What We Owe Each Other

Minouche Shafik Press Reviews

A persuasive diagnosis of the present social malaise [with] plenty of suggestions about what policymakers could do ... ranges widely ... impressive -- Diane Coyle - Financial Times

A big argument, eloquently written ... eye-catching individual ideas ... entertaining tales ... courageously breaks from the orthodoxies of the pre-crash years - Prospect

Shafik is an insider, turned radical ... In this intelligent and lucid book, she calls for a new social contract based on three principles: security for all; investment in capability; and efficient and fair sharing of risks -- Martin Wolf - Financial Times

What We Owe Each Other examines the role of the social contract and considers how changes in the global economy have undermined the function of the institutions societies rely on to keep the world a reasonably just place ... Shafik reckons that ... if the social contract breaks down, and people do not adequately look after each other, then crises (of finance, public health or the environment, for example) will threaten prosperity - Economist

In this timely call for a new social contract, Minouche Shafik invites us to rethink what we owe one another as citizens, within and across generations. In the tradition of Beveridge, one of her predecessors as director of the LSE, Shafik points us toward a more generous social contract, one that shares risks and broadens opportunity. At a time when government seems broken, this excellent book offers a hopeful framework for social, economic, and political renewal -- Michael J. Sandel, author of The Tyranny of Merit: Can We Find the Common Good?

A necessary contribution at a turning-point in history. Minouche Shafik maps out the great challenges of our time and inspires us to rise to them. Her book is a must-read for policymakers - as well as anyone interested in making the world a better place -- Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission

Minouche Shafik's up-to-the-moment book presents a powerful and persuasive moral argument. She calls for a more generous, more equal world and offers an analysis that is rigorous and specific enough to help readers think practically about the policies needed to bring that world into being. For societies asking how to rebuild, What We Owe Each Other is an important place to start -- Melinda Gates

A thought-provoking, beautifully argued, and easily accessible book. It is a must-read for all those seeking to understand why the bonds that bind society together are so frayed and what we can do about it to create a world fit for our children and grandchildren to live in -- Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Director-General of the World Trade Organisation

This erudite book argues that we need to recognise our obligations to each other and to society ... a thought-provoking addition to our current, urgent debates -- Daron Acemoglu, co-author of Why Nations Fail

Informed by her many journeys to all corners of the world, Minouche Shafik weaves economics, philosophy, wisdom and common sense into a social contract of simplicity, solidity and harmony. A must-read recipe for the improvement of our life together -- Christine Lagarde, President of the European Central Bank

Wonderfully illuminating of our interdependence -- Amartya Sen -