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Charlatans or Saviours? Economists and the British Economy from Marshall to Meade

Charlatans or Saviours? Economists and the British Economy from Marshall to Meade Book Reviews style of thinking, in turn, was primarily responsible for the conceptual framework guiding policies to promote full employment in the post–World War II economy. During the war and in the immediate postwar decades, Marshall’s vision for the profession was effectively realized. Economists displayed an expertise that was recognized and respected in policy discourse, and their collective efforts were channeled to serve the common good. In Middleton’s reading, the waning of this “golden age” began with the massive recruitment of economists to Whitehall in Harold Wilson’s Labour government of the mid-1960s, during which they allowed their professional competence to be “politicized” in the interests of loyalty to a prime minister who insisted—until the last moment in 1967—that devaluation of the pound was not a discussible subject. The profession’s credibility in Britain—as was also the case in the United States—suffered even heavier damage in the “stagflation” days of the 1970s. Even so, a new low was established in the British case in March 1981 when 364 economists—representing the profession’s academic elite, a fair number of whom had substantial policy-advisory experience—signed an open letter denouncing the economic program of Margaret Thatcher’s government. This breach between the professional mainstream and http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png History of Political Economy Duke University Press

Charlatans or Saviours? Economists and the British Economy from Marshall to Meade

Barber, William J.
History of Political Economy , Volume 33 (1) – Mar 1, 2001
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Publisher
Duke University Press
Copyright
Copyright 2001 by Duke University Press
ISSN
0018-2702
eISSN
1527-1919
DOI
10.1215/00182702-33-1-177
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Book Reviews style of thinking, in turn, was primarily responsible for the conceptual framework guiding policies to promote full employment in the post–World War II economy. During the war and in the immediate postwar decades, Marshall’s vision for the profession was effectively realized. Economists displayed an expertise that was recognized and respected in policy discourse, and their collective efforts were channeled to serve the common good. In Middleton’s reading, the waning of this “golden age” began with the massive recruitment of economists to Whitehall in Harold Wilson’s Labour government of the mid-1960s, during which they allowed their professional competence to be “politicized” in the interests of loyalty to a prime minister who insisted—until the last moment in 1967—that devaluation of the pound was not a discussible subject. The profession’s credibility in Britain—as was also the case in the United States—suffered even heavier damage in the “stagflation” days of the 1970s. Even so, a new low was established in the British case in March 1981 when 364 economists—representing the profession’s academic elite, a fair number of whom had substantial policy-advisory experience—signed an open letter denouncing the economic program of Margaret Thatcher’s government. This breach between the professional mainstream and

Journal

History of Political Economy – Duke University Press

Published: Mar 1, 2001

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