asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what had been the marginal propensity to import during each of the last 20 years.

[pursuant to his reply, 7 December 1979, c. 401]: There is no satisfactory way of defining or measuring what the marginal propensity to import has been in a particular year. Imports will be affected by other factors, such as changes in price and non-price competitiveness, and not by changes in expenditure or income alone.The table below shows changes in total final expenditure and in imports of goods and services for each of the last 20 years. As is apparent, the relationship between them fluctuates widely, and indeed there were two years in which the series moved in opposite directions.