Abstract
It seems that there is no simple, straightforward economic explanation for the United Kingdom’s low growth rate since the mid-1950s. The economic system is a complex social phenomenon, and its growth reflects the social, institutional and political factors which underlie the shallower economic transactions summarised in measures of gross national product and output. There is wide agreement amongst economists that increasing factor productivity is much more important in explaining growth than increases in factor input quantities. There is also widespread agreement that the continental European countries have been able to sustain high rates of economic growth over the last twenty years because they were able to redeploy labour away from low productivity (and even peasant) agriculture. Economic analysis is unable however to explain the generation of ‘technical progress’ (i.e. increasing factor productivity), or to show why the observed redeployment of labour occurred. Examination of the economic factors repeatedly points to the need for consideration of the social, political and institutional factors, and it is clear that the serious student of economic growth needs a broad knowledge of non-economic matters too.
Chapter PDF
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 1974 Antony Peaker
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Peaker, A. (1974). Conclusion. In: Economic Growth in Modern Britain. Macmillan Studies in Economics. Palgrave, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-01440-8_9
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-01440-8_9
Publisher Name: Palgrave, London
Print ISBN: 978-0-333-13414-6
Online ISBN: 978-1-349-01440-8
eBook Packages: Palgrave Economics & Finance CollectionEconomics and Finance (R0)