Economists and the British Economy

In the late 1950s and early 1960s only a handful of British economists — for the most part associated with the IEA — began to swim against the mainstream of conventional wisdom of Cambridge, National Institute (NIESR), Treasury and Bank of England establishment. At first, the establishment ignored them — expecting, I suppose, that they would become weary once more and rejoin the mainstream. But the IEA went on its way. And the obloquy was poured in full measure: jejune, Neanderthal, antediluvian — ultimately becoming Selsdon man.1