James Robertson


author, economics, culture, world issues, future


"James Robertson was born in Yorkshire in 1928. He was educated in Yorkshire and Scotland, and at Oxford University. After two years in the Army and one year in the Sudan, he joined the Colonial Office as an administrative civil servant. In 1960 he accompanied Mr Harold Macmillan, then Prime Minister, on the 'wind of change' tour of Africa. From 1960 to 1963 he worked in the Cabinet Office as private secretary to the Head of the Civil Service and secretary of the Cabinet, Lord Normanbrook. He then spent two years in the Ministry of Defence.

"Robertson left Whitehall in 1965 to become a consultant in computer systems analysis and management science. In 1968 he set up the Inter-Bank Research Organization (IBRO), and remained its first director until 1973. Since then he has been self-employed as a writer, lecturer, broadcaster and consultant.

"In 1966 Robertson submitted an influential memorandum to the Fulton Committee on the Civil Service. In 1968/69 he was appointed to advise the Procedure Committee of the House of Commons about parliamentary control of public expenditure and taxation. In 1971 his book was published on the 'Reform of British Central Government'. In 1972 he led the IBRO team that reported on 'London's Future as an International Financial Centre'.

"In the summer of 1974 Robertson's ideas on 'a non-profit society' provoked lengthy discussion, particularly in The Sunday Times and at a conference jointly sponsored by The Sunday Times and The Science Policy Foundation." [publisher's bumpf, Profit or People? , 1974]



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