Showing papers on "White paper published in 1984"

Social Democracy and Full Employment: The Australian White Paper, 1945

Abstract: Whilst it cannot be denied that the content of the Paper was 'unique' in Australian history, in that it officially abrogated some of the shibboleths of economic orthodoxy, e.g. government parsimony and balanced budgets, and replaced them with a policy which though lacking in precise and specific proposals, was Keynesian in tone, it would be unjustified to describe the Paper as an application of Keynesian economics. It presented a selective, cautious and ultimately inadequate approach to the problems to which Keynesian economics addressed itself. Nevertheless, this approach remained to dominate Australian economic policy for the next three decades. For this reason alone, the White Paper is of importance and worthy of investigation, but the fact that it was produced by a social democratic government makes it even more significant as it can be used to reveal something about the character of social democracy in Australia at this crucial stage in our historical development. Well before the Second World War had ended, the Governments of most advanced capitalist countries had begun to plan post-war reconstruc tion on the basis of Keynesian economic theory and a major part of these plans was a commitment to the maintenance of full employment. While there were a variety of reasons for this remarkably rapid and universal adoption of the precepts of Keynesian theory, the most salient was the rise of popular radicalism generated by the experience of the War.2 The character of war-time domestic economic organisation, as it existed in Australia and the UK, contributed significantly to this radicalism, for it demonstrated that state intervention and control of hitherto un

The Conditions of Joint Action

Abstract: THE WHITE PAPER on Streamlining the Cities creates a new need for joint action by local authorities. 1 The need arises from a basic tension in the Government proposals. The Government proposes the abolition of the Greater London Council (GLC) and the metropolitan county councils, while still recognising Greater London and the metropolitan counties as governmental areas, with functions requiring to be governed over wider areas than individual London boroughs or metropolitan districts. It could be argued that the dilemma of the Government arises because it is proposing the abolition of metropolitan government while still believing in it. Thus, if the Government really believed that the London boroughs or the metropolitan districts could carry out the functions of metropolitan government, the need for joint action on the scale proposed would disappear. The issue arises more clearly in the metropolitan counties, where three major functions (police, fire, public transport) representing 70 per cent of the expenditure of those authorities are judged to require joint action at the metropolitan level. The issue does not arise so sharply in the case of the GLC, because the metropolitan police are not under local government control and the Government are removing London passenger transport from any form of local government control. The issue does however arise in Inner London for education and in Greater London for the fire service and for a range of other issues judged to require consideration or action at that level. Joint action can be required for the government of a function, as with education or the fire service. Joint action can be required to provide some facility necessary for one or more functions, as with the creation of a joint purchasing facility. The major issues arise normally in relation to the former rather than the latter, and it is on the government of functions, rather than the provision of means for the function, that this article, like the White Paper, concentrates.

Buses white paper-a "concrete edifice on stilts"

Abstract: This article examines the evidence presented in the UK government white paper proposals for the deregulation of the bus passenger transport industry. The writer states that the evidence is at best partial and is far removed from the general industrial practices currently operating in Britain. In the absence of appropriate evidence the white paper's arguments are said to rest on a series of weakly supported assertions. The fallacy of the white paper's purported mismatch between supply and demand based on changes in boarding rates is illustrated with respect to two municipal operators-Reading and Southend. The effect of suburbanisation and rationalisation of bus services are discussed. The need to take account of social demand as well as commercial viability in the planning of public transport services is emphasized. (TRRL)

Forecasts for u.s. maritime industries in 1989: balancing national security and economic considerations

Abstract: The United States has been, is, and will remain dependent upon the sea for much of its security and economic viability. Therefore, the future of its maritime capabilities should not be a neglected subject. One purpose of this "White Paper" is to forecast the level of aggregate U.S. maritime capability likely to be in service by the end of the decade. That forecast is far from positive. Indeed, without major changes in current U.S. private and public sector policies, there will be a significant reduction from today's levels. The effect of that decline on U.S. interests must be determined and the implications clearly understood.

Education and Science

Abstract: This chapter examines the expenditure plans for Education and Science outlined in the White Paper. To clarify the trends in education expenditure the 1984/5 – 1986/7 plans are set, where possible, against current, 1983/4, spending. It will emerge that the decrease in government spending is greater than initially apparent from the White Paper and, consequently, that the adjustments required of the education system are also that much greater.