Postcapitalism

As you read British commentator Paul Mason’s prescription for a post-crash economy – a Sunday Times Top Ten Book – you may find yourself thinking that it’s intriguing, but idealistic and unrealistic. Mason’s goal is worthwhile: To create a system immune to the volatility that rocked global markets in the financial collapse of 2008. Mason promotes ideas that will be familiar to those vested in left-of-center economic thinking: a universal basic income, the return of privatized monopolies to the public sector and the breakup of big banks.

Financial complexity stands at the heart of modern economic life.Paul Mason

Mason is a fluent writer who wraps complex economic concepts in a clear, compelling package. However, his suggestions may seem improbable in a world in which American and British voters now lurch to the right. And his arguments may not persuade anyone not already predisposed to embracing greater government regulation and less corporate power. Imagine the firestorm that would greet Mason’s calls to take away the branch networks of major banks or the patent protections enjoyed by Big Pharma.