Britain's Economic Performance

Recession, unemployment, a perennial sterling crisis...the British economy seems further away than ever from achieving the levels of competitiveness it needs to prosper in the New Europe. Yet despite more than a decade of reform, even the overriding aim of the conquest of inflation seems beyond the grasp of economic policy. At this critical juncture Britain needs to consider the factors which might underpin industrial success more than ever. Yet the Chancellor of the Exchequer made the astonishing decision to abolish the National Economic Development Council (NEDC). In this volume economists who have worked for the NEDC over the last ten years bring experience from the public and private sectors to bear in an authoratitive, hard hitting and wide ranging study. What are the roots of Britain's lack of competitiveness? - Investment and innovation: how innovative is Britain? Is it investing enough in fixed capital? Or in Research and Development or training? - The City and industry: what has been the impact for industry for deregulation of the financial markets? Can we lift the curse of short termism'? - The labour market: is pay still a problem in Britain? why is unemployment so persistent? - The structure of the UK economy: what are the implications of the decline of manufacturing and the rise of the service sector? British Economic Performance provides a clear and challanging account of how fifteen years of economic policy have led to such an impasse. It shows that a niave belief in the efficacy of the market has provided an inadequate platform for meeting the challanges facing a modern economy, and illustrates how industrial policy and corporate strategy can help Britain take a place in the first tier of a modern Europe.