As early as the 1930s, Britain had a highly innovative and profitable mortgage sector that promoted a major extension in home ownership. These controversial and risky offerings had an equivalent in numerous hire purchase agreements, with which new homes were furnished. Such developments were forerunners of the 'easy credit' regime more commonly associated with the 1980s. Taking a long-term perspective on this issue indicates that Britain's departure from European models of consumer credit markets was not simply a by-product of neoliberalism's influence on the Thatcher administration, and this book offers a much fuller explanation to the phenomenon. It explores debates within and between the major political parties; reveals the infighting amongst civil service departments over management of consumer demand; charts the varying degrees of influence wielded by the Bank of England and finance capital, as opposed to that of consumer durable manufacturers; reviews the perspectives of consumers and their representatives; and explains the role of contingency and path dependency in these historical events. The central focus of this book is on consumer credit, but this subject provides a case study through which to explore numerous other important areas of British history. These include debates on the issues of post-war consensus, the impact of rising home ownership and its impact on consumer credit and personal finance markets, the management of consumer society, political responses to affluence, the development of consumer protection policy, and the influence of neoliberalism.
As early as the 1930s, Britain had a highly innovative and profitable mortgage sector that promoted a major extension in home ownership. These controversial and risky offerings had an equivalent in numerous hire purchase agreements, with which new homes were furnished. Such developments were forerunners of the 'easy credit' regime more commonly associated with the 1980s. Taking a long-term perspective on this issue indicates that Britain's departure from European models of consumer credit markets was not simply a by-product of neoliberalism's influence on the Thatcher administration, and this book offers a much fuller explanation to the phenomenon. It explores debates within and between the major political parties; reveals the infighting amongst civil service departments over management of consumer demand; charts the varying degrees of influence wielded by the Bank of England and finance capital, as opposed to that of consumer durable manufacturers; reviews the perspectives of consumers and their representatives; and explains the role of contingency and path dependency in these historical events. The central focus of this book is on consumer credit, but this subject provides a case study through which to explore numerous other important areas of British history. These include debates on the issues of post-war consensus, the impact of rising home ownership and its impact on consumer credit and personal finance markets, the management of consumer society, political responses to affluence, the development of consumer protection policy, and the influence of neoliberalism.
Utilising a wide range of archival correspondence and diaries, this monograph reconstructs the 1974-79 Labour government's policies in Northern Ireland. It covers the collapse of power-sharing in May 1974, the secret dialogue with the Provisional IRA during the 1975 ceasefire, the acquiescence of Labour ministers in continuing indefinite direct rule from Westminster, efforts to mitigate conflict through industrial investment, a major shift in security policy emphasizing the police over the army, the adaptation of republicans to the threat of these new measures and their own adoption of a 'Long War' strategy. In so doing, it sheds light on the challenges faced by British ministers, civil servants, soldiers and policemen and the reasons why the conflict lasted so long. It will be a key text for researchers and students of both British and Northern Irish politics.
Utilizing a wide range of archival correspondence and diaries, this monograph reconstructs the 1974-79 Labour government's policies in Northern Ireland. It sheds light on the challenges faced by British ministers, civil servants, soldiers, and policemen and the reasons why the conflict lasted so long.
This book charts the development of the multiplex cinema as the pre-eminent form of film exhibition across the world. Going from its origins in the USA in the 1960s to its expansion overseas from the mid-1980s across Europe, Australia and other parts of Asia-Pacific, the book considers the emergence of a series of initially regional, then national and then international exhibition circuits. However, more than a consideration of US overseas expansion on the part of companies, this book examines the hegemony of the multiplex as a cultural and business form, arguing for its significance as a phenomenon that has transcended national and global boundaries and which has become the predominant venue for film viewing. Implicit in this analysis is a recognition of the domination of US media multi-nationals and Hollywood cinema, and the development of the multiplex cinema as symbolic of the extension and maintenance of the USA’s cultural and economic power. With case studies ranging from European countries such as Belgium, France, Germany and The Netherlands, to Pacific-Asian countries such as Australia, China, Japan and South Korea, this book is the first to explore the development of multiplexes on a global scale.
This book is concerned with the configuration of polymers at the interfacial zone between two other phases or immiscible components. In recent years, developments in technology combined with increased attention from specialists in a wide range of fields have resulted in a considerable increase in our understanding of the behavior of polymers at interfaces. Inevitably these advances have generated a wealth of literature and although there have been numerous reviews, a critical treatment with adequate descriptions of both theory and experiment, including detailed analysis of the two, has been missing. This text hopes to fill this gap, providing a timely and comprehensive account of the field as it stands today. This long needed work will be invaluable to experts as well as newcomers in the broad field of polymers, interfaces and colloids, both in industry and academia. Whilst industrial laboratories involved in this field will find it indispensable, it will be equally important to anyone with an interest in interfacial polymer or colloidal research.
Thank you for visiting our website. Would you like to provide feedback on how we could improve your experience?
This site does not use any third party cookies with one exception — it uses cookies from Google to deliver its services and to analyze traffic.Learn More.