Political and Economic Planning (PEP) was a British policy
think tank, formed in 1931 in response to
Max Nicholson's article ''A National Plan for Britain'' published in February of that year in
Gerald Barry's magazine ''The Week-End Review''.
History
The original members included Nicholson and Barry, the zoologist
Julian Huxley
Sir Julian Sorell Huxley (22 June 1887 – 14 February 1975) was an English evolutionary biologist, eugenicist, and internationalist. He was a proponent of natural selection, and a leading figure in the mid-twentieth century modern synthesis. ...
, the agronomist
Leonard Elmhirst, the financier
Basil Phillott Blackett
Sir Basil Phillott Blackett (8 January 1882 – 15 August 1935) was a British civil servant and expert on international finance.
Biography
Blackett was the eldest son of Rev. William Blackett, a missionary and educationalist in India and hi ...
, the civil servants Dennis Routh and Sir Henry Bunbury, the research chemist
Michael Zvegintzov, and
Israel Sieff
Israel Moses Sieff, Baron Sieff (4 May 1889 – 14 February 1972) was an English businessman and Zionist who was chairman of the British retailer Marks & Spencer from 1964 to 1967.
Early life and education
He was born in Manchester, the son o ...
, a director of
Marks & Spencer. Sieff was Chairman in the 1930s, followed by Elmhirst in 1939 and by Nicholson in 1953. It was a non-governmental planning organisation financed by corporations.
This prolific organisation was influential in the formation of the
National Health Service,
World War II and post-war planning, and the development of the
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
n
colonies
In modern parlance, a colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule. Though dominated by the foreign colonizers, colonies remain separate from the administration of the original country of the colonizers, the '' metropolitan state'' ...
. After the war it shared the offices of
The Nature Conservancy
The Nature Conservancy (TNC) is a global environmental organization headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. it works via affiliates or branches in 79 countries and territories, as well as across every state in the US.
Founded in 1951, The Natu ...
in
Belgrave Square
Belgrave Square is a large 19th-century garden square in London. It is the centrepiece of Belgravia, and its architecture resembles the original scheme of property contractor Thomas Cubitt who engaged George Basevi for all of the terraces for ...
,
London, producing reports such as ''Opportunities in Industry'' (1957) and ''Advisory Committees in British Government'' (1960)
[Sampson, A. (1962) ''Anatomy of Britain''. Hodder & Staughton: London. p.248, 454.]
In 1978 PEP merged with the Centre for the Study of Social Policy (CSSP), and became the
Policy Studies Institute (PSI).
Chairmen
* 1931—1939:
Israel Sieff
Israel Moses Sieff, Baron Sieff (4 May 1889 – 14 February 1972) was an English businessman and Zionist who was chairman of the British retailer Marks & Spencer from 1964 to 1967.
Early life and education
He was born in Manchester, the son o ...
* 1939—1953:
Leonard Elmhirst
* 1953—1978:
Max Nicholson
See also
*
Planisme
References
External links
Catalogue of the PEP papersat th
of the
London School of Economics.
{{Authority control
Political history of the United Kingdom
Political and economic think tanks based in the United Kingdom