The chance to begin anew seldom occurs. Yet the nearly complete breakdown of the world economy between 1939 and 1945, together with the dominant position of the United States at the end of the war, ...provided just this opportunity. A new international economic order was built on the ruins of the old. How this happened - and the role of government in economic performance - is the subject of this important and timely book. Written by political scientists, contemporary historians and economists, it includes ten country studies covering all the major industrialized nations in the West: the USA, USSR, Japan, Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Spain, Eastern Europe, and Scandinavia. In each chapter readers will find information on the main objectives and instruments of economic policy, the institutional framework, where the country started from at the end of the war, and a summary of what happened thereafter both in terms of policies and outcomes. Each chapter also contains data on the country's economic performance, a list of selected dates of important events, and a guide to further reading. The book begins with an overview of the sytem of international trade and payments since the war, and ends with five commentaries drawing attention to contrasts and similarities between the nations. The commentaries feature David Henderson, Head of the Economics Division of the OECD, on the overall economic performance, Charles Feinstein on the influence of different starting points, David Marquand on the effect of different political and institutional structures, and Sidney Pollard on economic policies and traditions. Learning from other countries' experience as well as understanding how they see their own problems is increasingly important with 1992, glasnost', and the problem of international policy coordination between the USA, Japan, and Germany so high on the agenda. No other book provides such a wide-ranging account of how the industrialized world came to be where it is today.
We are constantly told that New Labour forms an historic departure from the traditions of the Labour Party. This book, written by a distinguished selection of academics and commentators, provides the ...most detailed comparison yet of old and new Labour in power. It is also the first to offer a comprehensive analysis of the last Labour Government before the rise of Thatcher and the re-emergence of the Labour Party under Tony Blair's leadership. It reveals much about the history of the Labour Party as well as providing a much-needed context from which to judge the current government.
Part 1: The Framework of Ideas 1. 1974: The Crisis of Old Labour 2. Political Thought: Socialism in a Cold Climate 3. Economic Thought Part 2: Domestic and Foreign Policies 4. Economic Policy 5. Trades Union Policy: The Rise and Fall of the Social Contract 6. Social Policy and Inequality 7. Education Policy 8. Europe 9. Foreign and Defence Policy Part 3: Government and Politics 10. Prime Ministers and Cabinet 11. Parliament 12. Central and Local Government 13. Devolution 14. Northern Ireland 15. The Labour Party Part 4: Perspectives 16. The 1974-9 Governments and 'New' Labour 17. The Industrial Strategy 18. Was Britain Dying? 19. Forgetting History: How New Labour Sees Old Labour 20. The Worst of Governments. Conclusion: Reading and Misreading Old Labour
Anthony Seldon is one of Britain's foremost political experts. He is Tony Blair's authorised biographer and his previous books include; The Powers Behind the Prime Minister ( 2001), The Blair Effect (2001), The Foreign Office (2000), Britain Under Thatcher (1999), Major (1998) and The Heath Government (1996). Kevin Hickson is Lecturer in British Politics at the University of Liverpool. He is co-editor of the forthcoming The Struggle for Labour's Soul: Understanding the Political Thought of the Labour Party (2004).
We are constantly told that New Labour forms an historic departure from the traditions of the Labour Party. This book, written by a distinguished selection of academics and commentators, provides the ...most detailed comparison yet of old and new Labour in power. It is also the first to offer a comprehensive analysis of the last Labour Government before the rise of Thatcher and the re-emergence of the Labour Party under Tony Blair's leadership. It reveals much about the history of the Labour Party as well as providing a much-needed context from which to judge the current government.
Cameron: The first cut Seldon, Anthony
Juncture,
09/2014, Volume:
21, Issue:
2
Journal Article
Exclusive to Juncture, political historian and biographer Anthony Seldon offers his first take on the Cameron premiership, and contends that the Conservative leader will be judged well when viewed ...against an unprecedented set of challenges and constraints.
The Conservative Campaign Seldon, Anthony; Snowdon, Peter
Parliamentary affairs,
10/2005, Volume:
58, Issue:
4
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
The years 2001-2005 resolved which view of the Conservative Party in opposition was the more accurate. But before providing the answer, Seldon and Snowdon look at the events that occurred during ...those four years, and the performance and key decisions of the Tory leadership.
This article examines the way the three successive Conservative prime ministers, Ted Heath (1970-74), Margaret Thatcher (1979-90) and John Major (1990-97) managed parliament. It highlights their ...different styles and approaches and examines how effective they were at the task. It concludes that all three performed very differently, but that differing factors, for example, the size of the majority and the presence of divisive issues were more responsible for the success or failure of management than the individual styles of the different prime ministers.
Graduated in PPE from Oxford in 2003 and now teaches at Eltham College.
