Social credit

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Social credit is a variant of distributism, developed by the British economist Clifford Douglas (1879–1952), essentially arguing for giving money to consumers, or subsidies to producers, in order to improve an argued chronic deficiency of purchasing power in the economy.

The ideas were popular in the 1920s and 1930s.

The early social credit movement sometimes criticized Jewish influence, especially in finance, and some members had some associations with less politically correct organizations, causing accusations such as anti-Semitism. The more recent social credit movement has been more politically correct.

In Canada, the "Alberta Social Credit Party" was founded in 1934, dominating the province’s politics until 1971, but did not implement the more radical ideas. Its policies were pro-business and anti-union, and largely opposed to government intervention in the economy. The more general "Social Credit Party of Canada" had some less politically correct members, such as Norman Jaques (1880 – 1949), member of the Canadian House of Commons from 1935 to 1949, accused of anti-Semitism. Another less politically correct member was James Keegstra.

The "Social Credit Party of Great Britain and Northern Ireland", initially known as the "Green Shirt Movement for Social Credit", has been dubiously described as paramilitary, for wearing political uniforms of green shirts. The party published the newspaper Attack and was linked to a small number of incidents in which green-painted bricks were thrown through windows, including at 11 Downing Street, the official residence of the Chancellor of the Exchequer. The party disbanded itself in 1951. Wikipedia claims that some prominent nationalists were associated with the movement, but marks several of the claims as lacking sources.

The nationalist British People's Party (1939) (1939 - 1954) had some social credit elements.

Social credit was an influence on Ezra Pound and many other more politically correct literary figures.

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