New Labour's distinctive idea is that equality and efficiency are partners, not enemies. This, the book argues, is an example of managerialist ideology - the belief that trade-offs between conflicting values can be managed away by clever policies, that management can replace politics. This is not true. New Labour's main economic policies - tax credits, the minimum wage, expanding higher education and promoting macroeconomic stability - have not removed the trade-off between equality and efficiency. However, the failure of managerialism is not merely a failure of particular policies. There are deeper flaws in it. It fails to recognize the multiple and conflicting meanings of the ideals of equality and efficiency. And it assumes that governments have knowledge and rationality that are in fact unattainable. The book is a plea to remove managerialism, and replace it with genuine politics. We should ditch the idea that a central elite can manage away social problems, and instead debate about conflicting ideals.
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About the Author
Chris Dillow was educated at Oxford and Manchester Universities, and spent several years as an economist in the City, before becoming economics writer at the Investors Chronicle. He blogs at http://stumblingandmumbling.typepad.com
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I enjoyed Dillow's book very much. It is a consistent and creative approach to the central question, and it is a pleasure to read a book where the author is so clearly engaged with, and passionate about, the subject.
My only caveat would concern the book's intended audience. For an interested layperson, the pitch is perfect: the book is an engaging whistlestop tour through economics, history, philosophy, politics, and much besides. However, I suspect the academic reader will find the occasionally scattergun approach frustrating (the chapters have, according to the preface, arisen fairly independently, and can be read in any order, which slightly disrupts the flow of the argument). In addition, Dillow brushes over some fairly major areas of academic debate - necessary, but occasionally unsatisfying.
Overall, this is an excellent introduction for those frustrated with the current turn of political discourse, and provides a good springboard for further reading for those more engaged with the topic.
My only caveat would concern the book's intended audience. For an interested layperson, the pitch is perfect: the book is an engaging whistlestop tour through economics, history, philosophy, politics, and much besides. However, I suspect the academic reader will find the occasionally scattergun approach frustrating (the chapters have, according to the preface, arisen fairly independently, and can be read in any order, which slightly disrupts the flow of the argument). In addition, Dillow brushes over some fairly major areas of academic debate - necessary, but occasionally unsatisfying.
Overall, this is an excellent introduction for those frustrated with the current turn of political discourse, and provides a good springboard for further reading for those more engaged with the topic.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By A. I. Mackenzie
VINE™ VOICE
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
Although this is ostensibly about New Labour, the cult of managerialism has spread throughout the business world as well. So the critique actually goes much wider than the sub title implies and includes the current coalition government.
The central thesis of this book is that managerialism says that all competing values can be managed away, thus efficiency and fairness need not compete but can both be harnessed together.
Chris Dillow cuts through this with gusto, he's of an analytic bent so provides lots of figures and graphs to demonstrate that Politics and indeed all management involves choosing what your primary goal is. That you have to choose between efficiency and fairness for example. They are incompatible
He's also very good at pointing out that central managers lack information in principle to make good decisions and that concepts like efficiency and equality are not as simple as you may think. It takes a more philosophical tone in the later part of the book and in fact I've come to believe that what underlies political belief is an idea of what a good human life is (a philosophical idea).
So there's a lot of meat in this book, well worth reading. Chris also has a blog which is called Stumbling and Mumbling, which is worth a look if you like this book.
The central thesis of this book is that managerialism says that all competing values can be managed away, thus efficiency and fairness need not compete but can both be harnessed together.
Chris Dillow cuts through this with gusto, he's of an analytic bent so provides lots of figures and graphs to demonstrate that Politics and indeed all management involves choosing what your primary goal is. That you have to choose between efficiency and fairness for example. They are incompatible
He's also very good at pointing out that central managers lack information in principle to make good decisions and that concepts like efficiency and equality are not as simple as you may think. It takes a more philosophical tone in the later part of the book and in fact I've come to believe that what underlies political belief is an idea of what a good human life is (a philosophical idea).
So there's a lot of meat in this book, well worth reading. Chris also has a blog which is called Stumbling and Mumbling, which is worth a look if you like this book.
6 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
You obviously haven't read Chris Dillow's book or you'd understand that there are important distinctions between managerialism and triangulation. Triangulation is a component of manageralism but it is not it in its totality.
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