After the Gold Rush The Trouble with Affluence : 'consumer Capitalism' and the Way Forward

Today Britain, like most Western countries, is richer than ever. More people have more things. But at the same time the divisions between rich and poor, between haves and have-nots, are so deep and painful that society itself is in real danger of coming apart. In this study the Henley Centre examines the shift from the welfare capitalism of the 1980s to our present state of economic and political confusion, illuminating trends with data from its own studies and a range of other material to suggest where we may be going next.