British capitalism before the crisis

Lavery, S. (2019) British capitalism before the crisis. In: British Capitalism After the Crisis. Series: Building a sustainable political economy: SPERI research & policy. Springer, pp. 15-49. ISBN 9783030040468 (doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-04046-8_2)

Abstract

During the 1970s, the advanced capitalist economies entered into a period of deep ‘stagflation’. The 1970s crisis reflected the unravelling of the social compact which had underpinned the Bretton Woods settlement. The crisis was ‘resolved’ through a series of neoliberal reforms designed to discipline labour and re-establish the primacy of market forces. A new growth model of ‘privatised Keynesianism’ subsequently emerged in Britain, which maintained aggregate demand through increasing private debt across the economy. Whilst ‘privatised Keynesianism’ generated growth in the pre-crisis conjuncture, it also rendered Britain peculiarly exposed to the 2008 financial crisis. The chapter argues that whilst the ‘growth model perspective’ provides a useful characterisation of pre-crisis British capitalism, it also suffers from a number of theoretical limitations.

• Item Type: Book Sections
• Additional Information: Print ISBN: 9783030040451
• Status: Published
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Lavery, Dr Scott
• Authors: Lavery, S.
• College/School: College of Social Sciences > School of Social and Political Sciences > Economic and Social History
• Publisher: Springer
• ISBN: 9783030040468
• Published Online: 30 December 2018

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