Sir Alec Cairncross was educated at Hamilton Academy, Glasgow and Trinity College Cambridge. In 1940 he went to work for the Ministery of Production until 1945. For the following three years he was involved with the Economic Advisory Panel, Berlin and as an Economic Adviser to the Board of Trade. In 1949 he became the Director of the Economic Division of the OEEC. Afer this, he returned to the Universtiy of Glasgow as Professor of Applied Economics for one year. In 1961 he was appointed Economic Adviser to HM's Government and from 1964 until 1969 he was Head of the Government Economic Service. Alec Cairncross died in 1999.
Publications: Sterling in Decline (1983). Years of Recovery (1985). The Price of War (1986). Managing the British Economy in the 1960's (1995). A Treasury Diary 1964-69 (1996). Living with the Century (1999).