Quite right, Ann. Once again “on the money” as it were. Completely agree about Turner’s No Way to Run an Economy. It is great that he includes clearly presented data, but I especially like his chapter, “Structural Causes of the Recession”. And in this respect, may I recommend three books that complement and can be seen as reinforcing Turner’s analysis?

The first is a delightfully clear denunciation of Thatcher’s policies by Nicholas Kaldor in his speeches in the House of Lords in the late seventies and early eighties collected in The Economic Consequences of Mrs Thatcher. They have, I think, become more relevant as Cameron has become more Thatcherite in his orientation.

The second is a study relevant to Turner’s discussion of Marx that directly compares Marx with Keynes and finds them more similar than Keynes thought they were. It is Claudio Sardoni’s Marx and Keynes on Economic Recession.

The third is the late Andrew Glyn’s Capitalism Unleashed, published a little less than two years before his untimely death.

None of my suggestions can replace Turner’s analysis, only add to its context. Hence, given that Turner is working in a well established tradition, why can we not get Osborne, Cable, or Darling to listen to analysts like Turner or yourself? There is evidence that respect for Osborne is nonexistent, but this is not so for either Cable or Darling. But they seem to be incapable of utilizing the work of analysts like you or Turner. What is to be done?

Comment By the.Duke.of.URL on December 3rd, 2009 at 1:00 pm

Ann,

In America its always said the Middle Classes whose standard of living has been static and then falling over the last 30 years.

In Britain The Left tends to not identify with the middle classes so much. But is this subtle impoverishment the same here?

Comment By john fletcher on December 3rd, 2009 at 10:17 pm