Harris, Sweezy Declare Europe Needs Socialists

Backers of the Marshall Plan "as an economic bloc to force capitalism on Western European countries" were blasted by Paul M. Sweezy '32 and Seymour E. Harris, professor of Economics, at a forum held by the U. N. Council of Harvard last night in the Littauer auditorium.

Professor Harris backed the plan as the only means of making possible a democratic system of socialism instead of one enforced by the USSR, while Sweezy, his ex-pupil and a former associate professor of economics, demanded the plan be junked. "Our obligation is to help all of Europe through some organization such as the UNRRA," he said.

Permanent Dole

"Through the Marshall Plan, Western Europe will never become self-sufficient. American capitalists will not allow those countries to compete with them on the international market and thus the plan will simply become a permanent dole," Sweezy asserted.

Europe Needs Socialism

"Socialism is needed in Europe because they can't afford free enterprise and capitalists, realizing this, must change to include up to 51 percent socialism," Professor Harris said.

Calling the Marshall Plan "the leading weapon in America, the arsenal of capitalism," Sweezy claimed, "The N. A. M. will never change."