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SUMMARY:Monetary policy and financial repression in Britain\, 1951-59 - Wi
 lliam Allen\, Cass Business School
DTSTART:20140602T160000Z
DTEND:20140602T173000Z
UID:TALK52008@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Dr Duncan Needham
DESCRIPTION:British people remember the 1950s as a dull decade. They began
  with post-war austerity\, and were notable for social stability\, high em
 ployment\, rising living standards and inward-looking complacency.  The we
 lfare state became established and Britain tried - though it failed - to r
 esume its earlier role as an independent power in world politics.\n\nYet t
 he government was bankrupt. Its debts in 1951 were greater\, relative to n
 ational income\, than those of Greece\, Portugal\, Ireland\, Italy and Spa
 in are today.  Now such debts would be considered unsustainable and debt r
 elief\, organised by the European Union or the International Monetary Fund
 \, would be prescribed\, to be accompanied by fiscal austerity. No such so
 lution was available then\, yet the debt was managed. The story of British
  monetary policy in the 1950s - superficially a rather arcane subject - is
  largely the story of how it was done. Strangely\, the national debt was r
 arely mentioned in contemporary discussions of monetary policy. It was acc
 epted as a fact of life but its implications were not fully analysed. The 
 people responsible for monetary policy simply got on with their jobs to th
 e best of their abilities\, but always in its shadow. \n\nI was stimulated
  to investigate these issues when\, during a discussion about government d
 ebt management\, Jagjit Chadha asked me how the British government had mai
 ntained its credit standing during the 1950s. I am grateful to him for ask
 ing the question\, and this book is the answer.\n
LOCATION:Sidgwick Hall (or Old Dining Room)\, Newnham College
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