Policy Press

The Lies We Were Told

Politics, Economics, Austerity and Brexit

By Simon Wren-Lewis

Published

Nov 7, 2018

Page count

320 pages

ISBN

978-1529202137

Dimensions

216 x 138 mm

Imprint

Bristol University Press

Published

Nov 7, 2018

Page count

320 pages

ISBN

978-1529202144

Dimensions

Imprint

Bristol University Press

Published

Nov 7, 2018

Page count

320 pages

ISBN

978-1529202151

Dimensions

Imprint

Bristol University Press
The Lies We Were Told

“This is a book you should read, for understanding what went wrong in the past is our only hope of doing better in the future?”

- Paul Krugman, Nobel prize-winner

Why did governments adopt austerity policies, and why were they so harmful?

Why did the media largely ignore the experts who opposed these policies, and allow politicians to get away with lies?

And why did voters choose Brexit when the economic consensus was that it would harm living standards?

Simon Wren-Lewis, winner of the SPERI/New Statesman Prize for Political Economy, is one of Britain's most respected economists. Since 2012, his widely-read Mainly Macro blog has been an influential resource for policymakers, academics and social commentators around the world. This book presents some of his most important work, telling the story of how the damaging political and economic events of recent years became inevitable.

Simon Wren-Lewis is Emeritus Professor of Economics at the University of Oxford and author of the widely read Mainly Macro blog. In 2015 he was invited to join the Labour Party’s Economic Advisory Committee, and in 2016 he won the SPERI/New Statesman Prize for Political Economy.

Preface – Paul Krugman;

Introduction;

The Macroeconomics of UK Austerity;

Eurozone;

The Consequences of Austerity;

The 2015 UK General Election;

The Transformation of the Labour Party;

Brexit;

The Media, Economics and Electing Donald Trump;

Economists and Policy Making;

From Neoliberalism to Plutocracy;

Conclusions.