ABSTRACT
In many respects, the 1950s and 1960s can be seen as a disappointing period for UK economic performance. Between 1950 and the early 1970s, the UK economy grew at just over half the rate of our major European competitors. Measured in terms of GDP per head (at purchasing power parity exchange rates), living standards in Germany overtook those in the United Kingdom in 1961, and the average French citizen was richer than his/her British counterpart by 1969.1 Meanwhile, Britain’s share of world trade halved between the mid-1950s and the early 1970s-with the UK share of exports in a group of leading manufacturing nations falling from one-fifth to just one-tenth (CBI, 1991). Over this period there was a growing perception of Britain falling behind other competitor nations-failing to grasp the potential created by the ‘white heat of technological revolution’ and missing out on the trading opportunities within the fledgling European Common Market.
