Background

ALDCROFT, Derek Howard was born in 1936 in Abergele, North Wales, United Kingdom.

Education

Bachelor of Arts, Doctor of Philosophy Manchester University, 1958, 1962.

Career

Teaching Assistant, Lector, Glasgow University, 1960-1962, 1964-1967. Assistant Lector, Senior Lector, Reader, Leicester University, 1962-1963, 1967-1970, 1970-1973. Professor Economics History, Sydney University, Australia 1973-1976.

Professor Economics History, Leicester University, England, since 1976.

Chairman, Editorial Board, J Transport History, 1971-1978. Editorial Board, Business History Review, 1971-1973.

Advisory Panel, Economics Review, since 1983.

Achievements

• HoublonNorman Award 1968, 1972. Overseas Visiting Fellow, Australia, 1979. Council, Economie History Society, United Kingdom, since 1983.

Works

More photos

• book

  • The British Economy Between the Wars

    (Book by Aldcroft, Derek H.)

  • British Transport Since 1914. An Economic History
  • The inter-war economy: Britain, 1919-1939
  • British Transport Since 1914. An Economic History
  • British transport since 1914 : an economic history
  • The European Economy 1914-1980
  • Building in the British Economy between the Wars
  • British railways in transition: The economic problems of Britain's railways since 1914
  • Studies in British Transport History, 1870-1970
  • British Transport: An Economic Survey from the Seventeenth Century to the Twentieth (Pelican)
  • The Inter-War Economy: Britain, 1919 - 1939
  • Building in the British Economy Between the Wars (Glasgow University Society & Economic Study)

Views

My research interests have been centred on modem economic issues and much of my work crosses the boundary disciplines between economics and economic history. I have for many years written on two major themes: growth and structural change in advanced economies, and transport problems of the twentieth century. I have made some important contributions to the reinterpretation of Britain’s interwar growth performance and more recently I shifted attention to the post-1950 period.

Since I believe that there are often lessons to be learned from the study of the past, I have always attempted to relate my historical work to contemporary problems. This is demonstrated clearly in my latest work Full Employment— The Elusive Goal, which examines the constraints to generating full employment in the 1930s and 1980s. This work also shifts my focus of interest towards macropolicy issues of the twentieth century and the controversies between rival schools of thought.

Increasingly, as I work in this area, I incline to the view that viable growth and employment cannot be determined by government policy in the long run unless a stable financial framework is maintained.

Interests

• 110 Economic Growth; 044 European Economic History.