The Political Economy Of Britain In Crisis

The 2008 financial crisis rocked British capitalism to its foundations. More than a decade after the crash, the country is still dealing with its consequences. This book explores the extent to which British capitalism has been reconfigured in this tumultuous period. Advancing an in-depth analysis of the political economy of New Labour, the Coalition and the period after Brexit, the book argues that deep structural weaknesses have been re-embedded within British capitalism. The Coalition promised to eliminate the deficit in one parliament and to ‘rebalance’ the British economy. It did neither. Instead, real wages slumped, uneven development intensified and productivity stagnated. An era of volatile post-crisis politics - exemplified by Brexit, the May government and the rise of Corbyn - emerged in this context, threatening the foundations of the old order. This book is required reading for students and scholars interested in the fractious political economy of British capitalism after the crisis. “Lavery’s book on the flawed political economy of Britain’s hybrid variant of capitalism after the 2008 financial crisis is a tour de force. It is theoretically sophisticated, historically informed, conjuncturally nuanced, empirically robust and provides a solid basis for analysing developments following the Brexit debacle, whatever these might be.”—Bob Jessop, Lancaster University, UK “If you are not yet familiar with Scott Lavery’s work, you very soon will be, as it is becoming increasingly difficult to overlook. With a clear mastery of both the politics and the economics of Coalition attempts to reduce the size of the state, Lavery shows with compelling precision how far and how quickly post-crisis Britain travelled from New Labour’s previous ‘one nation’ approach to macroeconomic governance.”—Professor Matthew Watson, University of Warwick, UK “British capitalism was changed but not reformed after the financial crisis, and its deep pathologies now find expression in political volatility and ideological polarisation. In a persuasive and rich analysis Scott Lavery shows how we got to this point and what the future might hold.”—Andrew Gamble, University of Sheffield, UK

This book explores two recent crises in British political economy: the crisis of 1976–9, for which the trade unions were impugned, and the 2007 economic crisis, for which bankers were (at least initially) blamed. The author argues that the “crisis resolution” of the former – principally the Thatcherite reforms of the 1980s – led to the emergence of the banking crisis. Further, Kirkland demonstrates how narratives of blame have emerged and were used in both instances to promote specific agendas. Narrations of blame and crises were used to curb the trade union powers in the 1980s, whilst the 2007 crisis was quickly reframed as one of excessive government spending, which in turn has led to policies of austerity.

Britain remains mired in the most severe and prolonged economic crisis that it has faced since the 1930s. What would it take to find a new, more stable and more sustainable growth model for Britain in the years ahead? This important volume written by a number of influential commentators seeks to provide some answers.

In 21st century Britain, a 'perfect storm' seems to have engulfed many of its institutions. This book is the first wholesale consideration of the crisis of legitimacy that has taken root in Britain's key institutions and explores the crisis across them to determine if a set of shared underlying pathologies exist to create this collective crisis.

This book explores the politics of local economic development in Northern England. Socio-economic conditions in the North – and its future prospects – have become central to national debates in the UK. The status of Northern regions and their local economies is intimately associated with efforts to ‘rebalance’ the economy away from the South East, London and the finance sector in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. The contributors to this volume focus in particular on the coalition and Conservative governments’ ‘Northern Powerhouse’ agenda. They also analyse associated efforts to devolve power to local authorities across England, which promise to bring both greater prosperity and autonomy to the deindustrialized North. Several chapters critically interrogate these initiatives, and their ambitions, by placing them within their wider historical, geographical, institutional and ideological contexts. As such, Berry and Giovannini seek to locate Northern England within a broader understanding of the political dimension of economic development, and outline a series of ideas for enhancing the North’s prospects.

How America's global financial power was created and shaped through its special relationship with Britain The rise of global finance in the latter half of the twentieth century has long been understood as one chapter in a larger story about the postwar growth of the United States. The Political Economy of the Special Relationship challenges this popular narrative. Revealing the Anglo-American origins of financial globalization, Jeremy Green sheds new light on Britain’s hugely significant, but often overlooked, role in remaking international capitalism alongside America. Drawing from new archival research, Green questions the conventional view of international economic history as a series of cyclical transitions among hegemonic powers. Instead, he explores the longstanding interactive role of private and public financial institutions in Britain and the United States—most notably the close links between their financial markets, central banks, and monetary and fiscal policies. He shows that America’s unparalleled post-WWII financial power was facilitated, and in important ways constrained, by British capitalism, as the United States often had to work with and through British politicians, officials, and bankers to achieve its vision of a liberal economic order. Transatlantic integration and competition spurred the rise of the financial sector, an increased reliance on debt, a global easing of regulation, the ascendance of monetarism, and the transition to neoliberalism. From the gold standard to the recent global financial crisis and beyond, The Political Economy of the Special Relationship recasts the history of global finance through the prism of Anglo-American development.

Industrial strategy has been back on the agenda of UK policy elites since the 2008 financial crisis. How should we understand this shift? This collection of essays by leading academics and practitioners including Victoria Chick, Kate Bell, Simon Lee, Karel Williams, Susan Himmelweit, Laurie Macfarlane and Ron Martin - among many others- considers the effectiveness of recent industrial policies in addressing the UK's economic malaise. In offering a broad political economy perspective on economic statecraft and development in the UK, the book focuses on the political and institutional foundations of industrial policy, the value of "foundational" economic practices, the challenge of greening capitalism and addressing regional inequalities, and the new financial and corporate governance structures required to radicalize industrial strategy.

How did Britain emerge as a world power and later as the world's first industrial society? What policies, cultural practices, and institutions were responsible for this outcome? How were the inevitable disruptions to social and political life coped with? This innovative volume illustrates the contribution of economic thinking (scientific, official and popular) to the public understanding of British economic experience over the period 1688-1914. Political economy has frequently served as the favourite mode of public discourse when analysing or justifying British economic policies, performance and institutions. These sixteen essays, centering on the peculiarities of the British experience, are grouped under five main themes: foreign assessments of that experience; land tenure; empire and free trade; fiscal and monetary regimes; and the poor law and welfare. This is a collaborative endeavour by historians with established reputations in their field, which will appeal to all those interested in the current development of these branches of historical scholarship.