Patrick Minford
Encyclopedia
Professor Patrick Minford CBE
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...

 (b. 1943) is a British macroeconomist who is currently Professor of Applied Economics at Cardiff Business School, Cardiff University
Cardiff University
Cardiff University is a leading research university located in the Cathays Park area of Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom. It received its Royal charter in 1883 and is a member of the Russell Group of Universities. The university is consistently recognised as providing high quality research-based...

, a position he has held since 1997. He was previously Edward Gonner Professor of Applied Economics at the University of Liverpool
University of Liverpool
The University of Liverpool is a teaching and research university in the city of Liverpool, England. It is a member of the Russell Group of large research-intensive universities and the N8 Group for research collaboration. Founded in 1881 , it is also one of the six original "red brick" civic...

 from 1976 to 1997.

Early career

Minford was educated at Winchester
Winchester College
Winchester College is an independent school for boys in the British public school tradition, situated in Winchester, Hampshire, the former capital of England. It has existed in its present location for over 600 years and claims the longest unbroken history of any school in England...

 and Balliol College, Oxford
Balliol College, Oxford
Balliol College , founded in 1263, is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England but founded by a family with strong Scottish connections....

 and then at the London School of Economics
London School of Economics
The London School of Economics and Political Science is a public research university specialised in the social sciences located in London, United Kingdom, and a constituent college of the federal University of London...

. He worked at the Ministry of Overseas Development
Department for International Development
The Department For International Development is a United Kingdom government department with a Cabinet Minister in charge. It was separated from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 1997. The goal of the department is "to promote sustainable development and eliminate world poverty". The current...

 and then as an Economic Adviser to the Ministry of Finance of Malawi
Malawi
The Republic of Malawi is a landlocked country in southeast Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the northwest, Tanzania to the northeast, and Mozambique on the east, south and west. The country is separated from Tanzania and Mozambique by Lake Malawi. Its size...

. He then took a position as an Economic Adviser to Her Majesty's Treasury's External Division.

Academic career

In 1976, Minford took a position in the Economics Department at the University of Liverpool
University of Liverpool
The University of Liverpool is a teaching and research university in the city of Liverpool, England. It is a member of the Russell Group of large research-intensive universities and the N8 Group for research collaboration. Founded in 1881 , it is also one of the six original "red brick" civic...

, becoming the Edward Gonner Professor of Applied Economics. He gained prominence in 1981 when 364 leading economists published a statement criticising Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...

's economic policies, Minford replied by defending the Government in The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...

. Mrs. Thatcher subsequently wrote a letter to Minford to congratulate him. Minford was against Nigel Lawson
Nigel Lawson
Nigel Lawson, Baron Lawson of Blaby, PC , is a British Conservative politician and journalist. He was a Member of Parliament representing the constituency of Blaby from 1974–92, and served as the Chancellor of the Exchequer in the government of Margaret Thatcher from June 1983 to October 1989...

's policy of pound sterling
Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...

 shadowing the Deutschmark
German mark
The Deutsche Mark |mark]], abbreviated "DM") was the official currency of West Germany and Germany until the adoption of the euro in 2002. It is commonly called the "Deutschmark" in English but not in German. Germans often say "Mark" or "D-Mark"...

. He was also against Britain joining the European Exchange Rate Mechanism because he thought it was having a bad effect on recovering from recession
Recession
In economics, a recession is a business cycle contraction, a general slowdown in economic activity. During recessions, many macroeconomic indicators vary in a similar way...

 and keeping down interest rates. Minford favoured the Community Charge
Community Charge
The Community Charge, popularly known as the "poll tax", was a system of taxation introduced in replacement of the rates to part fund local government in Scotland from 1989, and England and Wales from 1990. It provided for a single flat-rate per-capita tax on every adult, at a rate set by the...

 as a way of keeping down local government spending. Minford rejected the idea that Britain should sign up to the European Social Chapter.

