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Preface and Acknowledgements

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2024

Anna Killick
Affiliation:
University College London
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Summary

The genesis of this book lies in a comparative research project to understand how politicians approach the making of economic policy. Although there is already a substantial body of evidence on the voter side, the economic thinking of politicians is curiously under-researched. So, we asked 99 politicians and advisers from five established democracies – France, Germany, Denmark, the UK and the United States – to talk to us. What are their economic goals, and how do they think they can achieve them? How far do they draw on economic expertise? The book is about the intense and challenging balancing act they describe having to perform, between trying to achieve their economic goals and trying to please voters. It is about how this struggle may be particularly hard when it comes to economic policy, compared with other policy areas such as social or foreign. It is about how it may be becoming even harder as we navigate the post-crash and pandemic economy combined with deepening economic pressures from climate change. However, it is also optimistic, attesting to the determination and potential of politicians to find a way through.

By way of introduction, particularly for readers who are not economists, in this Preface I introduce three core themes of the book – economists, the populist threat and expertise – by setting out how three of the politicians I interviewed talk about them. The three politicians, a German Christian Democrat, a French Socialist and a US Democrat, help define how the terms are used in the rest of the book.

The first interviewee, a German politician who lost his seat when his Christian Democratic party fell out of favour, is talking about his economic ideas. He is passionate about them and keen to get re-elected so that he can pursue pro-market economic goals, deregulating and cutting taxes. His economic ideas came from what he saw as he grew up: the struggles to reintegrate the East German economy and to modernize and decarbonize. But he also mentions many economists he has read along the way, from Adam Smith to a cluster of German ordoliberal thinkers. And, even though he never formally studied economics, he has the greatest respect for it. He gives the most comprehensive history of mainstream economic ideas and economists of all the politicians I interview in this book.

Type
Chapter
Information
Politicians and Economic Experts
The Limits of Technocracy
, pp. vii - xii
Publisher: Agenda Publishing
Print publication year: 2022

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  • Preface and Acknowledgements
  • Anna Killick, University College London
  • Book: Politicians and Economic Experts
  • Online publication: 20 January 2024
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781788215664.001
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  • Preface and Acknowledgements
  • Anna Killick, University College London
  • Book: Politicians and Economic Experts
  • Online publication: 20 January 2024
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781788215664.001
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Preface and Acknowledgements
  • Anna Killick, University College London
  • Book: Politicians and Economic Experts
  • Online publication: 20 January 2024
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781788215664.001
Available formats
×