Conservative Party Economic Policy

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-ix

   PDF

2. Introduction

   • Richard Wade

   Pages 1-5

3. Conservatism, the Conservative Party, and Its Political Economy

   • Richard Wade

   Pages 6-31

4. The Conservative Party and Its Microeconomic Policies, 1964–97

   • Richard Wade

   Pages 32-68

5. The Conservative Party and the Labour Market, 1964–97

   • Richard Wade

   Pages 69-103

6. The Conservative Party and Its Macroeconomic Policies, 1964–97

   • Richard Wade

   Pages 104-148

7. The Conservative Party and the Economy since 1997

   • Richard Wade

   Pages 149-177

8. Conclusions

   • Richard Wade

   Pages 178-188

9. Back Matter

   Pages 189-208

   PDF

Covering the period from Ted Heath's assumption of the leadership of the Conservative Party through to the early years of the Coalition, this volume provides a detailed analysis of the Tory Party's Macroeconomic and Microeconomic Policy-Making over the past 50 years providing an historical context for the political and economic events of today.

• economic policy
• economy
• labor market
• police
• Policy
• policy-making
• political economy
• British Politics

The book's strength lies in its meticulous examination of original documents in the Conservative Party and National Archives, in the extensive range of interviews with key players and in its demonstration that policy-making has implicitly drawn on the twin strands of Tory paternalism and Whig liberalism.

Sir Douglas Wass, Former Permanent Secretary to HM Treasury.

Richard Wade has produced a definitive study of economic policy-making in the Conservative party from Edward Heath' premiership to the fall of John Major's government in 1997. The analysis provides a comprehensive analysis of what happened in the years when Mrs Thatcher was in Downing Street and lucidly explains why it happened. This was a period of dramatic change which shaped subsequent economic policy, making the book is a 'must read' for anyone trying to understand the origins of contemporary economic policy.

Paul Whiteley, Department of Government, University of Essex, UK.

Dr. Richard Wade read economics at the University of Warwick before being awarded postgraduate degrees in history and in government from the University of Essex, UK. He has taught US politics, international relations, international political economy and quantitative methods and has also worked in corporate banking.

Policies and ethics