Arthur James Balfour, 1st Earl of Balfour, was a British politician. He was born in 1848 and died in 1930. Educated at Eton and Trinity College, Cambridge, he represented Hertford in 1874 to 1885, and then was member for East Manchester representing the Conservative party. For a time he was private secretary to his uncle, LordSalisbury, under whom he was president of the Local Government Board, and afterwards secretary for Scotland (1886-87), with a seat in the cabinet. He showed much firmness and ability as chief secretary for Ireland during Lord Salisbury's administration in 1887-91. He succeeded Mr. W. H. Smith as leader of the House of Commons and first lord of the treasury in 1891-92, and held the position again from 1895 until 1900, and from that year until 1902. On the retirement of LordSalisbury in 1902 he became prime minister, a position which he retained until December 1905. Under him as premier were passed the new English Education Act (which owed much to his personal influence and exertions), that for London, and a new Licensing Act, and he advocated a change of fiscal policy, at least as far as having recourse to retaliation, denying that he in any way favours protection. He was given to studies bearing on philosophy and religion, and published a Defence of Philosophic Doubt (1879), Essays and Addresses (1893), and The Foundations of Belief (1895). He was president of the British Association in 1904. As foreign secretary from 1916 to 1919 he was responsible for the Balfopur declaration of 1917 which promissed Zionists a national home in Palestine. He resigned from parliament in 1922, was made an earl, and served again as Lord President from 1925 until 1929. Research Arthur Balfour
Fiscal policy is the use of government spending to influence macroeconomic conditions. John Keynes advocated the encouragement of public works in order to create employment during recessions, arguing that fiscal policy would be more effective than monetary policy. Fiscal policy was actively pursued to sustain full employment in the post-war years; however, monetarists and others have claimed that this set off the inflation of the 1970s. In fact, they claim that every œ1 spent by a government crowds out œ1 spent by the private sector, leaving no real effect. Fiscal policy has remained 'tight' in most western countries in the 1980s, with governments actively attempting to reduce the level of public expenditure. Research Fiscal Policy
Normative economics is an economic analysis that includes judgements about what ought to be done, rather than simply theorising. For example, Keynesian analysis contains both positive elements (the study of involuntary unemployment) and normative elements (the recommendation that fiscal policy should be used to reduce unemployment). Unfortunately, it is usually difficult to separate the positive from the normative in an economic theory. Research Normative Economics
The Probert Encyclopaedia was designed, edited and programed by
Matt and Leela Probert
Abbreviations
Research Arthur Balfour
