THES GROWING ECONOMIC ROLE OF THE STATE by Pat Jordan
Public expenditures; i.e., all expenditure by the central Governm ent, the National Insurance fund, local authority expenditure, capital’ expenditure of the nationalised industries and the public corporations, reached a total of nearly £11,000m., the equivalent of 44% of the Gross National Product (GNP). It must be noted that oevon after 11 years of Tory rule the percentage of the GNP accounted for by public expenditure has changed very little. In 1952, after 6 years of Labour rule, public expenditure amounted to 45% of the GNP. Betwoen 1952 and 1957 thero was a slow decline in the proportion of the GNP absorbed by public expondit— ure, reaching its lowest post-war point in 1957 at 40.5%. ut this was largely due to the decrease in defence expenditure and since then the figure has gradually risen.
The Plowden Committee looked at the figures over a longer period They showed that in 1870, Growth Supply Expenditure stood at 4% of the GNP, by 1910 it had risen to Gh, in 1930 it had reached 12% and was 15% in 1938, This indicates how the growth has taken place irrespective of which political party was in the seat of Governmente Plans announced by the Tories in rocent months would indicate that the tendency will contie mee Proposals arising from Beoching, Buchanan, Newsome and Robbins envisage an annual increase in Government expenditure of over Ah, or nearly £2,000m. in absolute termse
The importance of the public sector can be expressed in other wayse Geonomic Trends, December, 1962, calculated that nearly one quarter of all emp Loyment in Britain is in the public sector. This compares with 7% in 1911 and 10% in 1930. Tho articlo gave actual figures of omployment as (figures in thousands) Central Government 1,776, local government 1,782 and public corporations as 2,196; making a total of 5,754 out of a total working population of 25 million. Under Tory rule there have boen reductions in the mumbor of civil servants and measures of denatior alisation, even so the drop in the mumber employed by the public sector has been merely from 24.6% in 1957 to 23.1% in 1962. Wages and salaries from public sources amount to 28% of all wages and salaries, or £4, 83]. out of a total of £17,074m.
In addition, the Governmont controls decisions concerning the disposal of social benefits and other public grants which amount to a further £1,980m. Tho two items: wages and salaries, and Grants and bonefits, togethor amount to £6,812m. or 28% of all total personal incomese As well controlling the nearly half the national income, being the biggest single omployer, the Government.jis the biggest single landlord (owning about ono quartor of all existing houses) and being responsible for the milding of somo 60% of all now dwellings since 1945.
This brief survey reveals how 'rotten ripe! British society is for the social ownership of the means of production. Despite the fact the working class has not yet oxpropriated the bourgeoisie, the laws of political economy still operate. The figures are an expression of the inoxorable tendency towards socialisation — what is lacking is the political, democratic and social corollary — in a word = socialism.
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