Globalisation and the welfare state

Ramesh Miskra and Edward Elgar, 152 pages, hardback £49.95, paperback £15.95

This book argues that globalisation is putting a downward pressure on social standards in the developed capitalist countries. By providing capital with the option to leave any country whose policies it dislikes, globalisation has strengthened capital against government as well as labour.

The author examines its impact on full employment and the labour market, income distribution, taxation and social welfare, and shows that the adverse effect has been greater in the anglo-saxon countries than in continental Europe and Japan.

In conclusion he suggests that the movement for the defence of welfare needs to be international as well as national, and should campaign for community standards rather than individual rights. It should work for social standards related to the economic capacity of each country. By all means let nations and companies compete, he says, but only on the basis of agreed social standards.