An Economist among Mandarins
A Biography of Robert Hall, 1901–1988

A biography of Robert Hall, the highly respected and influential Economic Adviser to the government between 1947 and 1961.

Kit Jones (Author)

9780521471558, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 28 July 1994

266 pages, 24 b/w illus.
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.6 cm, 0.53 kg

"The best parts of Kit Jones's short biography are the early chapters on the years in Australia, which utilize Hall's unfinished autobiography....she builds an illuminating and affectionate portrait of the man while describing the many complex policy issues on which he advised." Susan Howson, American Historical Review

Robert Hall was the highly respected and influential Economic Adviser to the government between 1947 and 1961. He came to England from Australia as a Rhodes Scholar, became an Oxford don and a wartime civil servant. Within two years of returning to Oxford after the war, he was recalled to Whitehall. His appointment as Director of the Economic Section, first in the Cabinet Office and then in the Treasury, came at a crucial time in the development of the modern economic state, when governments were just taking on responsibility for managing the general course of the economy. As the senior members of the Treasury were rooted in a pre-Keynesian age, Hall's influence grew rapidly and was at times dominant with ministers. He was involved in all aspects of economic policy. This book puts a new slant on the events of these years as well as assessing Hall's role in them.

1. Introduction
2. An idyllic Australian childhood
3. Growing up
4. The young Australian in Oxford and London
5. Oxford don
6. Wartime civil servant in London and Washington
7. Postwar plans for a new economic order
8. A new job
9. Working with Cripps
10. The Korean War and rearmament
11. A change of government in 1951
12. The revival of monetary policy under the Tories
13. The problem of inflation
14. International economic cooperation
15. London, Oxford and Cornwall
16. Economic statesman
Appendices.

Subject Areas: Economic history [KCZ]