Britain too had its policy groups, such as the Economic Advisory Council (EAC) formed in the 1930s and the Economic Planning Board in the 1940s but they tended to be less enduring and less influential than those in the US. One of the more long-lived was the National Economic Development Council (NEDC), which was set up in 1962 to find solutions to Britain’s poor post-war economic performance at the instigation of the Federation of British Industries (FBI).
Unlike their US counterparts, British business people, at least those in the FBI, saw a role for government in creating an economic climate for the growth of business and this was their goal in promoting such a council. The FBI originally envisaged it as a forum of government and business. In the end it included government ministers, employer representatives and union representatives. The Council was abolished in 1992 without being replaced by any other similar forum for discussion of national economic policy.
In Australia the Committee for Economic Development of Australia (CEDA) was formed in 1960 modelled on the US Committee for Economic Development (CED) to be funded by private contributions and corporate subscriptions. It was responsible for creating an Australian Business Roundtable in 1980. CEDA later transformed itself into a think tank following the model of the American Enterprise Institute (AEI).
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