Foreword‪.‬

It is true that there may be as many different interpretations on the most important issue of inflation-c*m-stagflation as there are financial management specialists-cure-economists and at this point the words of Dr. Graham Hallett of Cambridge University ring a bell when he opines : academic economists are, quite rightly, concerned primarily with general problems and principles of implementing policy, and may well indeed have less competence and knowledge on this subject than professional administrators... so, successful economic policies require the participation both of academic "ideas men" and experienced administrators ... The Times published on the same page, letters from Sir Roy Harrod and Sir Ralph Hawtrey, giving contradictory accounts of our present economic predicament. Sir Ralph (reflecting the official view) explained that the country was suffering from inflation as a result of excessive monetary demand and that deflationary policies were therefore needed. Sir Roy explained that the country was suffering from deflation rather than monetary inflation, and that a prices and incomes policy was what was needed. Neither conceded that they might possibly be wrong or that there might be more than one way of looking at the problem.