A very peculiar British crisis?: Institutions, ideas and policy responses to the credit crunch

This article argues that some of the responses to the credit crunch by the UK Core Executive have shown the best and worst qualities of British political administration. There are examples of speedy and innovative policy responses and the fashioning of novel tools to deal with the potentially devastating impact on the real economy of problems in the financial markets. Equally, the crisis has exposed the weaknesses of the constrained discretion model of policymaking and, arguably, of group-think and the dangers of a culture of policymaking based on the personalisation of power. British Politics (2009) 4, 434-449. doi:10.1057/bp.2009.24