The Econocracy: On the Perils of Leaving Economics to the Experts

'Our democracy has gone profoundly wrong. Economists have failed us. Politicians have lied to us. Things must change. This fearless new book will help make it happen' Owen Jones 'An explosive call for change ... packed with original research ... a case study for the question we should all be asking since the crash: how have the elites - in Westminster, in the City, in economics - stayed in charge?' Aditya Chakrabortty, Guardian 'Utterly compelling and sobering' Ha-Joon Chang A century ago, the idea of 'the economy' didn't exist. Now economics is the supreme ideology of our time, with its own rules and language. The trouble is, most of us can't speak it. This is damaging democracy. Dangerous agendas are hidden inside mathematical wrappers; controversial policies are presented as 'proven' by the models of economic 'science'. Government is being turned over to a publicly unaccountable technocratic elite. The Econocracy reveals that economics is too important to be left to the economists - and shows us what we can do about it. 'A rousing wake-up call from a collective of dissident graduate students ... technically assured, well-argued and informative' Robert Skidelsky 'If war is too important to be left to the generals, so is the economy too important to be left to narrowly trained economists ... thought-provoking' Martin Wolf 'An interesting and highly pertinent book' Noam Chomsky