THE HOBSBAWM‐WIENER CONUNDRUM: ECONOMICS, HISTORY AND SOCIOLOGY IN THE STUDY OF BRITISH DECLINE

Economics and economic history, general history and sociology have all usefully informed debates about the decline of the British economy relative to those of other nations, and useful contributions have also been made by political scientists, psychologists, students of industrial relations and of management and organisational behaviour. However, the most fundamental contributions have generally come from the three major disciplines of economics (with economic history), general history and sociology. Unfortunately habits and traditions peculiar to these disciplines have sometimes been unhelpful to processes of approaching comprehensive understanding. Further, interdisciplinary discussions and controversies have sometimes produced a certain amount of ‘noise’, even on some occasions where agreement on substantive points has been considerable.