The British Economy Since 1945: Economic Policy and Performance 1945 – 1995

In this fully revised and updated second edition, Sir Alec Cairncross provides a lucid overview and analysis of British economic policy and performance from 1945 to the present. The author takes a chronological approach, introducing the events of the period with an account of changing ideas on economic policy and performance, discussing key concepts such as economic planning, demand management, inflation and monetarism. He concludes with a survey of major developments over the period. This new edition also provides revised chapter–by–chapter guides to further reading and an up–to–date chronology of the main economic events since 1945. The British Economy Since 1945 will be essential reading for students of post–war British economic history, political science and public administration – as well as for economics students focusing on the British economy. In addition, it provides the general reader with an easily accessible guide to the subject.

List of Figures. List of Tables. General Editor′s Preface. Preface to the Second Edition. Preface to the First Edition. Acknowledgements. 1. Changing Ideas on Policy and Performance. 2. Reconversion, 1945–1950. 3. The 1950s. 4. The 1960s. 5. The 1970s. 6. The 1980s. 7. Epilogue: The Early 1990s. 8. Half a Century in Retrospect, 1945–95. Appendix 1: Main Economic Events. Appendix 2: Key Figures in Economic Policy, 1945–95. Appendix 3: Definitions of Money. Bibliography. Index.

Sir Alec Cairncross has alternated between academic life and government employment. He was Professor of Applied Economics at the University of Glasgow from 1951 to 1961, and Master of St Peter′s College, Oxford from 1969 to 1978. In the 1960s he was Economic Adviser to Her Majesty′s Government from 1961 to 1964 and thereafter Head of the Government Economic Service until 1969. He has held many further advisory posts and has published numerous books and articles on aspects of economic policy and performance, including Economics and Economic Policy (Blackwell, 1986).