Book Reviews

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14th November 1999

The Economic Horror, by Viviane Forrester

Polity Press, 1999 A thought provoking and challenging text. The text is translated from the original French. A bleak picture is painted of contemporary western society. A civilisation based on Read More

14th November 1999

Global Labour Flexibility: Seeking Distributive Justice, by Guy Standing

Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1999, 404pp. In this major book, the culmination of several years of research, Guy Standing, co-chairman of BIEN and senior economist with the International Labour Office provides an Read More

14th July 1999

A Basic Income Proposal: in The State of the Future, by Meghnad Desai

Social Market Foundation, October 1998 (Review by Hugh Baillie and Judith Diabate) In this chapter Lord Desai claims to answer two questions: is a Basic Income affordable? If so, should Read More

14th July 1999

The Arithmetic of Tax and Social Security Reform: A User’s Guide to Microsimulation Methods and Analysis, by Gerry Redmond, Holly Sutherland and Moira Wilson

This is an invaluable book for all those who use (or interpret the output of) POLIMOD, Cambridge University’s Microsimulation Unit’s tax and benefit model. The book provides an illustration of Read More

14th July 1999

Microsimulation and Policy Debate: A Case Study of the Minimum Pension Guarantee in Britain, by A.B. Atkinson and H. Sutherland

This excellent paper, published by the Microsimulation Unit in Cambridge, seeks to explore the relationship between microsimulation and policy discussion through a case study. The very topical issue chosen is Read More

14th July 1998

Beveridge or Brown? Contribution and Redistribution: The Real Social Security Debate, by Sheila Lawlor

Dr Sheila Lawlor, Director of Politeia, argues the case for retaining the contributory principle on which Beveridge based social security. She believes that the restoration of the principle is central Read More

14th July 1998

Thatcherism, New Labour and the Welfare State, by John Hills

This paper examines the extent to which the welfare state policies pursued by the Labour Government in its first fifteen months represent a break with those of its Conservative predecessor Read More

14th February 1998

The new Politics of Welfare, by Bill Jordan

This topical textbook provides a critical introduction to the current debates and politics surrounding welfare reform in the United Kingdom and the United States. By explaining the origins and main Read More

14th February 1998

Setting adequacy standards: how governments define minimum incomes, by John Veit-Wilson

This is an excellent international survey of how the governments of ten countries worldwide set their Minimum Income Standards (MIS). The UK Government currently has no MIS to assess the Read More

14th February 1998

Social Insurance in Europe, by Joseph Clasen

This book summarises the main arguments about and highlights the lessons to be learnt from European experiences of social insurance and social security as a whole. It is an excellent Read More