CONTENTS OF BRITANN1.DAT

LONG         Long(t) is the long rate.  The long rate from
             1755-1933 is from Warren and Pearson.  Warren and Pearson
             computed yields on 3 percent consols.  When conversion to
             2 1/2s occured they adjusted the yields to be on an
             equivalent basis.  From 1934-1966 the data are flat yields
             on 2 1/2s gross of tax, unadjusted for accrued interest.
             From the L.C.E.S., The British Economy, Key Statistics,
             1900-1966.  The data are averaged over quotes on all
             working days of the year.  From 1967-1985 gross redemtion
             yields on 20 year British government securities were used.
             The annual figure is an average of the Wednesday yield
             until Feb 1980.  Afterwards it is the average of all days
             yields.  From the C.S.O. Economic Trends.


STOCK        1700-1790 is from an article by Philip Mirowski.
             For most of this period there weren't many firms in the
             index (4-15).  Most of the firms were quasi-public,
             i.e. Bank of England, East India Co.   These data are
             not averaged over the year.  But which month they
             are chosen from was not specified.  From 1790-1933
             The data are from a book by Hoffman.   The series
             are based on several historical studies and include
             Hayek's stock price index.  It is not clear if these
             data are averaged for the whole year.  1934-1949 are
             from the L.C.E.S. index for 92 industrial companies
             excluding finance and property companies.  The data
             are an arithmetic average over the year of mid-month
             prices.  From 1950-1962 the data are from Moodies
             index of 60 representative equities excluding mines
             and plantations.  This series is a geometric mean of
             weekly quotes.  From 1963-1984 The Financial Times
             actuaries index was used.  This is a value-weighted
             index of 500 shares.  The index is an arithmetic
             average of the share prices from each day.  After 1967 the
             data are from C.S.O. Economic Trends.  From 1934-1966 from
             L.C.E.S., The British Economy, Key Statistics,
             1900-1966. 

PRICE        Price index. From 1700-1933 based on consumer
             prices computed by W. Hoffman, British Industry.
             He based his index in early periods on Beveridge's data.
             In later periods he used data covering as broad a basket
             as was available.  From 1934-1966 the data are based on
             retail prices from the Ministry of Labour Index.  Prices
             were adjusted to some extent for changes in quality.  From
             1967-1985, the C.S.O.s Economic Trend series FJAC gives the
             the general index of retail prices for all items.

PROD         Growth in industrial production
             Based on percentage growth in production series from World
                Historical Statistics