with health and morale needs.
             At the same time there was an export drive, at the expense of production for home consumption. (Cairncross 1985, ch. 6; Clarke 1982, p.p. 81-5) Help was at hand in the form of Marshall Aid. Fears of Communist subversion in Western Europe led the United States to underwrite a European "Recovery Programme". This greatly eased the dollar problem, as did the fact that after 1947 the United States turned a blind eye to discrimination against imports from America. Even so, recipients of Marshall Aid were expected to stand on their own two feet as quickly as possible, and Britain was refused further aid after 1950.
             Long-term external equilibrium required an increase in output to reduce imports or to increase exports. The Agricultural Act of 1947 continued the wartime policy of subsidies and price-fixing, so as to encourage farmers to grow dollar-saving crops, with some success. (Britton 1952) Industrial output was held back by shortages of coal, steel and manpower. The downward trend of coal production h
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