Allen, George Cyril (1900–1982)

Abstract

George Allen was born on 28 June 1900 at Kenilworth, Warwickshire, England and died at Oxford on 31 July 1982. His upbringing and education in Coventry and then in Birmingham, influenced the choice of topic – the industrial development of the Black Country – for his first book on what was to become one of his main professional interests, the history and organization of British industry. His second major interest, the economy of Japan, came from the 3 years he spent as a young man teaching at Nagoya, Japan. He returned to take up a post at Birmingham University from which, while still in his twenties, he was appointed to a chair at Hull and later, at Liverpool. In World War II he worked at the Board of Trade and the Ministry of Economic Warfare. His wartime activities included playing a key part in the concentration of civilian industry and, with Hugh Gaitskell, writing the first paper on postwar policy on monopolies and restrictive practices. Later, he spent 6 months at the Foreign Office to advise on the economic reconstruction of Japan under the allied occupation. From 1947 to 1967 Allen headed the Department of Political Economy at University College, London, while continuing his participation in practical affairs as a member of the Monopolies (and Restrictive Practices) Commission and of other official bodies.