Political Appointments and Views

In 1988 he was appointed a Board Member of the Merseyside Development Corporation
Development Corporation
In England and Wales, Development Corporations are bodies set up by the UK government and charged with the urban development of an area, outside the usual system of Town and Country Planning in the United Kingdom...

 but resigned, saying it had a negative effect on job creation.
During the 2005 Conservative leadership election Minford backed David Davis
David Davis (British politician)
David Michael Davis is a British Conservative Party politician who is the Member of Parliament for the constituency of Haltemprice and Howden...

 as someone who he thought could deliver tax-cuts and win votes http://www.guardbritain.com/page11.html. For many years a Vice-President of the Conservative Monday Club
Conservative Monday Club
The Conservative Monday Club is a British pressure group "on the right-wing" of the Conservative Party.-Overview:...

, Patrick Minford is now on the Council of the Conservative Way Forward
Conservative Way Forward
Conservative Way Forward is a British campaigning group that operates within the Conservative Party. It is a Thatcherite group in outlook and agenda, and Baroness Thatcher herself is the President....

 organisation, and is a member of the European Reform Forum
European Reform Forum
The European Reform Forum is a committee of senior British politicians, journalists, academics, and businessmen who are seeking to produce a report on the future direction of the European Union. The members are drawn predominantly from a Conservative background. It was launched on 30 June 2005 in...

. A confirmed eurosceptic
EuroSceptic
EuroSceptic is the second album of British singer Jack Lucien. It was released in October 2009.Due to being an album influenced by Europop, it features songs with parts in different languages...

, he is a supporter of the Better Off Out
Better Off Out
Better Off Out is the name of a non-party campaign run by The Freedom Association to call for the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the European Union...

 campaign to leave the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...

. He is a trustee of the Atlantic Bridge
The Atlantic Bridge
The Atlantic Bridge Research and Education Scheme was an educational charity founded in 1997 with Margaret Thatcher as its President to promote Atlanticism, a philosophy of cooperation between the United Kingdom and the United States regarding political, economic, and defense issues. It was set up...

. He is on the Advisory Council of Reform
Reform (think tank)
Reform is a British centre-right, liberal, think tank based in London, whose declared mission is to set out a better way to deliver public services and economic prosperity via private sector involvement and market de-regulation. Reform describes itself as independent and non-partisan...

.

In the media

Minford was interviewed about the rise of Thatcherism
Thatcherism
Thatcherism describes the conviction politics, economic and social policy, and political style of the British Conservative politician Margaret Thatcher, who was leader of her party from 1975 to 1990...

 for the 2006 BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

 TV documentary series Tory! Tory! Tory!
Tory! Tory! Tory!
Tory! Tory! Tory! is a 2006 BBC television documentary series on the history of the people and ideas that formed Thatcherism told through the eyes of those on the New Right.-Production:...

.

Publications

  • Patrick Minford, Substitution Effects, Speculation and Exchange Rate Stability (1978).
  • Patrick Minford, Unemployment: Cause and Cure (1983).
  • Patrick Minford, Why there is no alternative (to Conservative economic theory), in Right Ahead newspaper published by the Conservative Monday Club
    Conservative Monday Club
    The Conservative Monday Club is a British pressure group "on the right-wing" of the Conservative Party.-Overview:...

    , October 1985 Conservative Party Conference Issue.
  • Patrick Minford, Economic Strategy, a Policy Paper for the Monday Club's Economics Policy Committee, September 1986.
  • Patrick Minford, The Housing Morass (1987).
  • Patrick Minford, Why we need bold tax cuts on March 14, Policy Paper for the Monday Club's Economic Policy Committee, March 1989.
  • Patrick Minford, Conservative Economic Strategies into the 90s, in Right Ahead newspaper published by the Conservative Monday Club, October 1989 Conservative Party Conference Issue.
  • Patrick Minford, The Supply Side Revolution in Britain (1991).
  • Patrick Minford, Markets Not Stakes (1998).
  • Patrick Minford, Should Britain join the Euro? The Chancellor's Five Euro Tests (2002).
  • Patrick Minford, Should Britain leave the EU? An Economic Analysis of a Troubled Relationship (2005).

External links

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