7  6  TUE  PROBLEM  OF  THE  UNEMPLOYED
allowed  that  the  ultimate  object  of  persons  who  save  is
always  the  desire  to  consume  an  increased  quantity  in
the  future,  this  individual  policy  may  and  does  result
in  a  congestion  of  forms  of  capital  which  is  suicidal  from
the  collective  point  of  view.  In  a  society  composed  of
A,  B,  C,  D,  E,  F,  any  three,  say  ABC,  might  save
as  much  as  they  liked,  or  each  and  all  might  save  a
definite  proportion  of  their  income,  but  any  policy  of  the
individual  members  which  collectively  exceeded  this  aggregate ­
  would  be  wasteful.  Yet  it  might  be  quite  possible
that  all  individuals  in  this  over-saving  community  were
actuated  by  a  genuine  desire  to  consume  largely  in  some
distant  future.
An  individual  may  save  any  proportion  of  his  income,
provided  he  can  induce  others  to  spend  their  income
and  give  him  liens  upon  their  present  property  or  future
production.  But  the  proportion  of  a  community’s  income
which  it  can  save  and  usefully  store  up  in  plant,  machinery
and  other  forms  of  capital  is  strictly  limited  by  the  rate
of  current  or  prospective  consumption.  Only  a  very  small
proportion  of  “saving”  can  profitably  be  invested  in  forms
of  capital  that  fructify  in  the  distant  future  ;  the  current
or  immediately  prospective  rate  of  consumption  determines
pretty  closely  the  proportion  of  current  income  which  can
be  usefully  saved.
§  16.  Excessive  Forms  of  Capital  do  Exist.
To  the  suggestion  that  an  excess  of  saving  is  possible
it  is  often  deemed  a  sufficient  answer  to  point  to  the
infinitude  of  human  wants  and  the  new  industrial  enterprises ­
  which  they  can  vitalise.  Why,  it  is  urged,  should
you  assume  that  any  trade  will  be  over-stocked  with