Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy From 1917 to the Present

Authoritative account of heterodox economic ideas by one of the leading lights of New Left Review

The tentative revival of socialist movements on either side of the Atlantic has posed anew the question of alternative economic regimes: Modern Monetary Theory, 'digital socialism', public-utility banking and Universal Basic Services are just some of the ideas in play.

Thinking Socialist Economic Policy provides the historical and theoretical scaffolding for these vital and ongoing debates. It surveys a century of radical-left theorisation and experimentation, beginning with the early Bolshevik experience and the socialist calculation debate with Mises and Hayek, before taking in the Meidner Plan in social-democratic Sweden and the prospects for a 'socialised market' amid the ruins of the Soviet bloc.

The middle section traces the accelerating financialization of the major capitalist economies leading up to the crash of 2008, the end-point of post-Cold War Western self-congratulation. The book closes with a survey of possible left exits from our era of economic stagnation and austerity, and of measures to overhaul the UK economy - the most unequal and neoliberalized order in western Europe.

Robin Blackburn teaches at the University of Essex and is an editor at New Left Review. He is the author of many books, including The American Crucible, The Making of New World Slavery, The Overthrow of Colonial Slavery, Age Shock and Banking on Death.