Two Hundred Years of Muddling Through: The surprising story of Britain's economy from boom to bust and back again

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How has Britain managed previous periods of economic change? On each occasion, how much has our economic future been shaped by our economic past? And what can today’s policy makers learn from our history as they navigate the decade of economic change to come? It's fair to say that Weldon succeeds in answering it with his pacy, vivid canter through the Industrial Revolution, two World Wars, post-war decline and resurgence in the 1980s, right up to the current crisis. Geography still dictates trade. During the high years of British imperialism, (1870) only 25% of exports went to the empire, and by 1900 only to 30%. Europe remained the UK’s most important export market. It’s fair to say that Weldon succeeds in answering it with his pacy, vivid canter through the Industrial Revolution, two World Wars, post-war decline and resurgence in the 1980s, right up to the current crisis. This is an amazing book of economic history, drawing on the best mainstream works and explanations, written by a journalist, so it is engaging and easily understandable. The author further sprinkles it, especially in the earlier chapters, with bits of macroeconomic theory, so it should be comprehensible for most readers.

of Muddling Through” Charles E. Lindblom, “The Science of Muddling Through”

We were delighted to get Duncan on to the podcast for a chat about the book and his reflections on the where the British economy may be heading as we recover from the Covid cataclysm. You may also opt to downgrade to Standard Digital, a robust journalistic offering that fulfils many user’s needs. Compare Standard and Premium Digital here. Economic rent has always been a factor in developed economies. Economic rents are a way of enriching oneself without producing anything extra, such as renting out a property, the rent of which is a product of demand and supply more than producing economic value. Open societies do not rely on economic rents for growth. Britain during the late 1600s- mid 1700s had an open internal market within the UK where goods could be sold across the country. Spain and France did not, which enabled landowners to make a lot of money, but not actually contribute to economic growth. Britain was therefore able to win the wars with countries by having a more tax producing economy. Again, the parallels to today jump out. movement of people within the UK is being hampered by high rents/social liquidity, keeping poor people and poor areas poor. Post revolution Britain was much better than the pre-version, where land/rents took nearly 24% of national income, compared to 11% after. For cost savings, you can change your plan at any time online in the “Settings & Account” section. If you’d like to retain your premium access and save 20%, you can opt to pay annually at the end of the trial. The UK is, at the same time, both one of the world’s most successful economies and one of Europe’s laggards. The country contains some of Western Europe’s richest areas such as the south east of England, but also some of its poorest such as the north east or Wales. Looking into the past helps understand why.Hart, S., and C. Banbury. 1994. How strategy-making processes can make a difference. Strategic Management Journal 15: 251–269. Why did we British become so attached to the idea that we always muddle through? Perhaps we should blame Churchill, whose “Keep Buggering On” mantra became a national catchphrase during the Second World War. But are we really a nation of muddlers-through? March, J.G. 1978. Bounded rationality, ambiguity, and the engineering of choice. Bell Journal of Economics 9: 587–608. An in-depth historical analysis of British economic policies. As someone who is totally new to the subject, this felt far too detailed and a lot of it went over my head. My eyes glazed over throughout many chunks of this book. However, for such a detailed book, the author mentioned the British Empire maybe twice, and given what a massive impact the Empire had on the British economy, I expected at least a chapter, or even half a chapter dedicated to it. I felt like large chunks of history (1990s to today) were also rushed. All the major points and figures from the past 200 years are contextualised and explained - the Industrial Revolution, (the repeal of) the Corn Laws, the Attlee reforms and ‘new Jerusalem’, and the Thatcher response (and reversal?) to this.

Hundred Years of Muddling Through by Duncan Weldon review Two Hundred Years of Muddling Through by Duncan Weldon review

Eisenhardt, K.M. 1989. Making fast strategic decisions in high-velocity environments. Academy of Management Journal 32: 543–576. If you do nothing, you will be auto-enrolled in our premium digital monthly subscription plan and retain complete access for 65 € per month.The Malthus theory states that the world is governed by a brutal logic; human wants are infinite but human means were finite. Put simply, to limit starvation and masses of poor people, the best way to restrict population growth. Feeding the poor would only result in more poorer people. In some way it links in with your theory about housing and governments liking to restrict the population growth and therefore in the short run/their premiership taxation costs. Rapid population decline is not what governments want, as like Spain in the 1930, there are not enough people to harvest the corn. Obviously, there's a good deal to to take issue with here. For example, in his explanation of the lead up to the industrial revolution, there's no mention of the enclosures or any of the other profound changes to English agriculture which made the rise of capitalism possible. And his treatment of the Empire is cursory and downright shameful. A book that tells the story of Britain’s economic history over the past 200 years could hardly be more timely. The country is emerging from the grip of a pandemic that triggered the deepest recession in more than 300 years and the biggest annual increase in public borrowing in peacetime. At the same time businesses are grappling with the fallout from Brexit in the form of significant new barriers to trade, leading to empty shelves and staff shortages. Meanwhile, the government is split between a prime minister who believes that Britain can spend its way to a “roaring twenties” and a chancellor who fears that a heavily indebted government is at risk of an inflationary bust. So where do we go from here? Tusher Ctr Intellectual Capital, University of California Tusher Ctr Intellectual Capital, Berkeley, California, USA