The Statistical Background and the Derivation of the Charts

Abstract

The following pages present the data on which the charts in the preceding chapters are based, In some cases it has been possible to use figures already published elsewhere — for example the indicators of Britain’s comparative economic performance since 1961. In other cases it has been necessary to use well-known methods to derive a series suitable for the purposes of this book — examples of this are the calculation of ‘real’ net-of-tax earnings for an average worker, and the calculation of the ratio of non-market expenditure to marketed output. The only methodological problems involved here were those of definition.