After the most serious economic crash since the 1930s and the slowest
recovery on record, austerity rules. Spending on the welfare state did
not cause the crisis, but deep cuts in welfare budgets has become the
default policy response. The welfare state is seen as a burden on wealth
creation which can no longer be afforded in an ever more competitive
global economy. There are calls for it to be dismantled altogether.
In this incisive book, leading political economist Andrew Gamble
explains why western societies still need generous inclusive welfare
states for all their citizens, and are rich enough to provide them.
Welfare states can survive, he argues, but only if there is the
political will to reform them and to fund them.