Alec Cairncross has alternated throughout his career between academic life and government service. Since his retirement he has written extensively on episodes in national and international affairs in which he participated. For example, planning aircraft production in wartime; the Marshall Plan; the devaluation of 1967. He has been President of the British Association, of the Scottish Economic Society and of the Royal Economic Society.

• Preface 1 IN PRAISE OF ECONOMIC HISTORY Part I Wartime and after 2 HOW BRITISH AIRCRAFT PRODUCTION WAS PLANNED IN THE SECOND WORLD WAR 3 ECONOMISTS IN WARTIME 4 POSTWAR PLANNING IN EUROPE, 1945–7 5 THE ECONOMIC RECOVERY OF WESTERN GERMANY 6 INDUSTRIAL RECOVERY FROM WAR: A COMPARISON OF BRITISH AND GERMAN EXPERIENCE 7 THE GERMAN BALANCE OF PAYMENTS CRISIS, 1950–1 8 THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE MARSHALL PLAN 9 THE MARSHALL PLAN—A RETROSPECTIVE 10 PRELUDE TO RADCLIFFE: MONETARY POLICY IN THE UNITED KINGDOM, 1948–57 Part II From devaluation to Thatcher 11 THE 1967 DEVALUATION OF STERLING 12 THE 1970s IN PERSPECTIVE 13 THE IMF CRISIS OF 1976 14 ECONOMIC POLICY AFTER 1974: A REVIEW ARTICLE 15 THE EARLY HISTORY OF J & P COATS 16 ECONOMIC TRENDS IN THE TRADE OF DEVELOPING COUNTRIES 17 BRITAIN’S INDUSTRIAL DECLINE 18 ECONOMISTS AND ENGINEERS 19 THE DEVELOPMENT OF ECONOMIC STATISTICS AS AN INFLUENCE ON THEORY AND POLICY 20 REFLECTIONS ON ECONOMIC IDEAS AND GOVERNMENT POLICY: 1939 AND AFTER