The affluent society revisited

This book looks at the background to and causes of the global economic crisis that erupted in 2008 and is with us still. It does this by revisiting a classic book of the past, John Kenneth Galbraith's The Affluent Society. Each chapter takes a major theme of his book, distils Galbraith's arguments and then discusses to what extent they cast light on current developments, both in the developed economies and in the economics discipline. The themes include: inequality, insecurity, inflation, debt, consumer behaviour, 'financialisation', the economic role of government ('social balance'), the power of ideas, the role of power in the economy and the nature of the good society. These are enduring concerns for citizens, no more than now as governments, businesses and consumers seek to recover from the economic tsunami that washed over the major Western economies (and is yet to fully recede). As such, the book deals with the big current problems of capitalism and the huge challenges facing democratic governments in tackling them. The book argues that orthodox economic models and policy advice failed spectacularly to warn of impending crisis and has subsequently failed to help lift the struggling advanced economies back on the path to sustainable prosperity. It concludes that although much has happened, in the global economy and in the discipline of economics, since Galbraith wrote, many of the themes he raised and answers he provided remain relevant today.