Nationalization In Britain

Abstract

Labour's response to the problems involved in renationalizing steel and road haulage and in establishing "competitive public enterprises" in other industries is likely this year to become the test of the Labour Party's capacity to lead the country into the scientific revolution of the next decade. This is therefore a good moment to review the experience of nationalization to date. In this task we now have two recent books which do much to bring together the materials for such a review- Harry Hanson's Readings on Nationalisation and the Fabian Society study of the Lessons of Public Enterprises. fortunately no chapters or sections of books are included in Hanson's Readings. W. A. Robson's Nationalised Industry and Public Ownership must be the starting point for every student, but there is now a vast and growing literature, some part only of which can be reviewed here.