View source for Alan Walters

{{Short description|British economist}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2020}}
{{EngvarB|date=January 2020}}
{{Infobox economist
| honorific_prefix = Sir
| name             = Alan Walters
| school_tradition = [[Monetarism]]
| image            =Sir_Alan_Arthur_Walters.png 
| image_size       = 
| caption          = 
| birth_date       = {{birth date|df=y|1926|6|17}}
| birth_place      = [[Leicester, England|Leicester]], England
| death_date       = {{death date and age|df=y|2009|1|3|1926|6|17}}
| death_place      = 
| resting_place    = 
| resting_place_coordinates = 
| nationality      = British
| institution      = {{ubl|[[University of Birmingham]]|[[London School of Economics]]|[[World Bank]]|[[Johns Hopkins University]]|[[American Enterprise Institute]]}}
| field            = Economics
| alma_mater       = {{ubl|[[University College, Leicester]]|[[Nuffield College, Oxford]]}}
| influences       = [[Ernest Cassel]]
| contributions    = 
| memorials        = 
| spouse           = {{marriage|Margaret Patricia Wilson|1975}}
| signature        =  
| module           = 
| repec_prefix =   | repec_id =
}}
{{Thatcherism|people}}

'''Sir Alan Arthur Walters''' (17 June 1926 – 3 January 2009) was a British economist who was best known as the Chief Economic Adviser to Prime Minister [[Margaret Thatcher]] from 1981 to 1983 and (after his return from the United States) again for five months in 1989.

== Early life ==
Walters was born in [[Leicester]]. His father was a [[Communism|Communist]] and a grocer who sold goods from a van. He failed his [[Eleven-plus|11-Plus]] and attended [[Alderman Newton's School]] in Leicester, leaving at fifteen to work as a machine operator in a shoe factory.<ref name = Telegraph>{{cite news | url = https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/4126227/Sir-Alan-Walters.html | title = Sir Alan Walters | date = 5 January 2009 | access-date = 5 January 2009 | location=London | work=The Daily Telegraph}}</ref> During World War II, he was called up and joined the British Army as a [[private soldier|private]].

== Academic career ==
Walters studied statistics at [[University of Leicester|University College Leicester]] and then went to [[Nuffield College, Oxford]], where he took an [[Master of Arts|MA]] in economics.<ref name = Telegraph/> On leaving Nuffield in 1951, he took up a post to teach statistics at [[University of Birmingham|Birmingham University]], later becoming professor of [[econometrics]] and statistics there in the early 1960s. He was one of the first British economists to argue that [[monetarism|money]] was "of considerable importance" to economic activity, a view that became more widespread during "the Great Inflation" of the 1970s.{{Citation needed|date=January 2009}} He argued forcefully that Britain should maintain strict monetary targets, and that the money supply should not be manipulated for political reasons.{{Citation needed|date=January 2009}}

In 1968–70 he was a member of the Commission on the Third London Airport (the "[[Roskill Commission]]").<ref>[https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/written-answers/1968/jun/24/third-london-airport-commission Hansard: 24 June 1968]</ref>

After serving as a professor at the [[London School of Economics]] from 1968 to 1976, where he was Sir [[Ernest Cassel]] Professor of Economics, Walters became an economic adviser to the [[World Bank]] and a professor in the Economics Department at The [[Johns Hopkins University]].

