It’s always worth reading the memoirs of a former Chancellor of the Exchequer if you are interested in how policy works outside the textbooks, particularly for the way the political pressures and economic analysis interact. It is usually the economics that loses any contest, of course. Nigel Lawson’s tome, [amazon_link id=”0593022181″ target=”_blank” ]The View From Number 11[/amazon_link], is a terrific read, partly because of the sheer interest of the radical approach the Thatcher government took to economic policy, and partly because the account of his clashes with Mrs T and her adviser Alan Walters is gripping. One of the best lines is:
“I recall telling the Queen, the one person to whom I could unburden myself in complete confidence, during my usual pre-Budget audience with her… that I thought the 1988 Budget would be my last, because the Prime Minister was making the conduct of policy impossible.” (p799)
[amazon_image id=”0593022181″ link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium” ]The View from No.11: Memoirs of a Tory Radical[/amazon_image]
When he was Chancellor, Alastair Darling, from afar (I’ve not met him in person), seemed nice, obviously competent, but dull. He had obviously been dealt a rough hand in having to deal with the combination of Gordon Brown as his PM and the onset of the financial crisis. A few chapters in to his memoir, [amazon_link id=”B005JZD3YQ” target=”_blank” ]Back from the Brink[/amazon_link], my respect for him has increased enormously. Despite its rather measured tone, the book has some jaw-dropping material. I quite liked the scene with Fred Goodwin turning up at Mr Darling’s constituency home just before Christmas 2007, bearing a gift-wrapped panettone and a warning about RBS’s need for liquidity.
But most extraordinary (so far) is what happened when Mervyn King told the Treasury Select Committee in 2009 that further fiscal stimulus could not be afforded. Mr Darling, watching it live on TV from his office, was – not surprisingly – furious. Gordon Brown was so apoplectic, however, that he phoned: “He asked me what I was going to do about it and suggested that I should go in and stop him there and then.” One can’t begin to imagine the scene, and the results, mid-financial crisis, had the Chancellor of the Exchequer stormed into a select committee hearing with the Governor of the Bank of England, as it was being televised, to stop proceedings. What would the Queen have said?
[amazon_image id=”B005JZD3YQ” link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium” ]Back from the Brink: 1000 Days at Number 11[/amazon_image]
Given his occasional imprudent statements on policy areas well beyond his remit, together with the consistent failure of the MPC to meet the inflation target, not to mention the allegations of neglect in the build-up to crisis, can you explain how Mervyn King has kept his job, and indeed his knighthood ?
I’m not allowed to recommend the View from Number 11 at school; my departmental colleague is Tom Lawson, son of, and he’s not a big fan of the family photo prior to the Budget in the book. It prompted to Dennis Healey to observe “…it’s the baby that carried the Budget”. I think Tom has only just forgiven his sister…
You made me get the book down again to have a look – it’s not that bad as childhood pictures go! Anyway, Alastair Darling has given us a good recent substitute for students to read.