In this book Adair Turner raises a number of very good points in defence of trying to steer an econoomic course between the extremes of state socialism and unfettered laissez-faire capitalism. Contrary to the Amazon review, not only is such a compromise possible, it is probably also inevitable as neither extreme is truly achievable. Although now several years old, many of the arguments remain valid in showing that globalisation can be an opportunity as well as a threat, and they deserve greater exposure.
Turner's principal point is his belief that globalisation need not mean European welfare states have to be sacrificed on the altar of "competitiveness", and he puts forward a number of strong arguments in support of his thesis. In other areas however Turner falls into a number of common traps; in his enthusiasm for Britain joining the Euro, I felt Turner failed to address the monetary risks from a single "one size fits all" policy, instead concentrating on the single issue of labour flexibility which, in this case, is a straw man. There are similar weaknesses in his environmental policies, although these may in part be an effect of the way the arguments have developed since the book was published. Faced with these weaknesses which I was able to see, I found myself wondering whether there may not be other weaknesses I had missed (I am an interested general reader, not a professional economist).
If the book concentrated on analysing the probable consequences of globalisation compared with the ill informed panic being spread by both politicians and the media it would heve deserved three, perhaps four, stars, but by weakening his arguments in this way I feel I have to drop to only two.
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