New releases from Public Image Ltd, William Basinski, and John Luther Adams
Bankruptcy, bubbles and bailouts: The inside history of the Treasury since 1976
by Aeron Davis
Manchester University Press £16.99
THIS is a splendid survey of a key department of state. The Treasury dominates the state machine.
What is its purpose? The record shows that it consistently opposes our national industries, regional development, central planning, and much-needed infrastructure projects.
By contrast it always gives foreign companies incentives to move to Britain — regional development aid, free enterprise zones, free ports. It backs international finance against national industry.
If the government really wanted to address public finances, improve living standards and begin economic recovery, it would increase its borrowing for investment, argues MICHAEL BURKE
CAROL WILCOX argues for the proper implementation of the land value tax, which could see unused plots sold off and landlords priced out of landlordism, potentially resolving the housing and planning crises
Exempting military expenditure from austerity while slashing welfare represents a fundamental misallocation of resources that guarantees continued decline, argues MICHAEL BURKE
Under Modi’s hard-right regime, India is going backwards — but not in the state of Kerala, where the communist-led government continues to deliver remarkable results in infrastructure, economic growth, healthcare, welfare, education, science and social harmony, reports PEOPLE’S DEMOCRACY



