asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what has been the level of capital investment in manufacturing plant and machinery per employee in the United Kingdom, United States of America, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Belgium, Japan and Sweden for each year since 1950.

International comparisons of investment per employee would be misleading. This is because the definitions used for employment statistics differ between countries, and because it would not be satisfactory to convert investment figures for different countries to a common currency through market exchange rates.