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12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Rebel with a cause., 27 Nov 2011
Having read this book once, I need to re-read it to fully appreciate the range and depth of the ideas Richard Murphy offers. There are books which analyse the economic crisis and those which deprecate the tax havens and activities of the bankers. This book does that to an extent but also offers solutions based on a through rejection of the Washington Consensus which has dominated political and economic thinking over the last thirty years. The Consensus says the government should be restrained to vital functions and its attempts control the economy are bound to be ineffective. The markets know what's best. De-regulation, privatisation, low taxation and abandonment of capital controls will liberate entrepreneurial energy. Of course,(as it seems to me) it may also mean 'downsizing and five people taking on the work of ten for no extra pay while the CEO and shareholders receive large rewards. Final income pensions may have to go and government social expenditure restrained but that is the price worth paying. He says 'politicians of the cowardly state think it is true that we should trust the market and not politicians.' Murphy rejects all that, what he calls 'neo-liberalism', saying democracy means the state has a right to demand taxes to be used for the general good. The courageous state is one where politicians act to carry this out. The first part of the book deals with the failings of the present system. This is not done in depth as, he says, one either recognises it and agrees with it or one does not. The second part is about his economic analysis which looks at our needs, emotional, mental,purpose as well as material needs. Conventional economics doesn't usually do this. He does this using a series of diagrams employing a circle divided into a quadrant. He sees life as being able to achieve as much as possible of our potential but not in a solely individualistic way. The community can enhance our lives by cooperation, and the limitations of the planet are part of his economic analysis. This is not full of statistics and jargon but written in clear, plain English. Some might prefer it this way,I suspect some might not. An index might have been useful. The third part is how to deliver the courageous state. I found it refreshing that he includes more radical ideas such as recognising that most money is created by bank lending on which they charge interest(seigniorage)and which could be reclaimed by the state. Too little attention is paid to money reform by the media or the politicians. I would like to have seen more about this but that might be too much to fit into one book. Murphy is a tax accountant and blogger at Tax Research UK. Therefore, he writes a lot about the role of tax and its role in delivering a better society. 'Feral finance' needs to be brought under control. He believes poverty is incompatible with democracy and admires politicans with vision. I can't recall whether it's here or his blog he praises Catherine Lucas the UK's only green MP. Murphy has links with Labour, TUC and the Greens. He is not a conventional 'leftie', probably more of a Roundhead in that he has strong egalitarian principles, gives his opponents short shrift, rarely jokes and even lives in East Anglia, the Roundhead heartland. However, he has Quaker connections ( reformers like Cadbury, Rowntree and lady on the back of the £5 note, Elizabeth Fry)people who have sought justice and practical reform. This is what makes this book so valuable. I am often unsure of some financial concepts but Murphy explains them clearly and gives cogent reasons for his opinions. His prescriptions are not a final blueprint but a framework for another way of thinking about values and economics: one that challenges the Divine Right of the Kings of Finance.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A coherent solution to our current economic predicament - at last., 29 Dec 2011
The Courageous State: Rethinking Economics, Society and the Role of GovernmentAfter reading Nick Shaxson's excellent book 'Treasure Islands and the men that stole the world', I had been searching for practical solutions to our current economic malaise. Richard Murphy's book is this. The book is divided into three parts. The first is a review of our current economic status that covers much of the same areas as Nick Shaxson - the rise of neoliberalism. Richard Murphy attacks the intellectual abdication that equates active government to bad (big) government. This section is easy to follow, but is less compelling than `Treasure Islands' relentless and readable analysis. The second section makes the point that man and society are more than money and the material economy. This rather obvious point is rammed home (as is probably necessary) with diagrams that highlight how progress in the financial area may perversely restrict potential in a wider context. The numerous examples given through this discussion prepares a descriptive intellectual background to the subsequent solutions. The third section contains Richard Murphy's solutions. These are radical, but practical and are clearly informed by the author's experience in business. It would not be surprising to find that many small businesses would strongly endorse many/most proposals. After reading the book I find myself thinking ` What would the UK be like if this radical programme were put into operation?'. This is simultaneously an exciting and a scary prospect. Could there be economic flaws at its heart? Who to believe? Witness the recent and sudden conversion of leading economists to the view that the Eurozone needed fiscal union all along. Could a minor country implement the proposals without the support of others within a larger union? How would powerful vested interests frustrate / block implementation? Despite these concerns, the ideas in this book need to move centre stage to reinvigorate the heart of our anaemic economic debate.
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Book which attacks the right targets, 10 Dec 2011
Richard Murphy is very good at picking out the problems for our society and economy. He was one of the first to realise and highlight the pernicious effects of tax havens or 'secrecy jurisdictions.' His latest target is equally well chosen: the libertarian economic assumptions that seem to be increasingly dominant (which he refers to as neoliberal). He has clearly thought a lot about many important issues and has come up with some interesting perspectives. I do feel that he could have made a lot more reference to political philosophy, a field which has considered many of these normative issues. I also have my doubts about some of what he says, as I have outlined in my blog review [...]. I agree with Murphy that we need a Courageous State to stand up against corporations, the wealthy, and tax havens in the name of the vast majority of citizens and democracy. There are other responses to these problems, but it is good that Murphy is out there espousing his commendable values and challenging the libertarian viewpoint.
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