HC Deb 22 January 1980 vol 977 cc191-2W
38. Mr. Gwilym Roberts

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will initiate a study into the effects of inflation, interest rates and public expenditure on the level of unemployment.

Sir Geoffrey Howe

These effects are kept under continuous review by the Treasury and other Departments. They are also of considerable interest to bodies outside the Government.

39. Mr. Foulkes

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what percentage of the current level of unemployment is attributable to cuts in public expenditure.

Mr. Biffen

Even if cuts in public expenditure have some temporary effect on output it would not be possible to cal- culate the effect on unemployment with any tolerable degree of accuracy as the relationship between output and employment has become very unstable.