Description:
Much was written about the potential benefits and costs of North Sea oil when production had scarcely begun; for example, Hamilton (1978), Johnson (1978), Robinson and Morgan (1978) and Page (1977). In recent years, with concrete experience to draw on, there has been much argument as to the effects of oil on the British economy: in particular, whether, as argued by Forsyth and Kay (1980), a structural change was a necessary consequence, involving a relative decline in the manufacturing sector. This debate includes contributions from Richardson (1980), Worswick (1980), Barker (1980), Brooks (1981), Eastwood and Venables (1982) and Byatt et al. (1982).