§ 3. Mr. Peter M. Jacksonasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will give a direction to the Bank of England to stop subscribing to the Institute of Economic Affairs.
§ 6. Mr. Dickensasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will give a direction to the Bank of England that they should cease to subscribe to the Institute of Economic Affairs.
§ Mr. JacksonIs my right hon. Friend aware that much of the research of this organisation is of a highly tendentious nature and that it has published such titles as "Journeys to Coercion: From Tolpuddle to Rookes v. Barnard" and "The Inconsistencies of the Health Service"? Would not my right hon. Friend agree that much of this research is contrary to the economic principles for which we on this side of the House stand and that it is outrageous that a 277 public body should subscribe to such an organisation?
§ Mr. SpeakerOrder. Questions cannot be speeches.
§ Mr. CallaghanAccording to its own formulation, the Institute is
a research and educational trust that specialises in the study of markets and pricing systems as technical devices for registering preferences and apportioning resources. Microeconomic analysis forms the kernel of economics … in the public and private sectors … Where the macro-economic method is used its results are verified … in the light of microeconomic analysis.That is what the Institute says it does. But the real question is whether this is a matter of national interest in which I should issue a direction, and, on the whole, I think that it is not.
§ Colonel LancasterDoes not the Chancellor of the Exchequer think that this and other relevant questions might well form part of an inquiry by the Select Committee on the Nationalised Industries into the functions of the Bank of England?
§ Mr. CallaghanI should have thought that that was a rather heavy conclusion to hang on a question of this sort.