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Book Details
Abstract
Throughout the twentieth century, Wales underwent rapid and far-reaching economic upheavals on such a scale that few avoided their impacts – from recessions, war, changing fortunes within the iconic steel and coal industries, the rise and decline of manufacturing, as well as the gradual rise to dominance of the service sector – the changes were as dramatic as was the intensity of attempts to deal with their consequences. Wales was a laboratory for government intervention in the economy, ranging from the attraction of investment and the clearance of land made derelict by industry, to the regeneration of urban areas. This is the first book to focus on these actions and to outline why, how and with what effect governments intervened, and it contains timely commentary as economic performance remains one of the most important issues facing contemporary Wales.
Table of Contents
| Section Title | Page | Action | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Front Cover | Front Cover | ||
| Title Page | iii | ||
| Copyright Page | iv | ||
| Dedication | v | ||
| Contents | vii | ||
| Acknowledgements | ix | ||
| List of tables | xi | ||
| Abbreviations | xiii | ||
| Introduction | 1 | ||
| Chapter I: Depression, War and Reconstruction, 1934–1951 | 9 | ||
| The economic inheritance | 9 | ||
| The great depression and the birth of regional policy in the 1930s | 15 | ||
| Total war and central planning, 1939–1945 | 22 | ||
| The impact of government action | 27 | ||
| Reconstruction, 1945–1951 | 33 | ||
| Interventions | 39 | ||
| Chapter II: The Age of Factories, 1951–1970 | 51 | ||
| Economic growth and regional policy during the ‘golden age’ | 51 | ||
| Growth and decline within the resource-based industries | 57 | ||
| Interventions | 61 | ||
| The administrative emergence of Wales | 71 | ||
| Conclusion | 77 | ||
| Chapter III: Keeping Afloat: The 1970s | 85 | ||
| The end of the ‘golden age’ and the peak of regional aid | 85 | ||
| Uncertain times in the resource-based industries | 90 | ||
| The Welsh Office and job creation | 93 | ||
| Interventions | 98 | ||
| Conclusion | 108 | ||
| Chapter IV: Crisis, Response and the Impact of Margaret Thatcher: 1979–1987 | 113 | ||
| The collapse of manufacturing and the eclipse of regional policy | 113 | ||
| Redundancies, subsidies and strikes in the resource-based industries | 118 | ||
| Emergency action from the Welsh Office | 123 | ||
| Interventions | 127 | ||
| Conclusion | 142 | ||
| Chapter V: A New Wales? 1987–1997 | 151 | ||
| Optimism and disappointment | 151 | ||
| Changing views at the Welsh Office | 156 | ||
| Controversy within the development agencies | 161 | ||
| Interventions | 165 | ||
| Conclusion | 179 | ||
| Chapter VI: Devolution and its Discontents: 1997–2006 | 185 | ||
| Stability and growth | 185 | ||
| The last years of the Welsh Office, 1997–1999 | 188 | ||
| Quagmire at the National Assembly for Wales, 1999–2006 | 191 | ||
| The bonfire of the quangos | 196 | ||
| Interventions | 199 | ||
| Conclusion | 211 | ||
| Conclusion | 217 | ||
| Appendix 1: Data | 225 | ||
| Appendix 2: Maps | 227 | ||
| Appendix 3: Organisational Genealogy, 1936–2006 | 239 | ||
| Bibliography | 241 | ||
| Index | 255 | ||
| Back Cover | Back Cover |