British Unemployment 1919-1939: A Study in Public Policy

by W. R. Garside

Overview

Despite the dominance of unemployment in the historiography of interwar Britain, there is as yet no comprehensive single volume study of government reactions to the problem over the entire period down to 1939. British Unemployment 1919-1939 aims to fill that gap. W.R. Garside draws upon an extensive range of primary and secondary sources to analyze official ameliorative policy toward unemployment and contemporary reactions to such intervention. He assesses the nature and scale of interwar unemployment assistance. Careful study is also made of the impact of unemployment on related areas of economic concerns such as monetary and fiscal policy, industrial change, overseas trade, colonial development, labor supply and the impact of collective bargaining. Comprehensive, informative and clearly written, this book is the fullest account of policy responses to unemployment in the interwar period. It will be invaluable to specialists in recent British economic history and public policy, as well as an essential reference work for students coming to the subject for the first time.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521364430
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	06/21/1990
Pages:	432
Product dimensions:	5.98(w) x 9.02(h) x 1.14(d)

Table of Contents

List of tables; Preface; Acknowledgements; Part I. Introduction: 1. The nature, causes and dimensions of interwar unemployment; Part II. The Labour Market under Strain: 2. Defensive action: unemployment relief and public assistance 1919–32; 3. Means to an end: insurance, assistance and the categorization of the unemployed, 1932–9; 4. In and out of the labour market: hours of work, pensions and the school-leaving age; Part III. The International Context: 5. On and off gold: unemployment, monetary policy and the exchange rate; 6. Trade, tariffs and the stimulation of exports; 7. Men, money and markets: the 'Empire solution' to unemployment, 1919–31; Part IV. Structural Unemployment, Industry and the Regions: 8. Industrial revival and reconstruction; 9. Uneven development: regional policy, labour transference and industrial diversification; Part V. Macroeconomic Policy Options: Theory and Practice: 10. Pricing jobs: the real wage debate and interwar unemployment; 11. Relief or remedy? The development of public works policy, 1920–32; 12. The limits of intervention: budgetary orthodoxy and the reduction of unemployment in the 1920s; 13. New deal or no deal? Fiscal policy and the search for stability, 1930–9; 14. Conclusion; Bibliography; Index.

Editorial Reviews

"Written from the perspective of a historian rather than a social scientist, its strengths lie in careful compilation of details from the archives and accurate summarization of the secondary literature, particularly that of the period." Journal of Interdisciplinary History

"...well-organized and clearly written....the best available comprehensive guide to the crucial problem of unemployment and public policy during the period....provide[s] us with a much better understanding of the unemployment problem between the wars and the revolution in economic thought and policy that it helped spawn." Gerard M. Koot, American Historical Review

"...this book is a delight and much needed....a first rate work...." Bentley Brinkerhoff Gilbert, Journal of Economic Literature

From the Publisher