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Abstract

This chapter looks at Colin Clark’s changing spiritual and philosophical attitudes during the Second World War. Clark opposed the centralisation of federal power when the Curtin Labor Government commandeered income taxation from the states. After 1945, his views on post-war reconstruction differed markedly from Australian economists. He also disowned his earlier Fabian beliefs. This sea-change in Clark’s philosophical outlook came with his conversion to Roman Catholicism in 1940. It marked a critical change in his career, especially in social and economic outlook. He became friendly with Australian political activist B. A. (Bob) Santamaria, sharing a regard for Distributivism, traditionalism, a longing for an idyllic rural society and hostility to communism. Having chosen to align himself with extreme doctrinal elements within the Catholic Church, Clark would face a continuing tension between scientific integrity and his faith. He rejected a collective form of social security for post-war Australia, arguing that she should exploit its resource endowment as a primary producer to feed the world and enjoy high commodity prices from doing so.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Parker to Clark 22 March 1938, Clark Papers, Brasenose.

  2. 2.

    GDH Cole to Clark 20 December 1938, Clark Papers, Brasenose.

  3. 3.

    ‘Proper Control of Economic Interests Here’, The Telegraph (Brisbane), 10 January 1942.

  4. 4.

    Clark to Harrod 3 May 1945, RES, LSE.

  5. 5.

    ‘An Economist Hits at Economists’, Newcastle Morning Herald, 26 August 1952.

  6. 6.

    ‘Are We Heading for a Hereditary Bureaucracy?’, Smith’s Weekly (Sydney), 26 August 1950.

  7. 7.

    ‘Is Australia Run by Public Servants?’, West Australian, 9 April 1952.

  8. 8.

    ‘This Would Be Paradise to Life Under Jap Rule’, The Courier Mail (Brisbane), 12 March 1942.

  9. 9.

    ‘Dangers in Federal Finance Policy’, The Courier Mail (Brisbane), 12 November 1942.

  10. 10.

    ‘Crèche Plan Communist’, The Courier Mail (Brisbane), 19 February 1943.

  11. 11.

    ‘Re-employment Bogey’, Cairns Post, 4 December 1942.

  12. 12.

    ‘Menace of Bureaucracy’, The Daily Telegraph (Sydney), 22 September 1943.

  13. 13.

    The son of Premier Ned Hanlon told the press that his father felt Clark could, if given free rein as an administrator, become the ‘first class bureaucrat that Mr Clark himself spends much of his time abusing’, ‘Dead Premier’s Son Replies’, Truth (Brisbane), 15 February 1953.

  14. 14.

    ‘Social Credit and Strange Early Bedfellows’, The Courier Mail (Brisbane), 6 October 1971.

  15. 15.

    In July 1943 Clark received a puzzling letter from Sidney Webb thanking him for his letter of condolence on the death of his wife, Beatrice. The letter was, in fact, meant for C.M. H. (Manning) Clark then a schoolteacher in Geelong and later one of Australia’s greatest historians, who had written an effusive appreciation of Beatrice’s work. Webb, who would have known Clark in the 1930s and the fact that he had gone out to Australia, mistakenly addressed his reply to him. One could imagine Clark, at his breakfast table in Brisbane, choking over this implicit reminder of his Fabian past. I am indebted to Australian historian Ross Fitzgerald for this vignette.

  16. 16.

    Clark to Carpenter 23 October 1972, Clark Papers, UQ.

  17. 17.

    ‘Reaction Well Served by Queensland Economist’, The Workers Star (Perth), 1 October 1943.

  18. 18.

    ‘Queensland Economic Enigma’, Smiths Weekly (Sydney) 12 June 1943.

  19. 19.

    P. Manning ‘What Do Catholics Believe?’ The Bulletin 14 March 1970, p. 40.

  20. 20.

    ‘Scientific v Emotional View of Birth Control’, The Workers Star, 22 September 1944.

  21. 21.

    McMahon Ball to Clark 25 August 1944, Clark Papers, UQ.

  22. 22.

    McMahon Ball to Clark 11 September 1944, Clark Papers, UQ.

  23. 23.

    ‘Leading Catholic Economist Sees Steady Rise in Standards’, Catholic Weekly (Melbourne), 2 September 1943.

  24. 24.

    However, in the Santamaria’s papers, held in the State Library of Victoria, there is a stream of letters from Clark.

  25. 25.

    ‘A Tribute to Colin Clark’, News Weekly (Melbourne), 16 September 1989.

  26. 26.

    Economic News, November 1945, p. 4.

  27. 27.

    ‘Australian Federation of University Catholic Societies’, Southern Cross (Adelaide), 5 March 1943.

  28. 28.

    ‘Colin Clark’s Warning Against Slavery’, The Worker, 1 March 1943.

  29. 29.

    ‘Dreams of Post War Utopia Shattered’, The Courier Mail (Brisbane), 30 December 1943.

  30. 30.

    ‘Australian Federation of University Catholic Societies’, Southern Cross (Adelaide), 5 March 1943.

  31. 31.

    ‘Dangerous Theories of Social Security’, The Advocate (Melbourne), 7 June 1944.

  32. 32.

    ‘Colin Clark’s Warning Against Slavery’, The Worker, 1 March 1943.

  33. 33.

    ‘Mr Colin Clark Discusses Taxation’, Queensland Country Life, 17 August 1950.

  34. 34.

    ‘B A Santamaria Economic Progress and Agriculture’, The Advocate, 25 July 1945.

  35. 35.

    ‘20 Years of Prosperity’, Daily Mercury (Hobart), 14 May 1946.

  36. 36.

    ‘Our Future Lies in Agriculture’, The Daily Telegraph (Sydney) 13 September 1943.

  37. 37.

    ‘Disturbing Hints on Fate of Agriculture in Australia’, Southern Cross 8 September 1944.

  38. 38.

    Statement on Clark’s resignation by John Dedman, Minister for Post-War Reconstruction, 12 June 1945, Clark Papers, UQ.

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  1. Federation Business School, Federation University, Ballarat, VIC, Australia

    Alex Millmow

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Millmow, A. (2021). Spiritual Awakening. In: The Gypsy Economist. Palgrave Studies in the History of Economic Thought. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-6946-7_8

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