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by Michael Meacher (Editor)
The driving force behind this set of contributions on the general theme of a way out of endless austerity and ballooning inequality is the urgency of demonstrating that such a path is necessary, practical and affordable when all the political parties in the UK, and with few exceptions across the Eurozone too, are arguing that there is no alternative to continuing spending cuts into the indefinite future. This has now become the key issue in the Western world, the central canard of our times, and as evidence of secular stagnation grows ever wider, it is high time that this totemic error is challenged and if found grievously wanting, replaced. The contributors, all well-known and expert in their various fields, offer a range of different dimensions which comprehensively analyse this issue and present both a theoretical and practical alternative to the governing neoliberal ideology. If these ideas and proposals were adopted, they would transform the political landscape across the Western economies. This set of essays collectively opens up a new vision out of the tired and sterile arguments that have crippled politics over the last decade or more and points, not just to a radical way out of stagnation and inequality, but to a more profound transformation of our society that so many of our people long for. I hope our readers will agree with that verdict too. Contributors: David Blanchflower, Michael Burke, John Mills, Mariana Mazzucato, Costas Lapavitsas, Kelvin Hopkins, Ha-Joon Chang, Prem Sikka, Len McCluskey, Austin Mitchell, Richard Murphy, Richard Wilkinson & Kate Pickett, Alan Simpson, Caroline Lucas
