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New Jerusalems? The Labour Party's Economic Policy‐Making in Hard Times
Author(s) -
Diamond Patrick
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
the political quarterly
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.373
H-Index - 37
eISSN - 1467-923X
pISSN - 0032-3179
DOI - 10.1111/1467-923x.12988
Subject(s) - victory , criticism , administration (probate law) , narrative , political science , depression (economics) , great depression , financial crisis , political economy , swift , economics , economic history , politics , law , keynesian economics , philosophy , linguistics , computer science , programming language
This paper is an historical analysis of ideational change in the British Labour Party. It briefly examines two critical phases of economic policy formation: the aftermath of the Great Depression and the MacDonald administration's implosion in 1931 until the outbreak of the Second World War; alongside Labour's experience following the 2008 financial crisis and electoral defeat in 2010 through to Jeremy Corbyn's emergence as leader. Throughout both periods, the aftershocks of financial crises stimulated a ferment of new thinking about the management of the British economy. Think tanks, universities and professionally trained economists aided the left in devising a new economic narrative and programme. For all the criticism of Corbyn's performance as leader, it was only after his victory in 2015 that a serious debate about ideas emerged within the party, more than seven years since the great financial crisis.