Two Hundred Years of Muddling Through: The surprising story of Britain's economy from boom to bust and back again

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Centuries of a largely agrarian economy vanished with the Industrial Revolution. Productivity and standards of living rose. The population and production moved from homes in the country to crowded towns. Increased coal production was needed to power mills. Canal traffic rose and railways boomed.

Two Hundred Years of Muddling Through by Duncan Weldon review

Hart, S., and C. Banbury. 1994. How strategy-making processes can make a difference. Strategic Management Journal 15: 251–269. Muddling Through’ is a superb, detailed overview, charting 200 years of British economic history. For a nation immersed in the traditions of entrepreneurial innovation and ambitious start-up companies, it’s surprising how little space economic history seems to occupy in the minds of the general population. Surely all British school children should be given a more detailed idea of how the Capitalist engines of The City of London operate, considering their enormous influence on the economy. 2008 reminds us of how high are the stakes when the global financial system goes wrong. Surely such scandalous collapses would be less likely if the masters of the financial universe were held to account by an educated, informed population… Change the plan you will roll onto at any time during your trial by visiting the “Settings & Account” section. What happens at the end of my trial?

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All the major points and figures from the past 200 years are contextualised and explained - the Industrial Revolution, (the repeal of) the Corn Laws, the Attlee reforms and ‘new Jerusalem’, and the Thatcher response (and reversal?) to this. A terrific achievement, covering clearly but with subtlety everything from the spinning jenny to Covid-19’ How has Britain managed previous periods of economic change? On each occasion, how much has our economic future been shaped by our economic past? And what can today’s policy makers learn from our history as they navigate the decade of economic change to come? The book has a few themes throughout the narrative - the importance of path dependence, the benefits of specialisation at various points (like the decline of agriculture during the World Wars that allowed Britain to focus on manufacturing and financial support for the Allies) or the impact of political decisions on economic reality (like the allocation of costs in things like the Corn Laws, the influence of the growth of home ownership on interest rate decisions etc). All of these points should be more present in the public debate, not just in Britain.

Two Hundred Years of Muddling Through: The surprising story

March, J.G. 2005. Parochialism in the evolution of a research community: The case of organization studies. Management and Organization Review 1: 5–22. A central theme to the book is how the role and shape of the state has changed and adapted over time - not often for purely ‘ideological’ reasons, but more in response to economic developments and challenges, as well as the need to cope with huge global events (WW1 and WW2 loom large). Geography still dictates trade. During the high years of British imperialism, (1870) only 25% of exports went to the empire, and by 1900 only to 30%. Europe remained the UK’s most important export market.Then came Brexit. This damaged economic confidence, sterling fell and the well-documented problems ensued. The global pandemic followed leading to falling economic growth and structural shifts in the heavily indebted economy.

From boom to bust and back again • Resolution Foundation From boom to bust and back again • Resolution Foundation

While the book mostly feels like an engagingly-written history of one economic event after another, Weldon emphasises a few recurring themes one can take away from economic history. Some of these do definitely stand out in his history, like the importance of political and social context, and how constant economic debate has been over the years. Weldon also emphasises 'path dependency', which he says 'is perhaps best thought of as the idea that the route one took to arrive somewhere is just as important as the destination'. I had more trouble understanding what this means, and how his history bears this out. How could history be anything other than path-dependent? What would a non-path-dependent economy look like, even hypothetically?

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You may also opt to downgrade to Standard Digital, a robust journalistic offering that fulfils many user’s needs. Compare Standard and Premium Digital here. Eisenhardt, K.M. 1989. Making fast strategic decisions in high-velocity environments. Academy of Management Journal 32: 543–576.

Two Hundred Years of Muddling Through by Duncan Weldon

The Malthus theory states that the world is governed by a brutal logic; human wants are infinite but human means were finite. Put simply, to limit starvation and masses of poor people, the best way to restrict population growth. Feeding the poor would only result in more poorer people. In some way it links in with your theory about housing and governments liking to restrict the population growth and therefore in the short run/their premiership taxation costs. Rapid population decline is not what governments want, as like Spain in the 1930, there are not enough people to harvest the corn. In war, do not think that trade did not continue. In 1809-1810 Britain continue to buy grain from France to feed its troops. The money France received helped fund their war, while France also needed clothing from the UK, which helped fund the UK war. French troops where often killed by the British wearing coats made in Northampton and Leeds.The UK is, at the same time, both one of the world’s most successful economies and one of Europe’s laggards. The country contains some of Western Europe’s richest areas such as the south east of England, but also some of its poorest such as the north east or Wales. Looking into the past helps understand why. The UK is, at the same time, both one of the world’s most successful economies and one of Europe’s laggards. The country contains some of Western Europe’s richest areas such as the south east of England, but also some of its poorest such as the north east or Wales. It’s really not much of an exaggeration to describe the UK, in economic terms, as ‘Portugal but with Singapore in the bottom corner’. Looking into the past helps understand why. For cost savings, you can change your plan at any time online in the “Settings & Account” section. If you’d like to retain your premium access and save 20%, you can opt to pay annually at the end of the trial.