The eurozone is in crisis. Spiralling debts, defaulting banks, high unemployment - the European dream of a united union appears to be over. All fingers point to the corrupt and greedy PIIGs: Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece and Spain. Profligate governments have exploited the system, squandered the benefits and now beg for bail-outs from those that prosper. But is it really that simple? Economist Vicky Pryce argues that, given the flaws at its conception, the eurozone has been doomed from the very start. Politicians ignored common sense and deliberately created a system based on political not economic motives. They failed to provide firewalls for inevitable crises and placed little emphasis on practical structural reforms for the countries that needed them. It was a recipe for disaster and Europe now reaps the whirlwind. Is it time for a Greek exit? Focusing on Greece - not only her home country but perceived as the main threat to the euro's survival - Pryce explores the history of the eurozone, the causes of the crisis and, damning the proposed official solutions as counterproductive, suggests a way out of the current mess.

Pollsters are constantly worrying about our perceptions of politicians. What do their other halves look like? Who looks best when eating a bacon sandwich? Should they even be eating bacon sandwiches in the first place? For the voter, though, it all comes down to one thing: the economy. While good economic news can send popularity sky-rocketing, bad performance can blight a party's election chances for years. But, with policies often working with time lags, it's rarely clear who is responsible for what - especially when their stances on the biggest issues of the day - immigration, the EU, the NHS - are clouded in rhetoric rather than grounded in hard economic fact. It's the Economy, Stupid sets out to change al l that. This incisive, accessible guide explodes some of the most entrenched myths of British political debate. Does immigration help or harm our economy? Are austerity measures the best way to tackle a financial meltdown? Is the NHS in crisis? With answers to all these questions and more, this is essential reading for anyone who wants to know how their vote will affect their financial future.

What will happen if Britain leaves the EU, and how will it affect you? Europe: vital for Britain's economy and global standing or a bureaucratic monster hell-bent on destroying our national sovereignty? And why is no one talking about what leaving Europe would actually mean? Addressing the real issues surrounding a potential exit from the EU - including jobs, travel, immigration, investment, sovereignty and justice - this book investigates the consequences both for the country and for the person on the street. A clear, comprehensive and compelling guide to the impact of the EU and the implications of a British exit, this objective and unbiased handbook, from an expert in the field, is essential reading for anyone with an interest in Britain's future.

In March 2013, Vicky Pryce was sentenced to eight months in prison for accepting her ex-husband's penalty points on her driving licence some ten years earlier. After a very public trial, she was sent first to the notorious Holloway and then to East Sutton Park, an open prison in Kent. Inside, she kept a diary documenting her views and experiences; from this diary, Prisonomics was born. Faced with the realities of life behind bars and inspired by the stories of the women she met, Pryce began to research the injustices she found within the prison system. In this informed and important critique, she draws upon her years of experience in economics to call for radical reform and seeks to change how we look at crime and punishment. Prisonomics is not only a personal account of Pryce's experience in prison. It is also a compelling analysis of both the economic and the very human cost of keeping women behind bars.

The free market as we know it cannot produce gender equality. This is the bold but authoritative argument of Vicky Pryce, the government's former economics chief. Women vs Capitalism is a fresh and timely reminder that, although the #MeToo movement has been hugely important, empowerment of the mind will not achieve full power for women while there remains economic inequality. Pryce urgently calls for feminists to focus attention on this pressing issue: the pay gap, the glass ceiling, and the obstacles to women working at all. Only with government intervention in the labor market will these long-standing problems finally be conquered. From the gendered threat of robot labor to the lack of women in economics itself, this is a sharp look at an uncomfortable truth: we will not achieve equality for women in our society without radical changes to Western capitalism.

This book shows how political inaction has shaped the politics, economy and society we recognize today, despite the fact that policymakers are incentivised to act and to be seen to act decisively. Politicians make decisions which affect our lives every day but in our combative Westminster system, are usually only held to account for those which change something. But what about decisions to do nothing? What about policy which is discarded in favour of an alternative? What about opposition for naked political advantage? This book argues that not only is policy inaction an overlooked part of British politics but also that it is just as important as active policy and can have just as significant an impact on society. Addressing the topic for perhaps the first time, it offers a provocative analysis of ‘do nothing’ politics. It shows why politicians are rarely incentivized to do nothing, preferring hyperactivity. It explores the philosophical and structural drivers of inaction when it happens and highlights the contradictions in behavior. It explains why Attlee and Thatcher enjoyed lasting policy legacies to this day, and considers the nature of opposition and the challenge of holding ‘do nothing’ policy decisions to account.

A number of changes have been made to the supervision and regulation of banks as a result of the recent financial meltdown. Some are for the better, such as the Basel III rules for increasing the quality and quantity of capital in banks, but legal changes on both sides of the Atlantic now make it much more difficult to resolve failing banks by means of taxpayer funded bail-outs and could hinder bank resolution in future financial crises. In this book, Johan A. Lybeck uses case studies from Europe and the United States to examine and grade a number of bank resolutions in the last financial crisis and establish which were successful, which failed, and why. Using in-depth analysis of recent legislation, he explains how a bank resolution can be successful, and emphasizes the need for taxpayer-funded bail-outs to create a viable banking system that will promote economic and financial stability.