Aaron Bastani | Verso, 2020 | Book
In this book, I outline the challenges confronting humanity over the 21st century, and the simultaneous emergence of new technologies which will not only mitigate them but make possible new vistas of abundance. Within the book I detail the role of universal basic services, and a form of social democracy (with markets) in navigating our way to a different kind of economic system.
Institute for Global Prosperity | University College London, 2017 | Article
The first-ever UK report on the merits of universal basic services and how they can address a range of public policy problems. It also provides an introduction to the idea of universal basic services and why it's preferable to a universal basic income (UBI).
Peter Frase | Verso, 2016 | Book
Equality and hierarchy. Abundance and scarcity. Frase outlines four distinct futures for humanity where each of these intersects. A useful framework to not only speculate about what lies ahead, but also situate recent innovations in the economy — from the emergence of social media platforms to on-demand app-based services — as well as political movements responding to issues like displaced people, climate change and inequality.
Leigh Phillips and Michal Rozworski | Verso, 2019 | Book
Despite the common refrain that planning is bad economics, it is conspicuous in the largest and most successful firms. The likes of Amazon and Walmart use data on a massive scale to plan and coordinate resources across their business, making the most of the digital revolution. But could such forms of planning be democratized, and serve to renew the role of the state?
John Maynard Keynes, 1930 | Article
John Maynard Keynes was no socialist. And yet he believed that by 2030 humanity would have transitioned to something resembling a leisure society. History has proved him wrong, the reason being his assessment of technology and its relationship to politics was flawed. The worst part? It's an assessment which remains the default for many techno-utopians today.
Karl Marx | The Grundrisse, 1857 | Article
Keynes' essay was written in 1930, while Marx's Grundrisse — which includes the so called "Fragment on Machines" — was composed in 1857. Yet while Keynes was proven wrong on the relationship between technology and politics, Marx's more pessimistic assessment has stood the test of time. Why hasn't automation, big data and now deep learning led to more leisure time? A compelling explanation awaits the reader here.
