New Light through Old Windows

A New Perspective on the British Economy in the Second World War

Dados Bibliográficos

ID10074174
AutoresPeter Howlett (autor correspondente)
Ano1993
Volume28
Fascículo2
Páginas361-379
Data de publicação1993-04-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoJournal of Contemporary History (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0022-0094 • E-ISSN: 1461-7250
EditoraSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/002200949302800208
OpenAlexW2000546728
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas6

In the second world war, the normal market orientation of the British economy was replaced by a system of centralized control and economic planning. The key feature of this system was the process of physical planning operated by the central authorities through which they controlled the allocation and use of scarce resources such as labour, steel and capacity. In the official history volumes (which dominate the historiography), however, one central question evades the readerhow were these scarce resources allocated?' Page after page in volume after volume offers descriptive evidence of the decisions taken about resource allocation but, far too often, there is no analysis of how this was actually managed. The reader is allowed to drown in a sea of information, rarely being told what were the real and potential problems faced in resource allocation, what moves were taken to overcome the inherent frictions, and whether or not those moves were successful

Ancient history · Archaeology · First world war · Perspective (graphical · Political science · World War II · Artificial Intelligence · Computer Science · History · Political and Economic history of UK and US