ABSTRACT
Many influences combine to make economic policy which is essentially a range of priorities set against a view of the real world: theory, ethics, politics, ideology and administrative convenience may all play some part and any discussion of policy must inevitably be an attempt to distil essentials from a complex brew. The policy measures of the pre-1914 era were comparatively ineffective after 1920 in the face of massive unemployment with heavy structural and long-term components. On the Labour side it is possible to distinguish between party policy and what Labour governments actually did when in office. While government policies such as the return to gold, budgets, tariffs, cheap money and rearmament had an influence the main indictment of interwar political leaders is essentially for sins of omission. The fact remains that Britain’s export staples would still have faced severe difficulties even without gold standard policy.
