Burning Our Money - How Government wastes our cash and what we can do about it

Mike Denham

Summary

Britain is in the midst of a fierce battle over government spending. With debts mounting rapidly, the ?700 billion annual bill is no longer sustainable. But cuts face a wall of opposition, with dire warnings that they will ravage our society: hospital waiting lists will grow, schools will close and the poor will tumble into a new Dickensian abyss. Yet much of what the government currently spends is wasted, and public sector performance is often woeful. In Burning Our Money, Mike Denham casts a critical eye over the services we receive for our hard-earned cash, and finds them radically - often shockingly - wanting. For all the media insistence that the NHS is 'the envy of the world', it stacks up poorly against European healthcare systems. For all our apparently soaring exam grades, our children significantly underperform their future competitors in China, Korea and elsewhere. And for all our hand-wringing about abolishing poverty, our huge welfare system actually damages many of the poor it's supposed to help. Drawing on extensive research and up-to-the-minute reporting, Burning Our Money comprehensively debunks the myth that more public spending means better public services, and shows how we can - and must - get more for less.

Available since: 02/21/2013.

Print length: 320 pages.

Other books that might interest you

Ecstatic Nation - Confidence...

Brenda Wineapple

“From the death of John Quincy Adams through the Civil War to the tragedy of Reconstruction, Wineapple tells the American story brilliantly.” —Jon Meacham, Pulitzer Prize–winning author

A New York Times Notable Book of 2013

A Kirkus Best Book of 2013

A Bookpage Best Book of 2013

Dazzling in scope, Ecstatic Nation illuminates one of the most dramatic and momentous chapters in America’s past, when the country dreamed big, craved new lands and new freedom, and was bitterly divided over its great moral wrong: slavery. With a canvas of extraordinary characters, such as P. T. Barnum, Walt Whitman, Frederick Douglass, and L. C. Q. Lamar, Ecstatic Nation brilliantly balances cultural and political history: It’s a riveting account of the sectional conflict that preceded the Civil War, and it astutely chronicles the complex aftermath of that war and Reconstruction, including the promise that women would share in a new definition of American citizenship. It takes us from photographic surveys of the Sierra Nevadas to the discovery of gold in the South Dakota hills, and it signals the painful, thrilling birth of modern America.

An epic tale by award-winning author Brenda Wineapple, Ecstatic Nation lyrically and with true originality captures the optimism, the failures, and the tragic exuberance of a renewed Republic.

“[A] fresh and riveting account of America at war with itself . . . Wineapple’s Ecstatic Nation does a laudable job of bringing to life not just the Civil War but the society in which it occurred—and has evolved into the present.” —Los Angeles Times

“A masterly, deeply moving record of a crucial period in American history.” —The New York Times Book Review

Show book

What is Property?

Pierre-Joseph Proudhon

"What is Property?" is a book written by Pierre Joseph Proudhon, a French philosopher and political theorist. The book is a critique of property rights and capitalist economic systems, and it argues for a more egalitarian and democratic society. 
Proudhon's central thesis is that property rights are inherently unjust and that they allow the rich to exploit the poor. He argues that property should be abolished and replaced with a system of communal ownership, in which individuals share and cooperate in the use and distribution of resources. 
In the book, Proudhon also explores the origins and development of property rights, tracing their history from the earliest human societies to the modern capitalist era. He criticizes the idea that property rights are based on natural law or divine mandate, arguing instead that they are a product of historical and social conditions. 
Overall, "What is Property?" is a radical critique of capitalism and property rights that has had a significant impact on political theory and social movements. It is considered a foundational text of anarchist and socialist thought and remains a key reference for anyone interested in the history and development of economic and political systems

Show book

The Devil in Dover - An...

