Understanding Decline: Perceptions and Realities of British Economic Performance

by Peter Clarke (Editor), Clive Trebilcock (Editor)

Overview

The theme of British economic decline is inescapable in contemporary debates about Britain's economic performance and sense of national identity. Understanding Decline is a serious contribution to an important argument, approached in a way that is accessible not only to specialist academics but to students of economics, history and politics. The volume includes case studies through which the reality of decline can be explored, while differing perceptions of decline are examined in a number of essays dealing with ideas and policy issues.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521036849
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	06/21/2007
Pages:	332
Product dimensions:	6.02(w) x 9.02(h) x 0.75(d)

Table of Contents

Frontispiece Barry Supple; Notes on contributors; Note on references; Preface Peter Clarke and Clive Trebilcock; Introduction: national performance in a personal perspective Barry Supple; 1. Fear of failing: economic history and the decline of Britain Barry Supple; 2. 'A great deal of ruin in a nation' Donald Winch; 3. The security of the realm and the growth of the economy, 1688–1914 Patrick K. O'Brien; 4. British economic decline and human resources Simon Szreter; 5. The myth of decline: an urban perspective Jay Winter; 6. Phoenix: financial services, insurance and economic revival between the wars Clive Trebilcock; 7. Keynes, New Jerusalem, and British decline Peter Clarke; 8. Social policy, saving, and sound money: budgeting for the New Jerusalem in the Second World War Jose Harris; 9. 1945–1951: years of recovery or a stage in economic decline? Bernard Alford; 10. The end of empire and the golden age Charles H. Feinstein; 11. Macmillan's audit of empire, 1957 Tony Hopkins; 12. Apocalypse when? British politicians and British 'decline' in the twentieth century David Cannadine; 13. Measuring economic decline Peter Temin; Publications by Barry Supple; Index.

Editorial Reviews

"For those who study Britain and Europe, this book is a must read; for those who recognize the continued relevance of the idea of decline in other leading nations, it cannot be overlooked. Upper-division undergraduate and up." Choice

"...pushes into the undergrowth of long-running debates." David J. Jeremy, Business History Review

From the Publisher