#3

optional module 15 credits

Chancellors and the Treasury: Managing the British Economy 

‘Chancellors and the Treasury: Managing the British Economy’ is the result of a unique collaboration between His Majesty’s Treasury the Policy Institute at King’s and the Strand Group. It studies the role and actions of the Treasury and its Chancellors since the Second World War up to the present day, through the context of the British economy.

The module is led by Chetun Patel and co-taught weekly by former Shadow Chancellor and Chief Economic Adviser to the Treasury Ed Balls; Prof. Jon Davis and former Permanent Secretary to the Treasury Lord Macpherson of Earl’s Court. A wider teaching panel includes senior Treasury official, Mario Pisani, Deputy Governors of the Bank of England Clare Lombardelli and Sir Dave Ramsden plus Catherine MacLeod, former special adviser to Chancellor Alistair Darling.

Prominent special guest speakers will further increase the stellar teaching panel – in previous years these have included former Chancellors  George Osborne, Lord Lawson, Gordon Brown, Lord Darling, Lord Clarke, Lord Hammond, Sajid Javid, Lord Lamont and former Chief Secretaries of the Treasury Sir Danny Alexander, David Gauke and Yvette Cooper and permanent secretaries past and present including Lord Burns, Sir Tom Scholar and James Bowler. One class per year will take place in HM Treasury. Students will gain unprecedented insight into the theory and practice of British economic history since the Second World War from those who have dealt with it first-hand.

Learning outcomes

At the end of the module, students will have: 

• A detailed understanding of the history and working of HM Treasury;
• A deep and informed understanding of the interaction between competing orthodoxies, economics and monetary and fiscal policies;
• Recognise how HM Treasury works in relation to other government departments such as No.10 Downing Street;
• Acquired a deep and evolving understanding of the constantly-updating literature and ultra-contemporary historiography of these years;
• Gained experience of using primary and secondary sources as a means of analysing the history of HM treasury; 
• Undertaken a detailed investigation of at least one particular theme associated with this subject, using secondary and primary sources, to produce a finished piece of analysis.