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Britain's Economic Planning Machinery

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 September 2013

R. S. Milne
R. S. Milne
Affiliation:
University of Bristol
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Extract

This article is a critical description of developments in the governmental machinery for taking economic decisions in Britain between the end of the war in 1945 and October, 1951. The changes known to have been made by the Conservative Government between October, 1951, and May, 1952, are indicated near the end. The word “planning,” is used in the title for the sake of convenience only; there will be no discussion of whether or not the degree of state economic intervention in Britain has been sufficient to qualify as “planning” in a strict sense. The term has now become too much the subject of British party wrangles to have any generally accepted single meaning. However, to use neutral terms, we may say that the machinery to be investigated is that for taking high policy decisions on economic matters in which the Government has decided to intervene, including machinery for seeing that these decisions are compatible with each other.

Type
The European Scene
Information
American Political Science Review , Volume 46 , Issue 2 , June 1952 , pp. 406 - 421
Copyright
Copyright © American Political Science Association 1952

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References

1 For an analysis of the term “economic planning,” see Dickinson, H. D., The Economics of Socialism (Oxford, 1939), pp. 14–16Google Scholar.

2 Vol. 21, no. 2, of the Political Quarterly (London 1950)Google Scholar, is devoted to this subject. See also the article on “Nationalised Industries in Britain and France” by Robson, W. A. in the American Political Science Review, Vol. 44, pp. 299–322 (June, 1950)CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

3 Cmd. 7046 (1947), par. 13.

4 Par. 27.

5 Cmd. 7915 (1950), par. 111.

6 Cd. 9230 (1918).

7 For articles by Morrison and Anderson, see, respectively, “Economic Planning,” Public Administration (London), Vol. 25, pp. 3–9 (1947)Google Scholar, and “The Machinery of Government,” ibid., Vol. 24, pp. 147–155 (1946). For material by former civil servants, see SirFranks, O., Central Planning and Control in War and Peace (London, 1947)Google Scholar, Meade, J. E., Planning and the Price Mechanism (London, 1948)Google Scholar, and the article by Tress, R. C. in The Manchester School, Vol. 16, no. 2 (1948)CrossRefGoogle Scholar. For Parliamentary Debates see later references. Note 31 below indicates a source not easily available in Britain.

8 See Central Organization for Defence, Cmd. 6923 (1946).

9 House of Commons Debates, 5th ser., Vol. 420, cols. 2130–2131 (Feb. 28, 1946)Google Scholar.

10 SirBridges, E., Treasury Control (London, 1951), pp. 20–22Google Scholar.

11 Cited above, n. 7.

12 H. C. Deb., Vol. 428, cols. 622–623 (Oct. 30, 1946).

13 Cited above, n. 6.

14 See the letters of Samuel, Lord in The Times (London), Feb. 3 and Feb. 9, 1950Google Scholar.

15 See Central Organization for Defence (above, n. 8).

16 By W. K. Hancock and M. M. Gowing (London, Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1949), pp. 93–94 and pp. 216–220.

17 Williams, F., The Triple Challenge (London, 1948), pp. 45–46Google Scholar. In January, 1951, responsibility for housing was transferred to the Ministry of Local Government and Planning, renamed the Ministry of Housing and Local Government, October, 1951. Since June, 1951, the newly created Ministry of Materials, which took over some functions from the Ministry of Supply and the Board of Trade, is presumably represented as well.

18 Williams, p. 46.

19 “Economic Planning,” p. 6.

20 British War Economy, p. 93.

21 Cmd. 6527, par. 81.

22 Nourse, E. G. and Gross, B. M., “The Role of the Council of Economic Advisers,” American Political Science Review, Vol. 42, p. 283 (April, 1948)CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

23 H.C. Deb., Vol. 435, cols. 1412–1413 (Mar. 27, 1947).

24 Referred to in The United Kingdom Balance of Payments, 1946 and 1947, Cmd. 7324 (1948).

25 Leslie, C. S., “Work of the Economic Information Unit,” Public Administration, Vol. 28, pp. 17–26 (1950)CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

26 Government and Industry (London, Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1948)Google Scholar.

27 Ibid.

28 H.C. Deb., Vol. 460, written answers to questions, col. 210 (Feb. 1, 1949). Also ibid., Vol. 440, col. 790 (Apr. 13, 1948).

29 Ibid., Vol. 439, col. 1806 (July 7, 1947).

30 July 12, 1947, p. 56.

31 “Britain's Planning Machinery” in Labor and Industry in Britain, British Information Services (New York, 1948), Vol. 6, no. 2Google Scholar.

32 For a development of this view, see the author's article in the Political Quarterly (London), Vol. 23, pp. 147–154 (April–June, 1952)Google Scholar.

33 The precise extent of the responsibility of these co-ordinating ministers has recently been hotly debated in both houses of Parliament. See especially H.C. Deb., Vol. 499, cols. 190–198 (May 6, 1952), and ibid., Vol. 500, cols. 1116–1118 (May 13, 1952). A hint that there may now be only one ministerial economic committee is given in a leading article in the Times (London), May 6, 1952Google Scholar.

34 Churchill, Winston, The Second World War, Vol. 1 (London, 1948), p. 120Google Scholar.

35 H. C. Deb., Vol. 494, cols. 440–444 (Nov. 21, 1951).

36 Ibid., cols. 1683–1684 (Nov. 28, 1951).

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