The Autumn 2022 Financial Crisis in Historical Perspective

The scale and severity of the financial and political crisis triggered by the Truss administration’s ‘mini-budget’ of 23 September 2022 have left commentators searching for comparable emergencies. ‘Black Wednesday’ 1992 has frequently been mentioned. Those with longer memories have cast their minds back to the Sterling Crises of 1967 and 1976 or the reversal of the 1972 ‘dash-for-growth’. Comparisons have even been drawn with the Suez Crisis of 1956, when a sudden and humiliating reversal of foreign policy led to the downfall of prime minister, Anthony Eden. 

In this special discussion co-hosted by History & Policy and the Mile End Institute, an expert panel discussed the historical precedents and try to identify the lessons they might offer to contemporary policy-makers.


Panellists:

• Duncan Weldon (British economics correspondent for The Economist)
• Tim Bale (Professor of Politics in the School of Politics and International Relations, Queen Mary, University of London)

Chair: Philip Murphy (Director, History & Policy)