What is the purpose of the National Economic Council?

Gordon Brown's new National Economic Council is a very odd body indeed.

It is not, as various broadcasters and reporters have suggested, an economic War Cabinet. Why? Because War Cabinet's are generally small - between 5 and 10 people, while this has 19 people.

And the size difference matters.

When I attended meetings of the Cabinet, my first thought, naturally, was to be dazed by being there at all. But after this initial feeling had dissipated I realised that it was, well, just a committee meeting really.

And a committee meeting with more than 20 people at it.

When a discussion took place on a broad topic - strategy for the coming month, for instance - the talking might go on for nearly an hour if each member made a pretty brief contribution. At the end the Prime Minister was left summing up a sprawling conversation that had hopped from one topic to another. It was often hard to get the sense of the meeting.

So it simply isn't possible to use a meeting of that size to make decisions at.

Now, with the Cabinet that doesn't matter so much. There were smaller, more informal, committee discussions that allowed more focused consideration of individual items.

And outsiders could be added.

So the purpose of the National Economic Council is what exactly? It can't be to create a decision making body because it is too large. And it can't be to gather together needed expertise because the Cabinet already provides a mechanism for that.

Could it be - surely not - a piece of gesture politics? No, because Gordon Brown wouldn't play politics with something that important.

Comments

[David Johnston]

Why would Gordon Brown make such an empty gesture if there could be no substance behind it...? If it is so apparently obvious that the 'National Economic Council' will be ineffective, why would he not have announced that a smaller committee would meet instead...? In order for gesture politics to be gesture politics, do they not need at least a passing impression of being effective...?

[Keith]

Could it be - surely not - a piece of gesture politics? No, because Gordon Brown wouldn't play politics with something that important.

Of course he wouldn't!!

[Adam in Smallville UK]

But but but Danny! There was an existing sub-committee which I assume was reasonably small (but ineffective).
One hopes the conversations in the super duper full strength supreme council aren't too sprawling because the markets are/were moving incredibly fast.

[sjm]

This is yet another example of weird deja-vu for us wrinklies: under the Wilson Government there was something called the National Economic Development Council - that was useless too.

I can't help feeling that any minute now the Queen is going to have herself re-crowned.