markets in British political reviews Will life and the short-termism which characterizes their Hutton's The State dealings have ensured the We're In elevation of the interests of finance over production. • 'Gentlemanly capitalTODAY THE supremacy ism" - the reproduction of the stultifying British class sysof the market as a mechaStem through its network of nism for regulating virtupublic school, Oxbridge, the ally every area of life is a civil service, city boarddogma which goes virtu- rooms, Royal and upper class ally unchallenged. social circles - has ensured This is a big success for the the dominance of ConservaTories management of the tive political values in every British economy since 1979 important institution and preand their project. They have vented the development of a done away for ever with the more free-thinking, critiKeynesian consensus which cally-minded capitalists dominated every parliamen- class. tary political party in the • The absence of a written post-war period. British constitution has enHutton identifies a number abled a single-minded govof features of British capital- ernment to ruthlessly pursue ism which have given the its political project by cennew right their victory. tralizing power.
• The influence of the City The Tories have seized of the state essential to their purpose unashamedly using patronage to put their toadies in place. Those, like the GLC, which they can't control are broken up. Ally of Labour right: Hutton The weakness of Labour, argues Hutton, and the ideological vacuum which it has floated in since the collapse project, have meant the absence of any serious opposition to the new right project.
The strength of Hutton's book is the immensely readable and convincing dissection of the British economy. His knowledge of the interna- tional capitalist institutions is instructive.
•There is a particularly interesting section comparing British market institutions with those of the United States, Japan, and other parts of Europe.
The greatest strength of Hutton's book is, however, its biggest flaw. He mistakenly identifies the problems produced by British capitalism as a by-product of its unique national character.
But revolutionary marxists understand that capitalism is an international system and that, while nation states give it a distinct character, it precise form, which demands change.
So Hutton ultimately calls only for a reform of British capitalism. He wants to see the establishment of a form of "stakeholder capitalism" in which those who run the economy do so in the inter: ests of a wider public good.
The financial system must. be republicanised; there must be regulation and management of the market economy; a stable international financial order must be constructed; political democracy strengthened with the aid of a written constitution; the welfare state democratized.
In all of this the institutions of Europe must play a leading role and new Labour must transform itself into a party fit for government - a step Hutton believes is already being taken with Blair's commitment to abolbook provides a prescription for how this may be achieved.
The State We're In is part of a growing body of work designed to give credence to the political project of Labour's right.
It is an ambitious project. Even though it is based on the incredibly naive belief that modern capitalism can be shackled and civilized by good intention alone, it is nevertheless building up a very broad basis of support.
These are the ideas that will underpin the next Labour government. This is why it is important that revolutionary marxists intervene into the developing debate to pose an alternative that truly confronts the power of capital.
Socialists should read this book for it is set to become one of the important political texts of the 1990s and beyond.
SOCIALIST OUTLOOK No. 80, March 25 1995, Page 13