The political economy of the management of public expenditure in Britain: The introduction of cash limits under the 1974-79 Labour government

Luke, Darcy B. (2024). The political economy of the management of public expenditure in Britain: The introduction of cash limits under the 1974-79 Labour government. University of Birmingham. Ph.D.

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Abstract

This thesis examines the political economy of the management of public expenditure during the 1974-79 Labour government in the UK. In particular, it examines the introduction of cash limit reforms to the control of public expenditure in the context of significant economic pressures which confronted state managers during the 1970s. Inflation, low economic growth, high public borrowing, stagnant productivity, and recurring sterling crises prompted a serious reappraisal of public expenditure governance in 1974-5. It is due to these pressures that cash limits were introduced, as a means of controlling expenditure. This thesis makes use of primary archival documentary evidence to shed new light on the motivations of state actors in introducing cash limits. Contrary to mainstream accounts which explain cash limits as a technical fix to an issue of control over spending, the thesis demonstrates how cash limit reform was in fact motivated by a series of political and economic concerns, primary amongst them being wage inflation. By way of a Marxist examination of the political economy of public spending, the thesis demonstrates the way cash limits were used to discipline the working class and to depoliticise decision-making vis-à-vis public expenditure.

Type of Work:

Thesis (Doctorates > Ph.D.)

Award Type:

Doctorates > Ph.D.

Supervisor(s):