The late Andrew Glyn was one of the foremost British political economists. "Capitalism Unleashed" is a very well-researched take on the developments (mostly) in rich economies after WW2 - the Golden Age capitalism and, most importantly, the current neoliberal era that started emerging in the 1970s.
The book covers the turbulent situation in the 1970s (union militancy, high inflation, profit squeeze, and other threats to capital), the reaction that followed (a return to fiscal and monetary orthodoxy, privatization, and deregulation), the explosion in size of the financial sector and its repercussions (financial volatility, the drive for shareholder value), globalization (trade, financial flows), the change in the position of labor, economic growth, the welfare states, and inequality. All the chapters are informative and valuable. Glyn tries to convey relevant nuances when possible and delivers a good glimpse of all the phenomena that he sets out to discuss. However, although the author intended to make the book widely accessible, the narrative is sometimes far from memorable which makes it very likely that the average reader will walk away with only certain general ideas, without the nuances that Glyn so painstakingly documents.
That is my only complaint. Otherwise, this book deserves attention, especially if you care about recent and possible future developments in capitalism and would also like some additional left-wing perspective.
