In Government We Trust: Market-Failure and the Delusions of Privatisation

by Warwick Funnell, Robert Jupe, Jane Andrew

Neoliberalism has had a huge impact on our lives over the past three decades, convincing governments in liberal democratic states to transform themselves and society according to the values and practices of the market.

In Government We Trust examines these promises within the context of market failures in services relinquished to the private sector by governments. Using prominent examples such as the collapse of Railtrack in the UK, the energy crisis in the US and the Sydney water treatment scandal in Australia, it exposes the level of risk which remains with government after privatisation, requiring them to resume responsibility when the private sector fails.

The authors show how these failures reveal the benefits of government intervention and the dangers of unfettered markets. They argue that these problems confirm that there are some things only governments can and should do.

336 pages, Hardcover

First published January 20, 2009

Reviews

[Yousseif Abdellatif · Rating 4 out of 5]

The detail that got me in In Government We Trust: Market-Failure and the Delusions of Privatisation was a throwaway line about what people leave unsaid at funerals. Warwick Funnell is full of moments like that, small and sharp and true. The main plot is okay. Perfect for readers who collect little observations, skip if you read for the big story.

[Yousseif Abdellatif · Rating 3 out of 5]

Warwick Funnell drops absolute truth bombs in In Government We Trust, showing how political rhetoric is almost always designed to distract from plain economic resource extraction.