This major study analyses the economic policies of the Attlee government, both international and domestic, in the light of Labour's issues and doctrines about the economy. Jim Tomlinson highlights the concern of the government with issues of industrial efficiency, and how this concern pervaded all areas of economic policy. He focuses on the economic aspects of the creation of the welfare state, and how efficiency concerns led to a great deal of austerity in the design of welfare provision. In addition, Tomlinson offers detailed discussion of the labour market in this period, both the attempts to 'plan' that market and the tensions in the policies created by attempts to attract more women into paid work. Students, professional historians and even politicians will greatly benefit from this broad-based reappraisal of a crucial era.

"The book has a compelling thesis and much detailed empirical work to support it. What makes it a particularly significant contribution is the fact that Tomlinson is so at home in all aspects of the subject matter. He is excellent....One gets the sense of someone who really understands the nature of the Labour party and the broader labor movement....This book, in short, is a compelling and important addition to the literature, and one which will be read with profit by all students and scholars of modern British political, economic, and social history." Andrew Thorpe, Labor History

"Democratic Socialism and Economic Policy is a sound piece of scholarship. It is detailed, finely tuned and a useful book for serious scholars of the period. It may also tell us more about the opaque features of Blairism given the fact that no party can ever fully escape its own history when attempting to govern." Kurt W. Jefferson, British Politics Group Newsletter

"This is a book characterized by many of Tomlinson's virtues: it is accessible, the breadth of secondary reading is formidable, and it provokes a rethinking of important issues." Martin Chick, Albion

"This ambitious book draws together much of the work that Jim Tomlison has published in articles and discussion papers in the 1990s. This...book...is accessible, the breadth of secondary reading is formidable, and it provokes a rethinking of important issues." Martin Chick, Albion

"...fine, coherent, and concentrated exploration of Labour's democratic-socialistic pursuit, in thought and action, of economic policy during the Attlee years." Jerry H. Brookshire, American Historical Review

"In this most recent contribution Tomlinson combines his research interests in politics and economics to contribute a well-written and well-researched piece of scholarship addressing the founding moments of Britain's welfare state. Tomlinson has written a strong, clear study that will be of value to scholars and students of British history." Mary Alvey Thomas, History

"In his book on the 1945 Labour government's economic policy, Jim Tomlinson makes a useful addition to an already large literature...Tomlinson has written a useful book that does full justice to the difficult situation within which Labour ministers acted. It will interest both the specialist who is already familiar with the main issues and students who are looking for a clear point of entry into a highly complex subject." Peter Weiler, International Labor & Working-Class History