# Radcliffe report

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**The Report of the Committee on the Working of the Monetary System** (commonly known as **The Radcliffe Report**) is a report published in 1959 about monetary policy and the workings of the [Bank of England](/source/Bank_of_England). It is named after its [chairman](/source/Chairman), [Cyril Radcliffe, 1st Viscount Radcliffe](/source/Cyril_Radcliffe,_1st_Viscount_Radcliffe). The report started collecting evidence in 1957 and was the result of dissatisfaction with the workings of [monetary policy](/source/Monetary_policy) in the 1950s.[1] It is still an important reference document on the Bank of England.

## Context of creation

Monetary theory made progress after the [interwar period](/source/Interwar_period) but was disrupted by the [Second World War](/source/Second_World_War). After the war, the context was adequate[clarification needed] to start rethinking how to run [monetary policy](/source/Monetary_policy), and so the Radcliffe Committee was set up. The committee was composed of Lord Radcliffe, Professor Cairncross, Sir Oliver Franks, Viscount Harcourt, W. E. Jones, [Professor Sayers](/source/Richard_Sidney_Sayers), Sir Reginald Verdon Smith, George Woodcock and Sir John Woods.

## Contents

The 339-page report reviewed British [monetary policy](/source/Monetary_policy) since 1931 and gave recommendations.[2] The report downplayed the importance of keeping [money supply](/source/Money_supply) within strict limits, as well the importance of [monetary policy](/source/Monetary_policy). In general, the report was a device for the government to get more control over the Bank of England, such as by suggesting that the [Chancellor of the Exchequer](/source/Chancellor_of_the_Exchequer) be allowed to announce changes in the bank rate instead of the [Bank of England](/source/Bank_of_England).[3]

## Aftermath and impact

The clear impact of the report on [monetary policy](/source/Monetary_policy) is debated, and its actual influence on policy was limited. The economist [Anna Schwartz](/source/Anna_Schwartz), 10 years after the publication of the report, wrote that research in the following years gave "no support to the views expressed in the Radcliffe Report".[4]

One of the main recommendations was that if neither the commercial banks nor the [Trustee Savings Bank](/source/Trustee_Savings_Bank) introduced a [Giro](/source/Giro_(banking)) system for mass banking, the [General Post Office](/source/General_Post_Office) should investigate introducing such a system. In 1965 the [new Labour Government](/source/Labour_government,_1964%E2%80%931970) published a [white paper](/source/White_paper) "A Post Office Giro", outlining such a system with a computerised central system for processing transactions. Subsequently [National Girobank](/source/National_Girobank) was created in 1968.[5]

## References

1. Capie, Forrest (2010). *The Bank of England: 1950s to 1979*. Cambridge University Press. p. 77. ISBN 978-0-521-19282-8.

1. Katz, Samuel I. (3 November 1959). ["Radcliffe Report: Monetary Policy and Debt Management Reconciled?"](https://www.federalreserve.gov/pubs/rfd/1959/334/rfd334.pdf). [Federal Reserve System](/source/Federal_Reserve_System)

1. "The Radcliffe Report, a short guide". *[National Institute Economic Review](/source/National_Institute_Economic_Review)*. **5** (1): 18–21. 1 September 1959. [doi:10.1177/002795015900500103](https://doi.org/10.1177/002795015900500103). [S2CID 251058940](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:251058940)

1. Schwartz, Anna J. (1987). ["Why Money Matters"](https://www.nber.org/chapters/c7501.pdf). *Money in Historical Perspective*. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0-226-74228-8. Retrieved 21 May 2016.

1. ["The National Giro"](https://web.archive.org/web/20200128163504/https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/ea8cf00b-5d7e-4c7c-b8fe-264110303bd1). National Archives. 2060 - Santander Group Archives. Archived from [the original](https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/ea8cf00b-5d7e-4c7c-b8fe-264110303bd1) on 28 January 2020. Retrieved 27 November 2020.

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