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

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A terrific achievement, covering clearly but with subtlety everything from the spinning jenny to Covid-19’ 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). This is a pleasant bicycle ride through UK economic history - compared to the Orient Express train of, say Yuval Noah Harari, the Post War Bentley of, say, Tony Judd, or being on a private jet with Steven Pinker and his crew of Better Angels. I quite enjoyed reviewing 200 years of the sort of stories that make up the headlines of the FT week by week, but there is little attempt to create a historical sweep, theory, thesis - the author just muddles through; the one-damn-thing-after-another school of history. There are so many brilliant books on Audible these days, that this book only barely earns it 10h listening time, for me. 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? If you do nothing, you will be auto-enrolled in our premium digital monthly subscription plan and retain complete access for 65 € per month.

The book shows how the Industrial Revolution essentially set the UK off on a path which has taken other countries in Europe the best part of c150 years to catch up with and how, more recently, the UK has struggled to work out what economic a coherent economic approach looks like (the Brexit debate is highlighted as typical of this incoherent approach). 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. I enjoyed this - it’s exactly the sort of readable, concise narrative (interspersed with enough statistics to help assure you it’s rigorous and some good anecdotes) that you’d expect from a BBC and Economist journalist. Obviously, there's a good deal to to take issue with here. For example, in his explanation of the lead up to the industrial revolution, there's no mention of the enclosures or any of the other profound changes to English agriculture which made the rise of capitalism possible. And his treatment of the Empire is cursory and downright shameful. 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.

A former British-economy correspondent reflects on 200 years of the country's economic history, showing how politics and the economy have interacted since the Industrial Revolution * The Economist Books of 2021 * This is an amazing book of economic history, drawing on the best mainstream works and explanations, written by a journalist, so it is engaging and easily understandable. The author further sprinkles it, especially in the earlier chapters, with bits of macroeconomic theory, so it should be comprehensible for most readers. 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. 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. The book was surprisingly enjoyable given that economics is a notoriously dry subject, even managing to be funny in places and engaging throughout. Historical information and a focus on theory vs. reality made it easy to understand, and meant that case studies were naturally woven into the text.

Pitch perfect, fast-moving, brilliantly well-judged. Immensely relevant. This is a history Britain needs. -- Adam Tooze

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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. The author points to vested interests being a powerful force in hampering economic progress. For example, politicians tried to manufacture pre-election booms which led to stop -go episodes. Union power prevented economic progress. Later the trade unions were reformed by Thatcher and this eventually led to an economic revival.

With the rise of the entrepreneur, the landed gentry became less influential. Despite productivity increases the working class benefited little. The great reform act of 1832 changed the structure of the House of Commons and ended the dominance of the aristocracy. A terrific achievement, covering clearly but with subtlety everything from the spinning jenny to Covid-19. Along the way, Weldon makes some intriguing arguments, such as how successive generations of politicians swear they're fixing problems, only for a new variant to pop up a little later. And he takes on Keynes's assertions that ideas are ultimately what shape history. They don't: what matters most is political power. -- Aditya Chakrabortty, Senior Economics Commentator * Guardian * 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. 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.

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Duncan Weldon's Two Hundred Years of Muddling Through argues that more muscular intervention in the economy will only be accomplished through a wider overhaul of the British way of thinking * Prospect * 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.