Where their short-term
self-interest is at stake, the contented resist change. Yet when painful decisions are
needed urgently, contentment can prove disastrous ...
The economically fortunate
and those so aspiring-to-be have now a strong electoral position, since the underclass
tends not to vote. They oppose public expenditure, except - as with defence or education
for their children - where they personally stand to gain. They attack attempts to regulate
corporate raiders, property speculators or junk-bond enthusiasts, yet (when inevitable
disaster strikes) they demand far more costly state support for ailing banks. And all the
while, as conservative ideologues cut payments for welfare and public infrastructure,
future social harmony is put horribly at risk. Economic recession and violence in the
great cities are already part of the picture. Galbraith's dazzling new polemic draws out
these disturbing implications.
'This analysis is probably
the clearest expression yet of the centre-left's unease in a period of relentless
conservative hegemony. Galbraith's logic is compelling and offers a tempting vindication
of those disillusioned by electoral defeat' - The Times Literary Supplement
'He writes with a verve, wit,
and piquancy which enable him to dance away with the writing honours from his fellow
economists buried in a treacly morass of difficult terminology and arcane mathematics' -
Irish Times'
'His funniest and most
serious book to. date' - Guardian
'A bombshell of a book ... I
know of no book that treats more incisively or more convincingly the profoundly injurious
consequences of [recent] policies to our economy' - The New York Times Book Review