Richer, The Poorer How Britain Enriched the Few and Failed the Poor. A 200-Year History
Produktdetaljer
Biografisk notat
Stewart Lansley is a visiting fellow in the School of Policy Studies, the University of Bristol, a Council member of the Progressive Economy Forum and a Research Associate at the Compass think-tank. He is a fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences and has written widely on poverty, wealth and inequality. His recent books include A Sharing Economy (2016), Breadline Britain, The Rise of Mass Poverty (with Joanna Mack, 2015) and The Cost of Inequality (2011).<p>“Crucially, the book extends our understanding of inequality by showing the clear, dependent relationship, between poverty and wealth creation. The book forces readers to confront, not just the reliance of the rich on the poor to make money, but also the long-standing and stubborn nature of this relationship in Britain”. Brave New Europe</p><p>
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”A vivid description of the fall and rise of poverty and inequality... impressive survey and analysis of 200 years of inequality." Journal of Social Policy</p><p>
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“Important....passionate and thoroughly researched.” Political Quarterly</p>
The Richer, The Poorer charts the rollercoaster history of both rich and poor and the mechanisms that link wealth and impoverishment. This landmark book shows how, for 200 years, Britain’s most powerful elites have enriched themselves at the expense of surging inequality, mass poverty and weakened social resilience.
Stewart Lansley reveals how Britain’s model of ‘extractive capitalism’ – with a small elite securing an excessive slice of the economic cake – has created a two-century-long ‘high-inequality, high-poverty’ cycle, one broken for only a brief period after the Second World War. Why, he asks, are rich and poor citizens judged by very different standards? Why has social progress been so narrowly shared? With growing calls for a fairer post-COVID-19 society, what needs to be done to break Britain’s destructive poverty/inequality cycle?
Introduction: Knighthoods for the rich, penalties for the poor
Part 1: 1800-1939
1. Hierarchical discipline
2. Britain’s gilded age
3. Public penury and private ostentation
4. A roller-coaster ride
Part 2: 1940-59
5. The future belongs to us
6. Britain’s ‘New Deal'
7. Brave new world
8. A shallow consensus
Part 3: 1960-79
9. The rediscovery of poverty
10. Poorer under Labour
11. Consolidation or advance?
12. Peak equality
Part 4: 1980-96
13. Don’t mention the 'p' word
14. Zapping Labour
15. The dark shadow of the Poor Law
16. The great widening
17. Money worship
Part 5: 1997-2010
18. The elephant in the room
19. Still born to rule
20. I'm not Mother Teresa
21. The house of cards
22. The good, the bad and the ugly
Part 6: 2011-20
23. Divide and rule: playing politics with poverty
24. A leaner state
25. Burning injustice
26. Growing rich in their sleep
27. The high-inequality, high-poverty cycle
Afterword: COVID-19 and 'the polo season'
• A unique history of both the poor and the rich and the failures of policy over the last 200 years, making comparisons with other rich countries.
• Brought fully up to date by exploring recent clashes between politicians, experts, public officials and pressure groups, economists, showing how the powerful elites have been able to enrich themselves at the expense of the poor.
• Author is a well-known economist and former financial journalist. He is also a former executive producer at the BBC. He has written widely on wealth and poverty for newspapers as well as academic and specialist journals.