Overview

The recent economic crisis was a dramatic reminder that capitalism can both produce and destroy. It's a system that by its very nature encourages predators and creators, locusts and bees. But, as Geoff Mulgan argues in this compelling, imaginative, and important book, the economic crisis also presents a historic opportunity to choose a radically different future for capitalism, one that maximizes its creative power and minimizes its destructive force. In an engaging and wide-ranging argument, Mulgan digs into the history of capitalism across the world to show its animating ideas, its utopias and dystopias, as well as its contradictions and possibilities. Drawing on a subtle framework for understanding systemic change, he shows how new political settlements reshaped capitalism in the past and are likely to do so in the future. By reconnecting value to real-life ideas of growth, he argues, efficiency and entrepreneurship can be harnessed to promote better lives and relationships rather than just a growth in the quantity of material consumption.Healthcare, education, and green industries are already becoming dominant sectors in the wealthier economies, and the fields of social innovation, enterprise, and investment are rapidly moving into the mainstream--all indicators of how capital could be made more of a servant and less a master. This is a book for anyone who wonders where capitalism might be heading next--and who wants to help make sure that its future avoids the mistakes of the past. This edition of The Locust and the Bee includes a new afterword in which the author lays out some of the key challenges facing capitalism in the twenty-first century.

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9780691165745

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Reviews

Geoff Mulgan's The Locust and the Bee is an important contribution to this field. --John Lloyd, Financial Times There is much in Mulgan's analysis that will repay careful scrutiny... The Locust and the Bee abounds with arresting observations of this kind and no one will finish the book without having learned something new and important. --John Gray, New Statesman A brilliant book, full of great ideas, provoking us to pause and think. --M. S. Sriram, Business Standard (India) [E]xcellent. --Frank Pasquale, Concurring Opinions [I]nteresting and thought-provoking. --Frank Dillon, Irish Times Geoff Mulgan ... earns his spurs as a top-rank, global public intellectual with his latest book, The Locust and the Bee. --Hazel Henderson, Seeking Alpha [A] rare combination of breadth and detail ... an essential guide to how to deal with the 'predators and creators in capitalism's future.' --Julian Baggini, Observer, Best Books of the Year Mulgan is my former boss, but that doesn't stop me from saying that what he writes is always rewarding because he intellectually coaxes you into believing--however fleetingly--that a rotten system doesn't have to be this way. --Yvonne Roberts, Observer

Geoff Mulgan's The Locust and the Bee is an important contribution to this field. --John Lloyd, Financial Times There is much in Mulgan's analysis that will repay careful scrutiny... The Locust and the Bee abounds with arresting observations of this kind and no one will finish the book without having learned something new and important. --John Gray, New Statesman A brilliant book, full of great ideas, provoking us to pause and think. --M. S. Sriram, Business Standard (India) [E]xcellent. --Frank Pasquale, Concurring Opinions [I]nteresting and thought-provoking. --Frank Dillon, Irish Times Geoff Mulgan ... earns his spurs as a top-rank, global public intellectual with his latest book, The Locust and the Bee. --Hazel Henderson, Seeking Alpha [A] rare combination of breadth and detail ... an essential guide to how to deal with the 'predators and creators in capitalism's future.' --Julian Baggini, Observer, Best Books of the Year

""Geoff Mulgan's The Locust and the Bee is an important contribution to this field.""--John Lloyd, Financial Times ""There is much in Mulgan's analysis that will repay careful scrutiny... The Locust and the Bee abounds with arresting observations of this kind and no one will finish the book without having learned something new and important.""--John Gray, New Statesman ""A brilliant book, full of great ideas, provoking us to pause and think.""--M. S. Sriram, Business Standard (India) ""[E]xcellent.""--Frank Pasquale, Concurring Opinions ""[I]nteresting and thought-provoking.""--Frank Dillon, Irish Times ""Geoff Mulgan ... earns his spurs as a top-rank, global public intellectual with his latest book, The Locust and the Bee.""--Hazel Henderson, Seeking Alpha ""[A] rare combination of breadth and detail ... an essential guide to how to deal with the 'predators and creators in capitalism's future.'""--Julian Baggini, Observer, ""Best Books of the Year"" ""What Mulgan is trying to do is laudable... No-one can doubt the sincerity of his message, the intellectual rigour he applies, or the beauty of the English he writes.""-- Rebecca Harding, Business Economist

What Mulgan is trying to do is laudable. . . . No-one can doubt the sincerity of his message, the intellectual rigour he applies, or the beauty of the English he writes. -- Rebecca Harding, Business Economist [A] rare combination of breadth and detail . . . an essential guide to how to deal with the `predators and creators in capitalism's future.' --Julian Baggini, Observer, Best Books of the Year Geoff Mulgan . . . earns his spurs as a top-rank, global public intellectual with his latest book, The Locust and the Bee. --Hazel Henderson, Seeking Alpha [I]nteresting and thought-provoking. --Frank Dillon, Irish Times [E]xcellent. --Frank Pasquale, Concurring Opinions A brilliant book, full of great ideas, provoking us to pause and think. --M. S. Sriram, Business Standard (India) There is much in Mulgan's analysis that will repay careful scrutiny. . . . The Locust and the Bee abounds with arresting observations of this kind and no one will finish the book without having learned something new and important. --John Gray, New Statesman Geoff Mulgan's The Locust and the Bee is an important contribution to this field. --John Lloyd, Financial Times

Author Information

Geoff Mulgan is the author of Good and Bad Power (Penguin) and The Art of Public Strategy, among other books. A globally recognized pioneer in the field of social innovation, he was the founder of the think tank Demos and served as director of the Prime Minister's Strategy Unit and director of policy under Tony Blair. He is currently chief executive of the UK's National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts.

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