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In this 1998 book, experts in British industrial history analyse the causes of nationalisation in the 1940s.
List of contents
Part I. Government and Industry 1920-50: 1. Industrial organisation and economic factors in nationalisation Robert Millward; 2. Labour, the Conservatives and nationalisation John Singleton; Part II. Case Studies of Industry Organisation, Performance and Nationalisation: 3. The coal industry: images and realities on the road to nationalisation David Greasley; 4. The changing role of government in British civil air transport 1919-49 Peter Lyth; 5. The motor vehicle industry Sue Bowden; 6. The railway companies and the nationalisation issue 1920-50 Gerald Crompton; 7. The motives for gas nationalisation; practicality or ideology John F. Wilson; 8. Public ownership and the British arms industry 1920-50 David Edgerton; 9. The water industry 1900-51: a failure of public policy? John A. Hassan; 10. Debating the nationalisation of the cotton industry, 1918-50 John Singleton; Part III. Government and the Process of Industrial Change in the 1940s: 11. 'The thin edge of the wedge?': nationalisation and industrial structure during the Second World War Peter Howlett; 12. The political economy of nationalisation: the electricity industry Martin Chick; 13. Partners and enemies: the government's decision to nationalise steel 1944-48 Ruggiero Ranieri; Part IV. Review and Conclusions: 14. The ownership of British industry in the post-war era: an explanation Robert Millward and John Singleton; Index.
Summary
In this 1995 study of the causes of nationalisation, experts in British industrial history analyse the public ownership debates, and explain how the Labour governments of 1945–51 believed that the public ownership of certain major industries would be economically beneficial.
