G.D.N (David) Worswick (1916 - 2001) devoted his professional life to studying the British economy and explaining how it worked, first as a fellow in economics at Magdalen College, Oxford (1945-1965) and subsequently as Director of the National Institute for Economic and Social Research (1965-1982). After gaining a first-class degree in mathematics at Oxford, he turned to economics. Having grown up during the period of general unemployment during the 1930s, he saw economics as the way to bring about social change. Much of his work was concerned with the study of the causes of, and policy solutions to, unemployment.

His publications include The British Economy 1945-1950 (1952), The British Economy in the 1950s (1962), The Concept and Measurement of Involuntary Unemployment (1976), Education and Economic Performance (1985) and Unemployment: a problem of policy (1991).