Political Economy and the Labour Party

This book is an excellent introduction to the ideas and arguments that have guided Labour’s economic thinking from 1884 until the present day, and the influence these ideas have exerted over the formulation of economic policy. It provides clear and concise summaries of leading thinkers and schools, and clearly brings out the diverse nature of the economic thought that has characterised the Labour party. This significantly revised edition brings the book up to the present day and provides a much needed analysis of the Blair government. It explores how the early thinking of the 1990s has been applied in government and, in addition to providing a more developed historical contextualization of ideas and thinkers, the new edition includes: * a new introduction discussing the emergence of the Labour Party and the disparate elements of which it is comprised * a chapter discussing the intellectual antecedents of, and influences on, New Labour. It also explores the impact of globalisation and the shifting Labour position on the EU * a chapter examining the ideological trajectory of New Labour and where its political economy now lies on the political spectrum.
It also discusses Britain’s economic performance since 1997 * a new conclusion discussing the themes that have guided and informed economic thinking within the labour party and also the methodologies and emphases that have characterised democratic socialist political economies in the late 19th and 20th centuries. The book will be of great interest to students and scholars studying British politics, British history, economic and political thought.

Author Biography

Noel Thompson is Professor of History and Head of the School of Humanities at the University of Wales, Swansea. He is a respected historian of Labour’s economic thinking and, more generally, of socialist and anti-capitalist political economy in Britain.