Concerning the Book and The Author

For more than ten years there has been under way a relent less drive to impose a Nationalized Medical Service on the American people. This would. represent a truly revolutionary innovation. Yet, until the publication of this book, there was not available either in Europe, America or anywhere, a com prehensive survey on Compulsory Medical Care in various countries. There was certainly none that attempted an appraisal of, or that would'do justice to, developments in this field during the last two decades. In the available literature the emphasis is overwhelmingly on the legalities and technicalities rather than on an analysis of the major economic, political and social implications and resultants. In this bOOK, Dr. Palyi has provided an authentic historical record and such an analysis.

Dr. Melchior Palyi is an American citizen of Hungarian descent-a distinguished, internationally recognized educator, author, economist and financial expert. He taught in the Uni versities of Kiel, Goettingen and Berlin. In 1928 he was appointed Chief Economist to the Deutsch Bank in Berlin. From 1931 to 1933 he served in the capacity of Scientific Advisor to the Reichsbank of Germany. For almost twenty-five years, Dr. Palyi lived with and ob served the ebb and flow of "power politics" in Europe. In this country, he taught at the Universities of Chicago, Wisconsin and Northwestern. He acquired a national reputa tion as a scientific and popular writer, public lecturer, radio commentator and consulting economist. Two recent trips through Western Europe in the summer of 1948 and in the spring of 1949 were devoted, the first in part and the second entirely, to a study of developments in the field of compulsory medicine.

Dr. Palyi deals with the introduction, growth and extension of governmentalized medical services on the Continent and in England. He makes clear how these services have been used in all countries to augment and strengthen controls by poli ticians and bureaucrats. In addition, he has provided insight into the origin and development of Welfare State doctrine and deeds. During the past few years most Americans have begun to comprehend that vast revolutionary forces are in fennent in this country. It must be understood that the establishment and extensionof Welfare State concepts and mechanisms lead to an inevitable end. If implemented here, they ultimately would mean for America the blind confusion that is Europe, the tragic austerity that is England and the Godlessdespair that is Russia. THE PUBLISHERS.