Cowen’s work is as ever, absurdly detailed and rigorously researched. He has a great spread of statistics/anecdotes/musings but none of these aren’t spread out enough for my liking, the density of statistics and detail can feel overwhelming at times and anecdotes feel like a reprieve.
My favourite parts of ‘The Complacent Class’ are
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His discussions around stability engendering risk, where we accept excessive leverage and end up with junk mortgages in 2007, or a Greece flush with cash after the Eurozone’s steady growth.
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Cowen’s discussion around government spending becoming less democractic, as the non-discretionary spending (healthcare, social care) inevitably grow with inflation and expectations, while discretionary spending (prisons, schools) must be cut each year even by progressive leaders.
It’s a shame that Cowen restrains himself so heavily to being an interpreter of the past and present, rather than a predictor of the future.