The Golden Age of Capitalism

For some twenty years after the Second World War, Keynesian economic policies in countries of the capitalist West were successful in generating rapid growth with high employment. This `golden age of capitalism' did not survive the economic traumas of the 1970s; nor has the more recent emphasis on monetarist policies and supply-side performance succeeded in regenerating comparable growth rates. Blending historical analysis with economic theory, this book seeks to understand the making and unmaking of this `golden age', questions the basis of much present policy-making, and suggests alternative directions for policy.

Readership: Economic policy-makers and their advisers in national and international bodies; academics in economics, economic history, and political science.

Edited by Stephen A. Marglin and Juliet B. Schor, both Professors of Economics, Harvard University

"`this is a helpful book, addressing a central question which should be of concern to all economists' British Review of Economic Issues"

"'first rate, commands attention, and deserves a very wide readership' Roger Middleton, University of Bristol, Economic History Review, Volume XLIV, No. 1 February 1991"

"`The work has a refreshing breadth' Development Policy Review"

"`This is a notable book, overall, and one which should stay on as a handy reference for developments which occurred - between, and within OECD economies - till up to about 1987. The quality of the contributions, each one by authorities in the field, is uniformly high. The stress on political economy aspects, and the avoidance of `economism' is particularly refreshing.' Economic Times"

"'This volume is a welcome addition to the growing literature on the nature of capitalist development in the advanced economies since the second world war ... this volume is a useful starting point for anyone attempting to discover the parameters of the golden age of capitalism.' John Armitage, University of Northumbria at Newcastle, Review of Political Economy 6.2"