Showing papers in "The Economic Journal in 1968"
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TL;DR: The Rural Economy and Country Life in the Medieval West by Georges Duby as discussed by the authors is the best overview of European medieval rural history to date, originally published in French and first translated into English in 1968.
Abstract: In 1961 Georges Duby wrote what is still the best overview of European medieval rural history to date. Originally published in French and first translated into English in 1968, Rural Economy and Country Life in the Medieval West brings together local research on the countryside and its economic life and distills from it lessons that apply much more widely. With this edition, the University of Pennsylvania Press brings this modern classic back into print.
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TL;DR: In this article, the authors divided cost benefit studies into two parts: statistical and speculative, and argued that these vary greatly according to the values usedy which are in any event arbitrary.
Abstract: The author divided cost-benefit studies into two parts: statistical and speculative. The latter consists of the evaluation of time sauings and it is argued that these vary greatly, according to the values usedy which are in any event arbitrary. This is illustrated using the M1 motorway and Victoria Line studies. Examining working time suggests that not all time saved is used for work, yet in other situations schedules are changed and new routes added for goods vehicles, and population and industry is re-arranged. A worked example demonstrates that there is a significant economic difference between many people saving a short time and few saving a long time. Regarding leisure, it is difficult to equate eating with journeys to work and with general leisure pursuits. Many factors which determine travel habits are ignored, it is suggested. These are, amount of time saved relative to total trip time, journey breaks, reliability, time-tabling, comfort and convenience. Thus road pricing is artificial: there is a criticism of the smeed report because of the sensivity of the results to changes in time saving valuations. Further, the rest of the population would have no say in investment in transport. Concluding, the author writes that such investment involves a political decision. Only when a level of traffic has been fixed, can road pricing be used. /TRRL/
TL;DR: In the United Kingdom, investment allowances were introduced in 1946, investment grants were combined with initial allowances in 1954, they were combined in 1959 and they were replaced by cash investment grants in 1966 as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: Postwar economic policy in the United Kingdom and other advanced capitalist economies has been increasingly concerned with the level and rate of increase of labour productivity, both at the national level and at industry and firm levels. One aspect of this concern has been successive attempts by governments to encourage investment expenditure through fiscal incentives; for example, initial allowances were introduced in the United Kingdom in 1946, investment allowances were introduced in 1954, they were combined in 1959 and they were replaced by cash investment grants in 1966. Over the same period there have been various attempts to encourage the finance of investment by internal funds, the latest of which is the corporation tax (1966), an avowed object of which is to lower dividend pay-out ratios and so, it is hoped, encourage internally financed investment expenditure.