British Unemployment 1919–1939: A Study in Public Policy
Cambridge University Press
Edition: First Edition., 6/21/1990
EAN 9780521364430, ISBN10: 0521364434
Hardcover, 432 pages, 22.9 x 15.2 x 2.9 cm
Language: English
Originally published in English
This 1990 book is a comprehensive study of government reactions to the interwar unemployment problem. Drawing upon an extensive range of primary and secondary sources, it analyses official ameliorative policy towards unemployment and contemporary reactions to such intervention. In doing so, it highlights the struggle that emerged between conventional economic thinking and the calls made by radical economists, industrialists and politicians (including Keynes, Mosley and Lloyd George) for the state to play a more determinant role in economic recovery. There is detailed treatment of the nature and scale of interwar unemployment, regional policy and the complex history of unemployment assistance. In addition, careful study is made of the impact which unemployment had in influencing the conduct of public policy in related areas of economic concern, including industrial policy, overseas trade, colonial development, wage determination, labour supply and the content and purpose of monetary and fiscal policy.
List of tables
Preface
Acknowledgements
Part I. Introduction
1. The nature, causes and dimensions of interwar unemployment
Part II. The Labour Market under Strain
2. Defensive action
unemployment relief and public assistance 1919–32
3. Means to an end
insurance, assistance and the categorization of the unemployed, 1932–9
4. In and out of the labour market
hours of work, pensions and the school-leaving age
Part III. The International Context
5. On and off gold
unemployment, monetary policy and the exchange rate
6. Trade, tariffs and the stimulation of exports
7. Men, money and markets
the 'Empire solution' to unemployment, 1919–31
Part IV. Structural Unemployment, Industry and the Regions
8. Industrial revival and reconstruction
9. Uneven development
regional policy, labour transference and industrial diversification
Part V. Macroeconomic Policy Options
Theory and Practice
10. Pricing jobs
the real wage debate and interwar unemployment
11. Relief or remedy? The development of public works policy, 1920–32
12. The limits of intervention
budgetary orthodoxy and the reduction of unemployment in the 1920s
13. New deal or no deal? Fiscal policy and the search for stability, 1930–9
14. Conclusion
Bibliography
Index.