Stanley Baldwin Bewdley, 1st4 November 1924
Promises "tranquility & prosperity in which to recuperate from the war"
Great Britain · Government / Conservative Party Government. Chronological records rendered directly from the World History Database.
Promises "tranquility & prosperity in which to recuperate from the war"
The budget announces sterling's return at the pre-war rate of approximately 4.86 United States dollars per pound.
Appointed Harold MacMillans economic adviser
The Industrial Charter is repeated in "The Right Road for Britain"
Proposes the "Robot" scheme to float the pound & allow exchange rates "to take the strain"
The US will support Britain if it accepts the United Nations solution, the pound collapses
The Resale Price Maintenance is abolished
Unemployment reaches one million
Access credit cards are introduced in Great Britain
Announces a freeze on pay, prices & dividends for 90 days, Selsdon u-turn
For the remainder of the year pay rises are to be 1 pound & 4% pa, maximum rise of 250 pounds pa
The MLR is increased from 7.5% to 11.5% in one month
Pay increases will be limited to 2.25 pounds or 7% per week with a maximum of 350 pounds pa. Pay increases will be limited to 2.25 pounds or 7% per week & a maximum increase of 350 pounds pa
Britain cuts the work week to three days to save energy supply
Trade figures show a defict of 383 pounds million, the largest on record. The RPI shows that fod prices had risen + 20% over the last year
When the European Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM) is set up in 1979, Britain declines to join
Helps produce the Medium Term Financial Strategy, set the course for both the monetary and fiscal sides of the new Governments economic policy
The British annual inflation rate stands at 21%, the first fall in two years
The Clegg Commission completes its report on pay comparability in the public sector
The registered unemployment total exceeds 2 million
MacGregor pursues plant closures and redundancies at British Steel after major losses.
First spell as Thatchers full-time economic adviser between 1981 and 1983, expands the frontiers of influence for public servants, and maintaines the first Thatcher Governments adherence to monetarism
Sets the course for the later privatizations of the gas and electricity industries and on his return to the Treasury he worked closely with the Department of Trade and Industry in privatizing British Airways, British Telecom, and British Gas
Alan Arthur Walters plays a major part in discussions that almost causes Geoffrey Howes monetary targets for sterling M3, the government's chosen measure, to be replaced by a purer variant, known as monetary base control.
Alan Arthur Walters was the first spell as Thatchers full-time economic adviser between 1981 and 1983, expands the frontiers of influence for public servants, and maintains the first Thatcher government's adherence to monetarism.
Through a sleight of hand, the extra revenue Walters wished to raise was secured by freezing income tax thresholds.
Inflation reaches a low point of 3.7%
Points to lowest inflation since 1968 & record productivity
Introduces plans for Government expenditure cuts to the Cabinet
Makes plans to reduce public expenditure by 1 billion pounds
By 1983 at British Steel, there were only 71,000 staff with output almost at 1980s levels and losses reduced to 256M
MacGregors approach to turning the NCB into a profitable concern is similar to the line he had taken at British Steel, cut jobs and close unprofitable pits, this leads to the protracted and increasingly bitter 1984-1985 miners strike
Lawsons budget continues the trend of shifting from direct to indirect taxes by reducing National Insurance contributions for the lower-paid while extending the base of value-added tax
Critics of Lawson say that a combination of the abandonment of monetarism, the adoption of a de facto exchange-rate target of 3 deutschmarks to the pound (ruling out interest-rate rises), and fiscal laxity unleash an inflationary spiral
Introduces a bold scheme to turn Britain into a nation of share-owners, the most generous package ever for charities and a series of tax changes targeted on average earners.
The trajectory taken by the UK economy from this point on is typically described as "The Lawson Boom". Resumes the reduction of the standard rate of personal Income Tax from the 30% rate to which it had been lowered in Sir Geoffrey Howes 1979 budget.
Although Britain had not joined the ERM, from early 1987 to March 1988 the Treasury followed a policy of shadowing the Deutsche Mark
Abolishes all higher rates of tax apart from the 40 per cent rate, and increased the main income tax personal allowances by double the rate of inflation
An article by Walters published in The American Economis, "Unfortunately in Britain we can witness a performance of this tragedy, currently still running, enacted by Mr Lawsons misguided shadowing of the Deutschmark during 1987 to March 1989". An article by Walters published in The American Economist describes the "tragic consequences" of the "half-baked" European Monetary System"
His second period as full-time Downing Street adviser, lasting just five months, from May to October 1989, proved so contentious that it hastened the resignation of the Chancellor, Nigel Lawson
Britain agrees to enter the European Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM) when the 3 convergence conditions are met
Interest rates rise to 15%
Interest rates rise to 15%
Major & Hurd convince the Cabinet to sign Britain up to the European Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM) effectively guaranteeing that the British Government would follow a policy preventing the pound and other member currencies from fluctuating by more than 6%
Major & Hurd convince the Cabinet to sign Britain up to the European Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM) effectively guaranteeing that the British Government would follow a policy preventing the pound and other member currencies from fluctuating by more than 6%
Major & Hurd convince the Cabinet to sign Britain up to the European Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM) effectively guaranteeing that the British Government would follow a policy preventing the pound and other member currencies from fluctuating by more than 6%
Major and Hurd convince the Cabinet to sign Britain up to the European Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM) effectively guaranteeing that the British Government would follow a policy preventing the pound and other member currencies from fluctuating by more than 6%.
With UK inflation at three times the rate of Germany's, interest rates at 15% and the "Lawson Boom" about to bust, the conditions for joining the European Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM) were not favourable at that time.
There is a clash between Lawson and Alan Walters when the latter claims the ERM is "half baked", Lawson resigns and is replaced by John Major
Major & Hurd convince the Cabinet to sign Britain up to the European Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM) guaranteeing that the the pound and other member currencies do not fluctuate by more than 6%
There is a clash between Lawson and Alan Walters when the latter claims the ERM is "half baked", Lawson resigns and is replaced by John Major
Alan Walers' 2nd period as Downing Street adviser lasts just from March to October 1989
Alan Walters' term as adviser leads to the resignation of the Chancellor, Nigel Lawson
Quotes from an article written before Walters' return to Downing St showed him to believe the European Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM) "half-baked" and unsustainable, Lawson demanded Walters' dismissal, and failing to force Thatcher's hand, departed
Walters argued that Lawson's interest-rate rises were risking a UK recession, which later transpired
Inflation rises to 10.9%
Inflation rose to 5 per cent in 1998, and to 8 per cent in 1989 and 10 per cent in 1990
At 10:30 AM on 16 September, the British Government announced a rise in the base interest rate from an already high 10 to 12 percent to tempt speculators to buy pounds.
By 7:00 that evening, Norman Lamont, then Chancellor, announced Britain would leave the ERM and rates would remain at the new level of 12 percent
Despite this and a promise later the same day to raise base rates again to 15 percent, dealers kept selling pounds, convinced that the Government would not stick with its promise.
The United Kingdom is forced to leave the Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM) on "Black Wednesday" when billions of pounds are lost defending the currency's value.
The Government announces a rise in the base interest rate from an already high 10 to 12 percent in order to tempt speculators to buy pounds, despite this and a promise later the same day to raise base rates again to 15 percent, dealers keep selling
The recession that had started just before Major came to office is declared over when the first quarter of the year had seen economic growth return for the first time since the second quarter of 1990
Only 15 deep coal mines remain at the time of privatisation in 1994
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