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Kavanagh et al: British Politics 5e

Chapter 07

Understanding decline

National Statistics
www.statistics.gov.uk/
As this chapter establishes, the meaning and extent of Britain's relative economic decline is highly contested. It is important therefore to have a reliable source of data on Britain's economic performance. The National Statistics website is one such source. Here you can find a wealth of statistics. Particularly useful is the time series section of the website which will allow you to construct tables of economic data over a period of time that you determine.

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
www.oecd.org/
It is equally important when examining Britain's decline to have comparative data by which to examine comparative performance. Perhaps the most accessible site of such data is the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's website. Clicking on 'By Country' from the homepage will allow you to explore Britain's performance in comparison with any of the other OECD member countries.

Regional Economic Performance PSA indicators
62.73.191.157/regind/default.asp
This chapter points out that a further dimension of decline is regional variation in economic performance within the UK. At this site, provided as a means of benchmarking progress towards the government's aspirations to reduce the gap in growth rates between regions, you can explore the economic differences between regions on indices of productivity, skills, investment, employment and competition.

BBC History: Correlli Barnett "The Wasting of Britain's Marshall Aid"
www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/modern/marshall_01.shtml
This chapter notes the arguments of the historian Correlli Barnett as an exponent of cultural explanations for Britain's economic decline. In this article on the BBC's website you can explore his position in greater depth. Here Barnett takes the 1945 Attlee government to task for failing to use Marshall Aid for industrial modernisation and instead deploying it to subsidise Britain's ambitions to remain as a Great Power.

The Luxembourg Institute for European and International Studies: The Vitality of Britain
www.ieis.lu/books/britain/content.htm
This website provides access to the full text of a book published by the Luxembourg Institute for European and International Studies which focuses on the question of British decline. Here you will find useful chapters on the notion of decline (Hall and Coker), a critique of Corelli Barnett's work (Grove) and a good overview of Britain's economic performance (Kern). Don't neglect the transcript of the conference from which this book originated. This includes contributions from Martin Weiner, Samuel Brittan and David Marquand among others.