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The Regional Policy Portfolio and the Board of Trade, 1945-51

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  • Rosevear, Stephen

Abstract

The paper focuses on the wartime planning and postwar administration of regional policy in Britain. It examines negotiations between Conservative and Labour parties and relations between the Board of Trade and individual motor manufacturers. First, the paper suggests that Labour were committed to safeguarding commercial efficiency. Second, it argues that Board of Trade officials lacked the economic knowledge to successfully administer discriminatory location policies. Given the commitment to commercial efficiency, industrialists circumvented distribution of industry controls by stressing the potential economic losses of decentralization. Finally, the paper suggests that the Board of Trade's failings mirrored wider problems in the civil service. Throughout the 1940's bureaucrats acquired new responsibilities for which they lacked economic training. This constituted a serious constraint on Labour's policy ambitions.

Suggested Citation

  • Rosevear, Stephen, 1996. "The Regional Policy Portfolio and the Board of Trade, 1945-51," The Warwick Economics Research Paper Series (TWERPS) 465, University of Warwick, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:wrk:warwec:465
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    File URL: https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/economics/research/workingpapers/1995-1998/twerp465.pdf
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