The British Economic Disaster, 1964–1979

From Harold Wilson’s narrow election victory in October 1964 until James Callaghan’s defeat by Margaret Thatcher in May 1979, the Labour Party was in power in Britain almost continuously, interrupted only by the ill-fated Conservative government that held office under Edward Heath from June 1970 to February 1974. For much of this period Kaldor was an official policy adviser, retaining his Cambridge appointment (until his compulsory retirement in 1975) but spending most of his time — and energy — in Whitehall. He enjoyed himself greatly, becoming a household word and exerting considerable influence over Labour’s economic policies, especially on taxation. But he also found it a frustrating experience, as his ingenious and constantly creative mind came up against the hard realities of parliamentary politics and, above all, of the country’s apparently insoluble economic problems.