CONFIDENTIAL
A
Departments' needs, and this is uncertain. The uncertainty affects Departments' input to JIC (EA) work as well as their requirements as customers. On the latter aspect, it is not clear that Departments are sufficiently selective in formulating their requirements, both in terms of subject and priorities. related question is whether Departments are able to lay hands on the economic data they require when they require it, and whether adequate arrangements exist for making available what is held to all those who need it. The Cabinet Office will be pursuing that question separately, first of all by attempting to establish in the near future what economic data each Department assembles and collates, how and to whom they normally disseminate it, and whether they require more than they at present handle. In considering this problem the Cabinet Office will take account, in consultation with the Treasury and the CSO, of existing plans to improve the capability of the DMS/Central Data Base to handle external material, and of possible resource implications.
8. Against this background the views of Departments are invited on the following questions:
(a) Do Departments need economic assessments for policy formulation?
(b) If so, what sort of assessments are required?
(c) How far can requirements be met from published material and/or from in-house capabilities, OECD, IMF/IBRD etc reports?
(a) Is a central economic assessment capability necessary?
(e)
Can a legitimate distinction be drawn in terms of their value to Departments, between the economic assessments of the Soviet bloc and those of other
countries?
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