Lauri Lebo

“A brilliant account” of the controversial 2005 legal battle between evolution and creationism in public education “by a first-rate journalist” (Howard Zinn).   In 2004, the School Board of Dover, Pennsylvania, decided to require its ninth-grade biology students to learn intelligent design—a pseudoscientific theory positing evidence of an intelligent creator. In a case that recalled the infamous 1925 Scopes “monkey” trial, eleven parents sued the school board. When the case wound up in federal court before a President George W. Bush–appointed judge, local journalist Lauri Lebo had a front-row seat.   Destined to become required reading for a generation of journalists, scientists, and science teachers, as well as for anyone concerned about the separation of church and state, The Devil in Dover is Lebo’s acclaimed account of religious intolerance, First Amendment violations, and an assault on American science education. Lebo skillfully probes the background of the case, introducing the plaintiffs, the defendants, the lawyers, and a parade of witnesses, along with Judge John E. Jones III, who would eventually condemn the school board’s decision as one of “breathtaking inanity.”   With the antievolution battle having moved to the state level—and the recent passage of state legislation that protects the right of schools to teach alternatives to evolution—Lebo’s work is more necessary than ever.   “Lebo courageously exhibits the highest standards in intellectual honesty and journalistic ethos.” —Daily Kos   “An unapologetic indictment of intelligent design, fundamentalist Christianity, and American journalism’s insistence on objectivity in the face of clear untruths.” —Columbia Journalism Review

Show book

American Dreams - Restoring...

Marco Rubio

Marco Rubio's parents came to the United States in 1956. The country they found was truly a land of opportunity, where hardworking people with grade school educations could afford a home, a car, and college for their kids. A country where maids and bartenders could raise doctors, lawyers, small-business owners, and maybe even a U.S. senator. That was the American Dream-our country's central promise to its people: If you work hard and play by the rules, you'll find tremendous opportunities and an even better life for your children. Rubio wrote this book because we stand at a critical juncture. What kind of country are we going to be? Will we surrender to Obamacare and other laws that crush innovation and entrepreneurship? Will we accept a powerful nanny state and the erosion of family values? Will we allow politics to kill the American Dream? Or will we rise to the challenge-and take back our legacy as the only nation on earth that offers unrestricted opportunity to all?In this book you'll meet an over-regulated small-businessman, a struggling single mother, an out-of-work and in-debt college graduate, and others who want nothing more than their own shot at the American Dream. Their stories are our stories; their challenges are our challenges.Of course no book or politician can single-handedly restore the American Dream. But a movement, working to promote the values and can-do spirit that made our country exceptional, can turn everything around.

Show book

Marx & History - From Primitive...

D. Ross Gandy

“Gandy has attempted a much-needed reinterpretation of Marx’s theory of history—one that, everything considered, deserves the reader’s attention.” —American Political Science Review   In this book Karl Marx’s observations on history, which are found scattered throughout his voluminous writings, are brought together and subjected to searching analysis—in refreshingly direct language, without jargon.   For the first time we have a thoughtful assessment of Marx’s views on all the epochs that cross his historical vision. D. Ross Gandy treats Marx’s ideas on primitive societies, on ancient Roman and Asiatic civilization, on the structure of feudalism, on strategies for overthrowing capitalism, and on the hypothetical communist future. Among the author’s departures from traditional readings of Marx are his interpretations of class struggle, his conception of social strata, and his cogent analysis of the “new Marxism.”   Since many aspects of Marxist historical theory have been neglected or distorted, Gandy’s remarkably clear commentary, based on extensive research—including an exhaustive study of the forty-volume Marx-Engels Werke—will doubtless stimulate debate among sociologists and other students of social change, political scientists, and historians.

Show book

Of Grunge and Government - Let's...

Krist Novoselic

The Nirvana bassist “offers specific platforms for electoral reform . . . as well as charming anecdotes about rock ‘n’ roll as a pursuit of happiness” (Sarah Vowell, The New York Times Book Review).   A memoir of both music and politics, Of Grunge and Government tells Krist Novoselic’s story of how during his years with Kurt Cobain and Nirvana, the band made a point of playing benefits—the Rock for Choice show, a concert for gay rights, a fundraising gig for the Balkan Women’s Aid Fund—and how in the ensuing years he has dedicated himself to being a good citizen and participating in American democracy.   In this book he shares stories about making music and making a statement—as well as inspiring ideas for anyone who wants to advance progressive causes, to become a more active part of the community, and to make sure our votes count and our voices are heard.

Show book