VIDEO: UK Governance - From Overloading to Freeloading

Good morning Austerity Readers. Today we feature another video from our December 2016 workshop in Hamilton, in which Dr. Richard Woodward (Coventry University in the UK) discusses how a popular narrative in the UK created the case for austerity in the 1970s and post-2008. The 'overload' thesis argues that the state continuously expands to meet the growing desires of the electorate, and the answer to this is austerity. However, Dr. Woodward contrasts this with the practice of corporate 'freeloading', particularly in tax policy. This reminds us that discussions of the capacity and role of the state in everyday life too often focus on the 'dependency' of citizens, and not of corporations.

You can find the video on our Media Page, and we'll release the full paper from Alex in the coming weeks.

To see more from Richard, check out his profile at https://pureportal.coventry.ac.uk/en/persons/richard-woodward

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