The S-Branch was a small group of academic economists in the UK, established in 1939 at the Admiralty by

Frederick Lindemann Frederick Alexander Lindemann, 1st Viscount Cherwell, ( ; 5 April 18863 July 1957) was a British physicist who was prime scientific adviser to Winston Churchill in World War II. Lindemann was a brilliant intellectual, who cut through bureauc ...

. Its role was to report directly to prime minister

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...

distilling complex data into succinct charts and figures, to aid speedy evaluation. Members of the S-Branch included Sir

Roy Harrod Sir Henry Roy Forbes Harrod (13 February 1900 – 8 March 1978) was an English economist. He is best known for writing ''The Life of John Maynard Keynes'' (1951) and for the development of the Harrod–Domar model, which he and Evsey Domar devel ...

G. L. S. Shackle George Lennox Sharman Shackle (14 July 1903 – 3 March 1992) was an English economist. He made a practical attempt to challenge classical rational choice theory and has been characterised as a "post-Keynesian", though he is influenced as well by ...

Helen Makower Helen Makower (1 June 1910 in London – 17 May 1998 in Marlborough, Wiltshire) was a British economist. She was the daughter of the writer and music critic Stanley Makower. Graduating from Newnham College, Cambridge (M.A. Oxon, inc. awarde ...

and later, D. G. Champernowne and

David Bensusan-Butt David Miles Bensusan-Butt (24 July 1914, Colchester – 25 March 1994, London) was an English economist who spent much of his career in Australia. Known as David, he published his work as D. M. Bensusan-Butt. Background and education A nephew of ...

. The operation of this statistical branch often caused tensions between government departments, but it was important because it allowed Churchill to make quick decisions based on accurate data.Harcourt, G. C. (1981) Notes on an Economic Querist: G. L. S. Shackle, ''Journal of Post Keynesian Economics'', Vol. 4, No. 1, Autumn, pp. 136-144

References

{{Reflist Economic history of the United Kingdom