Applying the Dismal Science: When Economists Give Advice to Governments

by I. McLean (Editor), C. Jennings (Editor)

Overview

In this exciting collection, Iain McLean and Colin Jennings bring together some of the most eminent social scientists to have advised British governments since 1964. Successive chapters show what went wrong in UK economic policy making in the 1960s and 1970s, what goes better now, and what still goes wrong. The editors explain how recent developments in economic theory have improved economic policy making. Contributors include two former Chief Economic Advisers at HM Treasury, and the co-designer of the successful '3G spectrum auction'.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781403994585
Publisher:	Palgrave Macmillan UK
Publication date:	12/16/2005
Edition description:	2005
Pages:	231
Product dimensions:	5.51(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.03(d)

About the Author

CHRISTOPHER ALLSOPP Fellow of New College, and Reader in Economic Policy, Oxford University, UK ED BALLS MP for Normanton, UK since 2005 and formerly Chief Economic Adviser to the Treasury, 1997-2004 SIR ALLAN BUDD Formerly Chief Economic Adviser to the Treasury, 1991-1997 SIR CHRISTOPHER FOSTER Professor of Economics, and a Special Advisor on Transport and Local Government Finance PETER JAY Formerly Chief Economics Correspondent, The Times, UK Ambassador to the USA and Economics Editor, BBC, UK PAUL KLEMPERER Edgeworth Professor of Economics, Oxford University, UK MARK H. ROBSON Formerly Economic Adviser to the Board of Inland Revenue, 1985-90, Principal Administrator in the Fiscal Affairs Division of the OECD 1993-5, and Senior Manager at the Bank of England, UK, 1995-2003 MARTIN WOLF Associate Editor and Chief Economics Commentator, Financial Times

Table of Contents

List of Figures and Tables Foreword; M.Wolf Preface Notes on Contributors Introduction: Public Finance, Public Choice and Political Economy; I.McLean & C.Jennings 1964-79; P.Jay Fiscal Policy in the United Kingdom; A.Budd The Use and Abuse of Economics and Social Science with Special Reference to Transport Policy; C.Foster New Labour and New Social Democracy; I.McLean Stability, Growth and Labour's Macroeconomic Policy; E.Balls Macroeconomic Policy: Theory and Institutional Practice; C.Allsopp The United Kingdom as Monetary and Fiscal Union; M.H.Robson Using and Abusing Economic Theory; P.Klemperer Conclusion; C.Jennings & I.McLean References Index

Editorial Reviews

'That is the great strength of this book: it forces us to ask why we do economics, not from a purely abstract set of values, but rather from the perspective of those who have had to wrestle with these issues on a day-to-day basis.' - Roger Vickerman, Public Administration

From the Publisher