The Return of the State by Patrick Allen

The Return of the State by Patrick Allen

Bringing together some of the brightest and most-engaged thinkers in the UK, this book presents a raft of policy proposals capable of generating a new social settlement and a long-term, equitable economic recovery post-pandemic. It offers both a vision of a future Britain and a roadmap to getting there. Pushed by the Covid-19 crisis, the UK government has borrowed massively to save jobs, businesses and the economy from collapse, making a mockery of the austerity policies that it had championed for a decade. As a result the role of the state is now in sharp focus. The contributors assess what that role should be and how it should be harnessed for the good of the British people in all four of its nations. The call is for nothing short of a new settlement and a complete redesign of the economy. The contributors argue passionately and persuasively for a state that is properly funded, one that looks after its citizens regardless of age, class or ethnicity and enables them to live well. To do this requires the establishment of a functional, fair and green economy managed with a social and public purpose.

The British economy is no longer working for most peopleThis book brings together the best progressive thinkers, not to tell us what is wrong, but to explore the foundations of a new economy that works better for as many of us as possible. It’s essential reading for everyone that wants equity, democracy and dynamism baked into a very different twenty-first century economy. -- Neal Lawson, Executive Director, Compass

After decades of assault by state-shrinking ideologues, a collision of crises has revealed how only the power of good government can save us. Covid, climate catastrophe and Brexit crashed in on a public realm stripped bare by a decade of extreme austerity. Here all the best writers and thinkers on the good society show recovery is possible, with a radical rethink of all the old errors. Read this and feel hope that things can change.

-- Polly Toynbee, Guardian columnist

For forty years the global race to the bottom has been a political choice. I commend the authors of this important book for setting out an alternative politics of fuller, better and greener employment.

-- Frances O'Grady, General Secretary, TUC

A roadmap for reforming the British welfare state in the aftermath of the Covid-19 crisis ... useful and thought-provoking ... I found its arguments on the need for governments to address inequality and look beyond GDP growth alone to be very persuasive ... an important and timely book with lessons for those both inside and outside the United Kingdom.

-- LSE Review of Books

Patrick Allen is chair and founder of the Progressive Economy Forum. He is also founder and senior partner at the law firm, Hodge Jones & Allen. Suzanne J. Konzelmann is Reader in Management at Birkbeck, University of London. Her most recent book is Austerity (2019). Jan Toporowski is Professor of Economics and Finance at SOAS, University of London.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9781788213295
ISBN 10	1788213297
Title	The Return of the State
Author	Patrick Allen
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Agenda Publishing
Year published	2021-04-29
Number of pages	264
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.