Capitalism Unleashed: Finance, Globalization, and Welfare

The Late Andrew Glyn

Mar 2006 · OUP Oxford

About this ebook

Free enterprise is off the leash and chasing new opportunities for profit making across the globe. After a turbulent century of unprecedented social and technological change, Capitalism has emerged as the dominant ideology and model for economic growth in the richest, most developed countries. But only thirty years ago economic growth was faltering, inflation rising and the Left were arguing for greater state intervention in industry. How did this remarkable transformation happen? And what price have we paid in the process? This accessible and persuasive book challenges the notion of our capitalist destiny. It provides a clear and concise history of the problems facing the economies of Europe, Japan and the US during the latter half of the twentieth century and questions whether capitalism has really brought the levels of economic growth and prosperity that were hoped for. Andrew Glyn then looks at the impact the rapidly developing economies of China and the South are likely to have on the older economies of the North. As the race is on to maintain growth and protect competitive advantage, Glyn asks: is the 'race-to-the bottom' inevitable as the anti-globalisers predict, with welfare states being dismantled to meet competitive demands? Or is there an alternative model which sees a strong commitment to welfare provision as essential to economic growth? Can we afford not to tackle inequality at home as well as abroad?

About the author

Andrew Glyn tragically died of a brain tumour just before Christmas 2007. Andrew Glyn taught economics at Oxford University. He was an economic advisor to the National Union of Mineworkers, has been a consultant to the International Labour Organization and H.M. Treasury, and was an associate editor of the Oxford Review of Economic Policy. He co-authored several books on post-war capitalism, edited Social Democracy in Neoliberal Times (OUP 2001) and has written on unemployment, profitability and the history of economic thought in economics journals and on current economic problems and policies in magazines and newspapers.