Sir Alan Walters | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | (1926-06-17)17 June 1926 Leicester, England |
| Died | 3 January 2009(2009-01-03) (aged 82) |
| Nationality | British |
| Spouse | |
| Academic career | |
| Field | Economics |
| Institution | |
| School or tradition | Monetarism |
| Alma mater | |
| Influences | Ernest Cassel |
| Part ofthe politics series on |
| Thatcherism |
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Sir Alan Arthur Walters (17 June 1926 – 3 January 2009) was a British economist who was best known as the Chief Economic Adviser to Prime MinisterMargaret Thatcher from 1981 to 1983 and (after his return from the United States) again for five months in 1989.
Walters was born inLeicester. His father was aCommunist and a grocer who sold goods from a van. He failed his11-Plus and attendedAlderman Newton's School in Leicester, leaving at fifteen to work as a machine operator in a shoe factory.[1] During World War II, he was called up and joined the British Army as aprivate.
Walters studied statistics atUniversity College Leicester and then went toNuffield College, Oxford, where he took anMA in economics.[1] On leaving Nuffield in 1951, he took up a post to teach statistics atBirmingham University, later becoming professor ofeconometrics and statistics there in the early 1960s. He was one of the first British economists to argue thatmoney was "of considerable importance" to economic activity, a view that became more widespread during "the Great Inflation" of the 1970s.[citation needed] He argued forcefully that Britain should maintain strict monetary targets, and that the money supply should not be manipulated for political reasons.[citation needed]
In 1968–70 he was a member of the Commission on the Third London Airport (the "Roskill Commission").[2]
After serving as a professor at theLondon School of Economics from 1968 to 1976, where he was SirErnest Cassel Professor of Economics, Walters became an economic adviser to theWorld Bank and a professor in the Economics Department at TheJohns Hopkins University.
One of his most important contributions to economic theory was to demonstrate empirically that, for many industries, the costs at the high-scale end of thelong-run cost curve is essentially constant or even declining. This was established in his article "Production and Cost Functions: An Econometric Survey", published by the journalEconometrica.[3]
In 1981, he was asked to become an economic adviser to Prime MinisterMargaret Thatcher (who was elected in the1979 general election), and advised on that year'sbudget, in which taxes were increased during a recession. This policy produced much criticism and was associated with rioting and high unemployment,[4] but it has been claimed that it enabled the sustained economic growth of the 1990s.[5] He left this role in 1983 to join theAmerican Enterprise Institute and at least some aspects of monetarist policies were publicly repudiated by Thatcher in 1985.[4] He did, however, return to advise Thatcher in 1989, but his differences with the policies of theChancellor of the Exchequer,Nigel Lawson, led to the resignation of both men on 26 October 1989.[6]
Walters supported the controversial and ill-fatedCommunity Charge (referred to as the "poll tax"). He opposed the similarly ill-fated policy of entry into theEuropean Monetary System. In 1997, he stood as theReferendum Party candidate for the safe Conservative seat of theCities of London and Westminster achieving 3% of the vote.
In 1975, Walters married Margaret Patricia Wilson, known as Paddie. He had a daughter by a previous marriage to Audrey Claxton.[1] He wasknighted in theQueen's 1983 Birthday Honours List.
He was an accomplished pianist, enjoying playing the works ofChopin andBeethoven. He also collected Thai porcelain and was a keen tennis player.[1]
Walters was vice-chairman and Director ofAIG Trading Group, Inc.[1]
Towards the end of his life, he suffered fromParkinson's disease. He died aged 82 at his home on 3 January 2009 after a short illness.[5] Upon hearing of his death, Thatcher described him as "radical, fearless" and the "finest of friends".[7]
