Economic policy

The origins of modern welfare was published in July 2010, by Peter Lang.  The publisher and I agreed at the time of publication that our contractual agreement would expire after ten years, and the rights would revert to me.  I am taking the opportunity now to make this work freely available, on a Creative Commons licence.

The book contains modern English versions of two documents from the early sixteenth century, which have some claim to be the earliest ever studies made in the field of social policy.  The De Subventione Pauperum, by Juan-Luis Vives, was a commissioned academic report, written for the Senate of Bruges, and published in 1525.  It represents, a watershed in thinking about governance, social responsibility and public policy. In Book 2 it proposes a comprehensive civic organisation of welfare services. 

It has long been recognised that extreme inequality has many serious social consequences, as well as causing economic fragility and weakness - now the time has surely come to act.

Economic growth at city level does not always result in a reduction in poverty levels, particularly in the short term, according to a Joseph Rowntree Foundation study that looks at the evidence on the connections between cities, economic growth and poverty in the United Kingdom.

Policy-makers should aim to raise the share of wages in the economy as a key part of efforts to escape from the global economic recession, says a new pamphlet from the Trades Union Congress. It says there is growing evidence that increased wage inequality helped to cause the global crash in the first place, as well as hindering recovery subsequently. It provides estimates of the impact of a range of ‘pre-distribution’ type measures from raising the wage floor to reducing unemployment.