When nothing works: From cost of living to foundational liveability

by Luca Calafati, Julie Froud, Colin Haslam

It’s hard to shake the feeling that in Britain today nothing works. In the face of mounting inflation and widespread industrial action, this book offers an incisive analysis of the UK’s problems and a new approach to tackling them.

Economic growth and higher wages, the traditional responses of mainstream politicians, are simply not enough. This is because the so-called ‘cost of living crisis’ is only the face of a deeper crisis of foundational liveability. The UK is confronted not only with squeezed residual incomes but also failing public services and decaying social infrastructure. The only way out is to embrace a political practice of adaptive reuse that works around the constraints that frustrate mainstream policies.

Presenting a new model for the three pillars of liveability – disposable and residual income, essential services and social infrastructure – When nothing works challenges the assumptions of left and right in the UK political classes and offers a fresh approach to the economically visible and politically actionable.

Genres: Nonfiction

312 pages, Paperback

Published June 27, 2023

Reviews

[L · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am not convinced that this book was edited properly.

[John Mitchell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'd recommend this to anyone who's fed-up with the merry-go-round of UK politics over the last five decades, and believes there's an alternative to the mess we've gotten ourselves in.

[David Cunningham · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really fascinating book. It does not suggest Government will take heed, and do many of the suggested changes in direction or mindset, but it offers alternatives. If you’re remotely interested in politics, and/or economics, then this is the book for you 👍👍

[Luke · Rating 1 out of 5]

Written as an academic paper and not a book, very disappointing