Anxious to Do Good: Learning to Be an Economist the Hard Way

In this third of what he describes as "quasi-autobiographical" books, Sir Alan Peacock describes how like many who saw active war service early in life, he was much influenced by a desire to celebrate survival by doing some good in his subsequent career. The opportunity came through his position as a leading academic economist with an active participation in Liberal politics, but led eventually to a very public falling out with the Liberal Party over the question of welfare state finance. Underlying those events was a deeper question than the particular point at issue, and in the author's opinion it remains unanswered: Is Liberal politics the true practical expression of liberal philosophy?