§ Mr. Meacherasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what had been the marginal propensity to import during each of the last 20 years.
§ Mr. Lawson[pursuant to his reply, 7 December 1979, c. 401]: There is no satisfactory way of defining or measuring 577W what the marginal propensity to import has been in a particular year. Imports will be affected by other factors, such as changes in price and non-price competitiveness, and not by changes in expenditure or income alone.
The table below shows changes in total final expenditure and in imports of goods and services for each of the last 20 years. As is apparent, the relationship between them fluctuates widely, and indeed there were two years in which the series moved in opposite directions.
£ million 1975 prices Change in total final expenditure (1) Change in imports of goods and services(2) (2) as a percentage of (1) 1959 … +3,471 +891 26 1960 … +4,829 +1,700 35 1961 … +2,329 -116 n.a. 1962 … +906 +331 37 1963 … +3,666 +728 20 1964 … +5,546 +1,751 32 1965 … +2,138 +170 8 1966 … +2,222 +469 21 1967 … +3,470 +1,339 39 1968 … +5,099 +1,545 30 1969 … +1,974 +714 36 1970 … +3,285 +1,213 37 1971 … +3,735 +1,163 31 1972 … +4,597 +2,457 53 1973 … +10,989 +3,264 30 1974 … -1,336 +266 n.a. 1975 … -3,297 -2,300 70 1976 … +5,032 +1,166 23 1977 … +1,665 +221 13 1978 … +4,644 +1,221 26 1959–78 +64,964 +18,193 28