Decline to Fall: The Making of British Macro-economic Policy and the 1976 IMF Crisis (Hardback)

Douglas Wass (author)

£120.00

Hardback 402 Pages / Published: 13/03/2008

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Synopsis

This book provides the first comprehensive and authoritative account of the events leading up to the UK seeking a massive loan from the IMF in 1976 which almost precipitated a financial crisis on a par with those of the 1930's and early post war period. Sir Douglas Wass, who was permanent Secretary to the Treasury at the time, provides a unique first hand account of the events that took place as the crisis unfolded and the decision-making process. Bringing unrivalled experience and knowledge of Whitehall to the narrative, he draws on recently released documents such as official Treasury minutes, memoranda, official statements and reports, IMF documents and blends them with his own assessment of this key period of policy making to provide a fascinating, blow-by-blow account of how the Treasury reacted when faced with a series of inter-locking crises. Decline to Fall will be a must read for anyone interested in the formulation of policy and the workings of government.

Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 9780199534746
Number of pages: 402
Weight: 741 g
Dimensions: 243 x 161 x 28 mm

MEDIA REVIEWS

...this volume breaks new ground...exceptionally detailed account as to how economic policy developed between 1974 and 1976...a number of aspects of Wass's account are significant and surprising... * Mark Wickham-Jones, Times Literary Supplement *
the definitive inside account of the crisis of the mid-1970s ... by no less an authority than Sir Douglas Wass, Permanent Secretary to the Treasury under Denis Healey's chancellorship. * William Keegan, The Observer *
What distinguishes this book from many memoirs and diaries of the period, is its reliance on official documents rather than independently unverifiable comment...essential reading for poitical scientists, economists and economic historians...This lucid and scholarly account will also be a first port of call for future scholars of the period. * Public Service Magazine *
Every historian of the period will need to read this book. Policymakers would benefit greatly from reading it. And students of politics and government will be fascinated. * Forrest Capie, Bankhistorisches Archiv *