Product Description

An analysis of how Britain's economic, social and political arrangements have become out of date. The book also gives ideas of how these arrangements can be modernized.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #88132 in Books
• Published on: 1996-01-04
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 240 pages

Customer Reviews

An excellent critique of typical New Right arguments
Although this book is slightly out of date after the abolition of hereditary peers and devolution for Scotland and Wales, it is still worth reading for it's excellent and comprehensive critique of New Right Policy. The book starts with how the Conservatives fused Neo liberal thought with popular policies, creating an electoral machine which won four general elections in a row. It talks about how the Conservatives managed to manipulate the uncodified British constitution to great effect during the 1980's and 1990's.

It simultaneously charts the crisis among the British Left, and the European Left in general, and how the New Labour experiment attempted to deal with this. The main thrust of the book is that the last twenty odd years have been an experiment in free market economics which have had serious effects on social cohesion, and given us the lowest paid workforce, yet the highest paid executives in Europe.

A Prescient Piece of Work
Given the dramatic collapse of Britain's banking industry in Autumn 2008, I once again picked up Mr Hutton's work to re-appraise myself of its arguments and to see if its solutions really would have helped us avoid the present crisis.

I was amazed at how well Hutton's critique predicted the shambles caused by removing the regulatory breaks from the once-mighty financial sector. The book picks apart the so-called Thatcherite economic reforms laying bear the true originator of Britain's contemporary economic woes. The argument against laissez-faire capitalism is sharpened by recent events. And surely now there cannot be a voter left who still believes that Thatcher was anything but a very poor, and very damaging Prime Minister.

Hutton lays bear the yawning weaknesses in the British economy forged by both Parties when in government, but particularly by the peculiar COnservative brand post 1979.

Unlike many polemics, this work does not stop at pointing out blame. It provides detailed and workable solutions to even this credit crunch. Europe is key, as well as reclaiming the economy as a tool to benefit ordinary people, rather than allowing it to enrich the already rich and run amok as it has these last 30 years.

A book written in the nineties that is as contemporary today as it was then. A must-read for the economic and political historian.

Interesting despite being astonishingly biased
It is clear that Hutton has a strong socialist/leftward bias and he fails to be persuasive by not sufficiently supporting his views. This does not totally discredit the book though, and taken in context, there are some interesting points.

At the time this was written, the condition of the economy would have justified such criticism of the government of the previous decade. It is only with hindsight that we can see the long-term benefit of Thatcher's reforms. He does pick up on genuine weaknesses in the financial system of the UK; for example the failure to promote investment because of a priority for dividends - our failure to improve UK productivity since this was written is inexcusable.

His writing is sometimes quite rambling and, certainly towards the end, very preaching. Despite this, and its age, it is still readable and not at all technical, for those with limited economic knowledge.

I would only recommend reading this if you have an interest in the condition of, and events in, the UK economy towards the end of the last century. It is too old and opinionated to be of popular interest now.