Managing the Economy, Managing the People

Narratives of Economic Life in Britain from Beveridge to Brexit

Jim Tomlinson

Provides an original account of British economic life since the Second World War
Shows how successive governments have managed the people by managing the narrative on the economy
Puts current economic debates into historical perspective
Illuminates how economic debates are highly contingent upon historical circumstances, rather than expressing permanent "truths"
Integrates accounts of government propaganda with accounts of economic management

Managing the Economy, Managing the People

Narratives of Economic Life in Britain from Beveridge to Brexit

Jim Tomlinson

Description

This study offers a distinctive new account of British economic life since the Second World War, focussing upon the ways in which successive governments, in seeking to manage the economy, have sought simultaneously to "manage the people": to try and manage popular understanding of economic issues. In doing so, governments have sought not only to shape expectations for electoral purposes but to construct broader narratives about how "the economy" should be understood. The starting point of this work is to ask why these goals have been focussed upon (and differentially over time), how they have been constructed to appeal to the population, and, insofar as this can be assessed, how far the population has accepted these narratives.

The first half of the book analyses the development of the major narratives from the 1940s onwards, addressing the notion of "austerity" and its particular meaning in the 1940s; the rise of a narrative of 'economic decline from the late 1950s, and the subsequent attempts to "modernize" the economy; the attempts to "roll back the state" from the 1970s; the impact of ideas of "globalization" in the 1900s; and, finally, the way the crisis of 2008/9 onward was constructed as a problem of "debts and deficits". The second part of the book focuses on four key issues in attempts to "manage the people: productivity, the balance of payments, inflation, and unemployment. It shows how, in each case, governments sought to get the populace to understand these issues in a particular light, and shaped strategies to that end.

Managing the Economy, Managing the People

Narratives of Economic Life in Britain from Beveridge to Brexit

Jim Tomlinson

Introduction
Part I : Constructing the narratives
1. Austerity to 'Never Had it So Good'
2. 'Decline' to Modernization
3. Rolling back the State
4. Globalization
5. Debts, deficits, and austerity
Part II: Persuading the people?
6. Unemployment
7. Productivity
8. Inflation
9. Balance of Payments
10. Conclusions: old and new narratives
Bibliography

Managing the Economy, Managing the People

Narratives of Economic Life in Britain from Beveridge to Brexit

Jim Tomlinson

Author Information

Jim Tomlinson was educated at LSE and spent the years 1977 to 2004 at Brunel University. From 2004 to 2013 he was Bonar Professor of Modern History at the University of Dundee, and in 2013 he became Professor of Economic and Social History at the University of Glasgow. He has published widely on the historical political economy of modern Britain, and his most recent book, Dundee and the Empire: Juteopolis, 1850-1939, was published by Edinburgh University Press in 2014.

Managing the Economy, Managing the People

Narratives of Economic Life in Britain from Beveridge to Brexit

Jim Tomlinson

Reviews and Awards

"Tomlinson's impressive synthesis of the secondary literature and official government documents regarding British economic policy throughout the latter half of the twentieth century and the outlines he provides of various administrations' attempts to set the economic agenda make this an indispensable accompaniment for those wishing to analyse both British economic policy and popular economic understandings. As Tomlinson acknowledges, this can only be part of a broader endeavour and more work needs to be done on the role of the media, think tanks, pressure groups and other non-governmental actors in helping shape economic narratives and on the relationships between the individuals they were composed of and politicians and civil servants. Managing the Economy, Managing the People provides a fantastic starting point." -- Reviews in History

"Fascinating new book by the economic historian Jim Tomlinson ... The reader is led through a detailed study of all the political-economic issues that successive post-war governments have faced ... The result is a significant contribution, not only to the study of popular understanding of the economy, but to the wider history of the political economy in modern Britain." -- Christopher Godden, Times Literary Supplement

"This book is an excellent read regarding British economic history from 1942 to 2016. The factual information presented is of great significance to British citizens and anyone interested in future progress...Highly recommended."--CHOICE

"...this is a most useful addition to undergraduate and graduate reading lists." -- Duncan Needham, The English Historical Review