- Home
- Publications
- Commentary: The Economic Landscape Of The UK
Commentary: The Economic Landscape of the UK
Authors
Related Themes
Macro-Economic Dynamics and PolicyJournal
National Institute Economic Review
Publisher
Sage Publications, London
External Resources
http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/002795011724000103
Issue
240
In a pioneering venture, Christopher Dow at the National Institute of Economic and Social Research helped establish the concept of demand management as the key objective of economic policy. He showed in his 1964 work that although demand management had prevented “the heavy unemployment that accompanied the pre-war trade cycle”, the price paid was that of excessive year-to-year fluctuations resulting from policies that ultimately became known as ‘Stop–Go’. A more damning indictment of policy over this period is that the emphasis on short-run macroeconomic control encouraged the neglect of the more fundamental issue of the long-run rate of productivity growth. Indeed in later work, Dow was himself acutely aware that labour productivity did not regain the path it had adopted in the long expansion after World War II. The tension between short-run demand management and long-run economic prospects is as much a current concern as it was over 50 years ago; accordingly, as we enter an election campaign that may be dominated by the question of Britain’s exit from the EU, this Commentary highlights the key structural issues facing the UK economy.
Related Blog Posts
Public Debt Sustainability and Fiscal Rules
Stephen Millard
Benjamin Caswell
05 Feb 2024
4 min read
Related Projects
Related News
Call for Papers: Lessons From Quantitative Easing & Quantitative Tightening
09 Feb 2024
1 min read
Related Publications
Adam Smith and the Bankers: Retrospect and Prospect
04 Jan 2024
National Institute Economic Review
On the Promises and Perils of Smithian Growth: From the Pin Factory to AI
04 Jan 2024
National Institute Economic Review
Economic Progress and Adam Smith’s Dilemma
04 Jan 2024
National Institute Economic Review
Adam Smith’s ‘Wealth of Nations’ is Still Relevant to UK Trade Policymaking on International Trade
04 Jan 2024
National Institute Economic Review