Will Hutton - Böcker

A wake-up call to Britain, and the global economyTHE STATE WE'RE IN, Will Hutton's explosive analysis of British society, was the biggest selling politico-economic work since the Second World War. Now, as the world realigns itself in the wake of September 11, Hutton turns his attention to the global picture, and the ways in which the new world should be ordered.To understand the global economy, Hutton argues, one must first understand the United States where, over the past 30 years, the forces of conservatism have achieved such supremacy as to reduce liberalism to a term of abuse. The results have been dire: America is a weaker, fragmented society, and its economic strenths are oversold and misunderstood.But Britain and Europe are different: our attitudes towards property, equality, social solidarity and the public realm are strikingly distinct from Amerrica's current conservative leanings. Europe should not be afraid to stand up against the American version of globalisation, and champion the cause of a reinvigorated international society - taking over the mantle now abandoned by the US.

China constitutes a fifth of the world's population. Over the last twenty years its economy has doubled to make it the fifth largest economy in the world; if the pace is repeated over the next twenty it is set to become second only to the US. The speed of its development is stunning, a combination of cheap labour and commitment to science and technology that has never been matched by a developing country. The Pearl River Delta, Shanghai and Beijing have become city-regions whose growth and embrace of modernity strike the visitor with awesome force. This is a continent on the move, recovering the world position and wealth it once had.The re-emergence of China as a superpower constitutes the biggest challenge the world has had for more than a century. Never before in modern times has the financial, trade, economic and diplomatic world pecking order been so profoundly reconstituted with the challenger country itself in the grips of incredible ideological and political change. This is a transition both internally in China and externally in the world beyond beset by hazard and risk. The world's peace and prosperity depends upon it being executed successfully.

The suddenness and depth of the recession has raised questions about the workability of capitalism not seen since the 1930s. One of the constraints on recovery is the growing belief that if the old model did not work there is no new one on offer. This book sets out to provide one, arguing that reconstructing a bust financial system is not just a technical question. It cannot be done without a wholescale revision of the wider system and values on which it is based. And fairness must be placed at the heart of the new capitalism if our society is to recover its values.Will Hutton's new book musters brilliant, convincing arguments which will lend favour on both right and left. It is set to be a book which captures the mood of the moment in the same way that THE STATE WE'RE IN did.

Britain is beset by a crisis of purpose. For a generation we have been told the route to universal well-being is to abandon the expense of justice and equity and so allow the judgments of the market to go unobstructed. What has been created is not an innovative, productive economy but instead a capitalism that extracts value rather than creates it, massive inequality, shrinking opportunity and a society organised to benefit the top 1%. The capacity to create new jobs and start-ups should not disguise that in the main the new world is one of throw away people working in throw away companies. The British are at a loss.The warnings of The State We're In have been amply justified. Will Hutton observes that the trends that so disturbed him twenty years ago have become more marked. Rather than take refuge in nativism and virulent euro-scepticism, Britain must recognize that its problems are largely made at home - and act to change them. With technological possibilities multiplying, a wholesale makeover of the state, business and the financial system is needed to seize the opportunities by being both fairer and more innovative. The aim must be to create an economy, society and democracy in which the mass of citizens flourish. In this compelling and vital new book Hutton spells out how.

For over a decade Will Hutton has been one of Britain's leading progressive voices. He has been at the centre of every significant economic and political debate that has reshaped and reimagined the British centre-left: the mounting calls for a democratic constitutional settlement, the criticisms of the short-termism of the domestic and international financial systems, the idea of a stakeholding society. In The State We're In he combined all three in a passionate and powerful diagnosis of Britain's problems and the possibility of a just and democratic renewal.This collection brings together the full range of Hutton's work as a journalist, pamphleteer and essayist, advocate and critic, and shows the spectrum of issues with which he has engaged. Yet Hutton has remained true to his best journalistic instincts. He has proved to be not only an acute thinker but an engaged writer and effective popularizer. Brought together, his work over the last ten years represents the emergence of a new politics and new political imagination in Britain. Founded on a coherent critique of neo-liberal economic orthodoxy and monetarist practice, and a sophisticated reassessment of neo-Keynesianism, Hutton has put the politics back into political economy. The case he makes for new economic institutions, the regulation of global capital markets, the refounding of British industry, has always been matched by the complementary requirements of a new politics which is consensual, democratic, open and innovative and which must be pursued as much in Brussels and the regions and nations of the UK as at Westminster.

For over a decade Will Hutton has been one of Britain's leading progressive voices. He has been at the centre of every significant economic and political debate that has reshaped and reimagined the British centre-left: the mounting calls for a democratic constitutional settlement, the criticisms of the short-termism of the domestic and international financial systems, the idea of a stakeholding society. In The State We're In he combined all three in a passionate and powerful diagnosis of Britain's problems and the possibility of a just and democratic renewal.This collection brings together the full range of Hutton's work as a journalist, pamphleteer and essayist, advocate and critic, and shows the spectrum of issues with which he has engaged. Yet Hutton has remained true to his best journalistic instincts. He has proved to be not only an acute thinker but an engaged writer and effective popularizer. Brought together, his work over the last ten years represents the emergence of a new politics and new political imagination in Britain. Founded on a coherent critique of neo-liberal economic orthodoxy and monetarist practice, and a sophisticated reassessment of neo-Keynesianism, Hutton has put the politics back into political economy. The case he makes for new economic institutions, the regulation of global capital markets, the refounding of British industry, has always been matched by the complementary requirements of a new politics which is consensual, democratic, open and innovative and which must be pursued as much in Brussels and the regions and nations of the UK as at Westminster.

