Rab Butler and Samuel Brittan, both writing in the early 1970s, commented that Gaitskell was the most technically qualified chancellor of the 20th century up until that date. However, Dell comments that he often went into excessive detail, including personally overseeing economic forecasts, and held excessively long meetings. This may have been from a love of micro-management or because, as an advocate of controls and planning, he was suspicious of treasury officials, whom he thought excessively inclined to free market mechanisms.