The Road from Serfdom: The Economic and Political Consequences of the End of Communism

Acclaimed biographer of John Maynard Keynes, British economist Skidelsky interprets the collapse of Soviet communism as a prime example of the failure of collectivism, the doctrine holding that the state, a mechanism superior to the market, can improve upon the free play of individual initiative and voluntary association. Collectivism, in his view, has manifested not only in socialism, Nazism and fascism but also in Franco-ism in Spain, Peron-ism in Argentina, Roosevelt's New Deal policies and the state-led industrialization of many Third World countries. While acknowledging that Keynes is often linked to an expansion of state activity, Skidelsky maintains that Keynes was a staunchly liberal thinker, a supporter of individualistic capitalism and never a true collectivist. The author recommends deep reductions in public spending-and a corresponding cut in taxes. His succinct, stimulating essay charts the fortunes of anti-collectivist economic liberalism from its decline in the Depression to its revival following WWII, to 1960s welfare stateism, the Reagan and Thatcher revolutions and the current wave of privatizations from New Zealand to Mexico. (Feb.)