Britain's Brexit voters are right. They have been shamefully neglected. But the answer is to change Britain, not to leave Europe. This book sets out how we can radically improve the lives of people and communities shut out from prosperity.The EU, despite its frailties and strains, is a success story.The advantages of leaving are illusory: no gains in trade from deals with protectionist China and the United States can compensate for what is being lost in Europe. Britain is weakening a pillar of the world's diplomatic and trade order at the same time as weakening itself - an act of self-harm, especially when so many countries are retreating from democracy, free trade and progressive values.In Saving Britain Will Hutton and Andrew Adonis set out a bold plan to transform Britain and fight for Europe as a force for good at home and abroad.

How are great turning points in history experienced by individuals?As Britain pulls away from Europe great British writers come together to give voice to their innermost feelings. These writers include novelists, writers of books for children, of comic books, humourists, historians, biographers, nature writers, film writers, travel writers, writers young and old and from an extraordinary range of backgrounds. Most are famous perhaps because they have won the Booker or other literary prizes, written bestsellers, changed the face of popular culture or sold millions of records. Others are not yet household names but write with depth of insight and feeling.There is some extraordinary writing in this book. Some of these pieces are expressions of love of particular places in Europe. Some are true stories, some nostalgic, some hopeful. Some are cries of pain. There are hilarious pieces. There are cries of pain and regret. Some pieces are quietly devastating. All are passionate.Conceived as a love letter to Europe, this book may also help reawaken love for Britain. It shows the unique richness and diversity of British cultures, a multitude of voices in harmony.Contributors include:Hugh Aldersey-Williams, Philip Ardagh, Jake Arnott, Patricia Atkinson, Paul Atterbury, Richard Beard, Mary Beard, Don Boyd, Melvyn Bragg, Gyles Brandreth, Kathleen Burke, James Buxton, Philip Carr, Brian Catling, Shami Chakrabarti, Chris Cleave, Mark Cocker, Peter Conradi , Heather Cooper, Frank Cottrell-Boyce, Roger Crowley, David Crystal, William Dalrymple, Lindsey Davies, Margaret Drabble, Mark Ellen, Richard Evans, Michel Faber, Sebastian Faulks, Ranulph Fiennes, Robert Fox, James Fox, Neil Gaiman, Evelyn Glennie, James Hanning, Nick Hayes, Alan Hollinghurst, Gabby Hutchinson-Crouch, Will Hutton, Robert Irwin, Holly Johnson , Liane Jones, Ruth Jones, Sam Jordison, Kapka Kassabova, AL Kennedy, Hermione Lee, Prue Leith, Patrick Lenox, Roger Lewis, David Lindo, Penelope Lively, Beth Lync, Richard Mabey, Sue MacGregor, Ian Martin, Frank McDonough, Jonathan Meades, Andrew Miller, Deborah Moggach, Ben Moor, Alan Moore, Paul Morley, Jackie Morris, Charles Nicholl, Richard Overy, Chris Riddell, Adam Roberts, Tony Robinson, Lee Rourke, Sophie Sabbage, Marcus Sedgwick, Richard Shirreff, Paul Stanford, Isy Suttie, Sandi Toksvig, Colin Tudge, Ed Vulliamy, Anna Whitelock, Kate Williams, Michael Wood, Louisa Young

'This Time No Mistakes is a brilliant book... an intellectual, historical, political read with some strong themes... read it if you haven’t already.' Keir Starmer'Represents the beginning of a new, urgent debate. The era that defined economics since the end of the Cold War is now giving way to more activist governments and a very different kind of globalisation, necessitating new economic strategies. At last we are beginning to discuss what they might look like.' New StatesmanA book that could be a blueprint for a better future - if the Labour Party takes it seriously.Will Hutton’s passionate book shows how the right and left have gone wrong over the course of the last century – and how we can remake a better Britain. Britain’s inability to invest in itself is at the heart of our problems. The malevolent thread linking the grievous errors of the last forty-five years is the attempt to create the utopia of free markets and a minimal state. The terrible consequences scar our country today. We need an alternative economic and political philosophy, especially if we are to ward off a nihilist populism.Two great traditions – ethical socialism and progressive liberalism – can be brought together to offer a different way forward. Hutton describes the views of their major thinkers, and their common vision of what he calls the ‘We Society’ – combining the ‘We’ and the ‘I’. The two strands of thought both believe in the duty to treat people fairly in a capitalist system that, without guiderails, spirals into inequality, monopoly and exploitation.Out of this shared worldview came the great reforming Liberal government of 1906–14, supported by Labour MPs who’d been elected in industrial areas with Liberal backing. This alliance, Hutton argues, was the great opportunity of modern British history. It was destroyed by the First World War. In 1945 a Labour government, informed by great Liberal intellectuals like Keynes and Beveridge, showed once again what can be achieved when the two progressive strands fuse.Since then, our deeply unfair electoral system has allowed Conservatives to dominate government and commit a long series of great, avoidable errors. The Labour Party, fatally divided between socialist purity and timid pragmatism, must rediscover the ingredients that made for the success of the great reforming governments of the twentieth century.This failure to uphold the ‘We Society’ has betrayed Britain. Capitalism must be repurposed to work for the common good. And our degraded democracy, the necessary means for such change, must be reformed. Hutton’s proposals are inspiring and rooted in values held by the overwhelming majority of us. Above all, they are achievable.