GREED IS DEAD POLITICS AFTER INDIVIDUALISM

PAUL COLLIER AND JOHN KAY Allen Lane, 208pp, £16.99, ebook £9.99

In Greed Is Dead, the economists Paul Collier and John Kay argue that the acquisitive individualism widely held to be at the centre of capitalism and, by extension, prosperity, needs dethroning. Actually, they argue, humans ‘have become successful not by being selfish and smart, but by being social’. Their critique, said Christina Patterson in the Sunday Times, argues that we’ve ended up with ‘a toxic mix of “extreme elite individualism” on the left and the “possessive individualism” of market fundamentalists on the right’.

This focus on the individual is a relatively recent development, a departure from the communitarian norms that have contributed to human thriving for most of history. They argue that to undo it, we need to devolve more power, need ‘less top-down management, less respect for “the model” and more for what works. We need, in other words, more common sense.’ Their analysis in this ‘breezy, no-nonsense guide’ ‘is a mini economics lesson […] clear, punchy and largely convincing’.

Other critics agreed. The Telegraph’s Clement Knox called it ‘a fine, incisive polemic’, while Literary Review’s Richard V Reeves described the authors as ‘two of the most thoughtful economists writing today’. The FT’S Delphine Strauss shared the view that much of what they argue is ‘common sense’, but said that in light of that perhaps they painted the lily: ‘They are largely convincing’, but ‘many of their policy proposals are familiar, and do not depend on the intellectual framing they are given here’.