Beyond the Casino Economy

Labour Briefing no. 89, 27 September 1989, p. 11

Transcribed or corrected by hand from the printed page.

By-line as printed: Phil Hearse, Islington North CLP.

Beyond the Casino Economy, by Nicholas Costello, Jonathan Mitchie and Seumus Milne, Verso, £8.95 (paperback).

This ambitious new economic programme for a radical Labour government is a wide-ranging attempt to update the 1970s "Alternative Economic Strategy".

It does this from a viewpoint sharply critical of attempts by Kinnock and previous Labour governments to make peace with capitalism. It was submitted to the Labour Party Policy Review by CLPD and, of course, rejected out of hand.

In an effective swipe at the "Post-Fordism" and "New Times" arguments of Marxism Today, the authors examine the facts about modern capitalist production trends.

The facts don't bear out the sweeping claims that mass production has been replaced by "flexible specialisation".

In an era of near-universal celebration of the market the book's trenchant defence of planning, public ownership, and the necessity for the state to mobilise investment in manufacturing industry is refreshing.

The most original and creative part of the book is a sustained discussion of the benefits of planning for the development and application of information technology as a crucial component of regenerating the British economy.

This stimulating discussion develops a convincing argument in favour of a national (and nationalised) optical fibre grid, capable of carrying a "broad band" of electronic communications.

The authors show that lack of standardisation of information technology — for example, the dozens of computer firms producing almost identical hardware in non-compatible form — is an obstacle both to linking up existing systems and to the more widespread and democratic diffusion of this technology.

Obviously, national planning and public ownership in this field could produce spectacular steps forward.

This is a rich and detailed discussion, containing lots of material which will help socialists of many hues update their conceptions of how a socialised economy would work.

But Beyond the Casino Economy contains serious strategic flaws.

The authors argue for nationalisation of the top four clearing banks, the top dozen or so insurance companies, and the top merchant banks.

They also argue for the nationalisation of perhaps 25 "strategic" companies which have disproportionate weight in their particular economic sectors.

They do admit that it would be preferable to nationalise the whole of the finance sector (together with perhaps the top several hundred industrial companies) but argue that such proposals are:

"unlikely to be politically practical in current conditions" and "highly unlikely to be a viable political option for a Labour government."

The programme outlined by the authors is, as they admit, not necessarily incompatible with the continued existence of capitalism. But it is, obviously, highly incompatible with the wishes of the British ruling class and international capitalism in general.

Any attempt to carry out this programme would meet with a furious and sustained attempt to bring down the government by legal and extra-legal means. It would involve widespread financial and industrial sabotage.

Such ruling class resistance could only be overcome by a mobilisation of the working class of truly revolutionary proportions.

The strategic issue here is whether a programme for radical social change in the direction of a socialised economy can be accomplished without a revolutionary clash between the classes.

Contrary to misconceptions based on the final episode of a A Very British Coup, Harry Perkins is in fact alive and well.

Political history from Allende in Chile to the Socialist-Communist coalition in France tells us Harry got it wrong. In the real world, he won't be getting a huge loan from Russian banks to bail him out!

transcribed from the page image, 4 Nov 2026 (Hearse/Lloyd follow-up); spelling as printed ("Jonathan Mitchie", "Seumus Milne" in the details line; "the final episode of a A Very British Coup"). Book review under a 'BOOK REVIEW' banner in the lower half of the page; the by-line 'By Phil Hearse Islington North CLP' sits in a ruled box in the second column. The details line heads the body; the first two paragraphs are printed in larger bold type and kept bold. Left out the review above it ('Ken... take the power?', by Chris Knight), its photo and caption, the Verso advertisement and the page header. Fully legible.