This book describes the adoption, growth and subsequent relinquishment of industrial subsidies in the UK, tracing their development back to the early years of this century and following their extension through to virtually every area of economic policy. This includes the foothold gained for industrial subsidies in the run-up and aftermath of the First World War, the application of large-scale subsidies to agriculture in the Depression, the plans for an interventionist industrial strategy devised in the Second World War and the gradual expansion of industrial subsidies from this time through to their heyday in the late-1970s. Considerable attention is devoted to events in the 1980s, including the extension of financial assistance to urban and rural policy, small and new firm measures, technology support, collaborative research programmes and advisory schemes.
