<P> Historians Alan Sked and Chris Cook have summarized the general consensus of historians regarding Labour in power in the 1970s: </P> <Dl> <Dd> If Wilson's record as prime minister was soon felt to have been one of failure, that sense of failure was powerfully reinforced by Callahan's term as premier . Labour, it seemed, was incapable of positive achievements . It was unable to control inflation, unable to control the unions, unable to solve the Irish problem, unable to solve the Rhodesian question, unable to secure its proposals for Welsh and Scottish devolution, unable to reach a popular modus vivendi with the Common Market, unable even to maintain itself in power until it could go to the country and the date of its own choosing . It was little wonder, therefore, that Mrs. Thatcher resoundingly defeated it in 1979 . </Dd> </Dl> <Dd> If Wilson's record as prime minister was soon felt to have been one of failure, that sense of failure was powerfully reinforced by Callahan's term as premier . Labour, it seemed, was incapable of positive achievements . It was unable to control inflation, unable to control the unions, unable to solve the Irish problem, unable to solve the Rhodesian question, unable to secure its proposals for Welsh and Scottish devolution, unable to reach a popular modus vivendi with the Common Market, unable even to maintain itself in power until it could go to the country and the date of its own choosing . It was little wonder, therefore, that Mrs. Thatcher resoundingly defeated it in 1979 . </Dd> <P> The Labour Party under Harold Wilson from 1964 to 1970 was unable to provide a solution either, and eventually was forced to devalue the pound again in 1967 . Economist Nicholas Crafts attributes Britain's relatively low growth in this period to a combination of a lack of competition in some sectors of the economy, especially in the nationalised industries; poor industrial relations and insufficient vocational training . He writes that this was a period of government failure caused by poor understanding of economic theory, short - termism and a failure to confront interest groups . </P>

What nation came to rival britain's economic output right before world war 1