One of his most important contributions to economic theory was to demonstrate empirically that, for many industries, the costs at the high-scale end of the [[long-run cost curve]] is essentially constant or even declining. This was established in his article "Production and Cost Functions: An Econometric Survey", published by the journal ''[[Econometrica]]''.<ref>{{cite journal |last= Walters|first= A. A.|year= 1963|title= Production and Cost Functions: An Econometric Survey|jstor= 1910949|journal= Econometrica|publisher= The Econometric Society|volume= 31|issue= 1/2|pages= 1–66|doi= 10.2307/1910949}}</ref>

== Political career ==
In 1981, he was asked to become an economic adviser to Prime Minister [[Margaret Thatcher]] (who was elected in the [[1979 United Kingdom general election|1979 general election]]), and advised on that year's [[budget]], in which taxes were increased during a recession. This policy produced much criticism and was associated with rioting and high unemployment,<ref name=pandora>[[Pandora's Box (British TV series)|Pandora's Box]]: The League of Gentlemen – Adam Curtis</ref> but it has been claimed that it enabled the sustained economic growth of the 1990s.<ref name = Times>{{cite news | work = [[The Times]] | url = http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article5451311.ece |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100601050145/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article5451311.ece | title = Sir Alan Walters, Thatcher's economic guru, dies aged 82 | date = 5 January 2009 | archive-date = 1 June 2010 | location=London | first=Philippe | last=Naughton}}</ref> He left this role in 1983 to join the [[American Enterprise Institute]] and at least some aspects of monetarist policies were publicly repudiated by Thatcher in 1985.<ref name=pandora/> He did, however, return to advise Thatcher in 1989, but his differences with the policies of the [[Chancellor of the Exchequer]], [[Nigel Lawson]], led to the resignation of both men on 26 October 1989.<ref>{{cite web |title=Obituary - Sir Alan Walters |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2009/jan/06/sir-alan-walters-obituary |work=The Guardian|date=6 January 2009|access-date=25 April 2020}}</ref>

Walters supported the controversial and ill-fated [[Poll tax (Great Britain)|Community Charge]] (referred to as the "poll tax").  He opposed the similarly ill-fated policy of entry into the [[European Monetary System#1992 crisis|European Monetary System]]. In 1997, he stood as the [[Referendum Party]] candidate for the safe Conservative seat of the [[Cities of London and Westminster (UK Parliament constituency)#Elections in the 1990s|Cities of London and Westminster]] achieving 3% of the vote.

== Personal life ==

In 1975, Walters married Margaret Patricia Wilson, known as Paddie. He had a daughter by a previous marriage to Audrey Claxton.<ref name = Telegraph/> He was [[Knight Bachelor|knighted]] in the [[1983 Birthday Honours|Queen's 1983 Birthday Honours List]].

He was an accomplished pianist, enjoying playing the works of [[Chopin]] and [[Beethoven]]. He also collected Thai porcelain and was a keen tennis player.<ref name = Telegraph/>

Walters was vice-chairman and Director of [[American International Group|AIG Trading Group, Inc]].<ref name = Telegraph/>

Towards the end of his life, he suffered from [[Parkinson's disease]]. He died aged 82 at his home on 3 January 2009 after a short illness.<ref name = Times/> Upon hearing of his death, Thatcher described him as "radical, fearless" and the "finest of friends".<ref name = BBC>{{cite news | work = [[BBC News]] | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7812036.stm | title = Alan Walters | access-date = 5 January 2009 | date=5 January 2009}}</ref> 

== References ==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{C-SPAN|540}}
*[https://archivesearch.lib.cam.ac.uk/repositories/9/resources/1916 The Papers of Sir Alan Walters] held at [[Churchill Archives Centre]]

{{British special advisers}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Walters, Alan}}
[[Category:1926 births]]
[[Category:2009 deaths]]
[[Category:British economists]]
[[Category:Monetary economists]]
[[Category:Alumni of University of London Worldwide]]
[[Category:Alumni of the University of London]]
[[Category:Academics of the London School of Economics]]
[[Category:Academics of the University of Birmingham]]
[[Category:Alumni of Nuffield College, Oxford]]
[[Category:Alumni of the University of Leicester]]
[[Category:Johns Hopkins University faculty]]
[[Category:Knights Bachelor]]
[[Category:People educated at Alderman Newton's School, Leicester]]
[[Category:Referendum Party politicians]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Econometric Society]]
[[Category:British Army personnel of World War II]]
[[Category:British Army soldiers]]