But even if the rejoinder be made, that we have not yet allowed for the lowering of the standard of life and comfort in Germany which may reasonably be imposed on a defeated enemy,[133] there is still a fundamental fallacy in the method of calculation.

An annual surplus available for home investment can only be converted into a surplus available for export abroad by a radical change in the kind of work performed.

Labor, while it may be available and efficient for domestic services in Germany, may yet be able to find no outlet in foreign trade.

We are back on the same question which faced us in our examination of the export trade--in _what_ export trade is German labor going to find a greatly increased outlet?
Labor can only he diverted into new channels with loss of efficiency, and a large expenditure of capital.

The annual surplus which German labor can produce for capital improvements at home is no measure, either theoretically or practically, of the annual tribute which she can pay abroad.
IV.