Recent Controversies in Political Economy

First published in 1992, Recent Controversies in Political Economy presents a collection of articles on political economy and economic policy taken from Economic Affairs, the Institute’s magazine. Put together they constitute a sustained commentary on what is widely known as the ‘Thatcher era’. For more than a decade, successive Conservative governments introduced reforms which have been widely held to be a revolution in economic policy. Generally, these have tended to give a greater role to markets. The Institute of Economic Affairs takes markets as its central concern- where they work, where they fail and how they are impeded. It thus has a unique interest in this policy revolution.

In areas as diverse as taxation, education, housing and the environment, the volume offers a series of challenging alternatives. In some cases, ideas proposed have subsequently been taken up, but there are other examples where the proposals run contrary to those of any of the major parties or read as an implicit criticism of policies which were actually adopted. This book is an important historical reference work for students and scholars of political economy, economic policy and economics in general.