Managing Change: A Guide to British Economic Policy

This book is a guide to how economic policy is made in modern Britain. It is designed to help the reader understand how the policy process works: who the key actors are, the links and the gaps between theory and practice, and the difficulties of making policy in the real world. It looks at how the implementation of theory and the development of policy is affected by the historical and international contexts in which policy-makers have to operate; the difficulty of being certain about which competing theory to choose; and the need to take account of political feasibility as well as economic desirability.

Ingham (London School of Economics and Political Science) presents this text for both the general reader and undergraduate economics and politics students, explaining how economic policy is determined in Britain. Coverage includes the historical and international contexts in which policy-makers operate, and a survey of policy since 1945; the process of policy-making itself, both domestically and in the context of British membership in the EU; and an examination of some key policy areas including inflation, labor markets, the exchange rate, and public spending. Technical terminology has been intentionally kept to a minimum and explained clearly when used, to make this text accessible to a broad audience. Distributed by Palgrave.

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Starting with 1945, a major turning point for economic policy in the industrialized world, Ingham explores how such policy is made in Britain and illuminates some of the problems faced by economic policy makers by addressing such questions as who does what, who is able to influence whom and how, and how changing ideas have affected and do affect policy and policy making. He assumes no particular background in economics or history. After developing an international and historical context, he looks at the policy-making process domestically and in light of British membership in the European Union, and some specific policy areas. Distributed in the US by St. Martin's Press. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Graham Ingham is a freelance writer and Research Associate of the Center for Economic Performance at the London School of Economics and Political Science. He was formerly Economics Correspondent for BBC Newsnight.