National economic planning

Abstract

Governments in this country have for many years been engaged in national economic planning in the sense of looking ahead in quantitative terms and, in the light of their forecasts, making policy changes to achieve their objectives. Until about a generation ago the main objective was to balance the budget in the narrow sense of equalising Government expenditure and revenue, and the Government looked one year ahead. Since the war, under the influence of Keynesian ideas, governments have looked at the national accounts in a much wider sense; the main objectives have been to achieve a high level of employment, a satisfactory balance of payments and a minimum of inflation; and the Government has looked ahead one to one-and-a-half years. More recently still, during the 1960s, the Government has accepted the additional responsibility for economic growth and has been looking three to five years ahead; and some attempt has been made to fit together the forecasts of Government and of industry.

Abbreviated version of talk to Society of Long-range Planning, London, February 1969.