HL Deb 30 June 1997 vol 581 c8WA
Lord Lucas

asked Her Majesty's Government:

With reference to the statement in the Labour Party manifesto that one of the underlying causes of inflation, of low growth and of unemployment is "too much economic instability", how they measure economic instability; and how much instability there was at the end of the last financial year or, if more appropriate, during the previous three years.

Lord Simon of Highbury

The UK economy has suffered from a high degree of instability, as illustrated by swings in the economy over time. Since 1979, the UK has experienced the two deepest and longest recessions in the post-war period. From peak to trough, output fell by 5¼ per cent. in the early 1980s, and by 3¾per cent. in the early 1990s. Over the past 20 years, fluctuations in GDP growth have been larger in the UK than in any other G7 economy apart from Canada, and over the past 25 years inflation has been more volatile than in any other G7 country.