Book review

 Title: The Economics of Social Problems
Authors: Sarah Smith, Julian Le Grand and Carol Propper 
Year: 2008
Edition: 4th revised edition
Number of pages: 216
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
ISBN: 9780230553002
Price: £23.99

Reviewer: Rachel Matthews, Practice Learning Development Officer, Torfaen County Council
Review date: 12/02/2009

Table of contents and more information 

A very intriguing and timely book, particularly in light of the current failings of an inefficient and failing market economy, which is currently having an impact on all of our lives.  The reason that I chose this particular book to review was to not only enhance my knowledge of economic social policy, but also broaden my understanding of the economics which affect and underpin our health and social care provision and the issues of poverty and welfare.  It not only manages these issues in a clear and well-presented manner, but it also covers such areas as pensions, crime, housing, education, road congestion and even climate change.

As a Social Work Practitioner I must admit that I didn’t really enjoy pontificating about climate change or road congestion, however, I did enjoy reading all other subject areas such as education, crime, housing, poverty and welfare, impact upon groups of individuals who will ultimately come into contact with Social Services.

Each chapter outlines the market pressures (supply and demand).  What are the conflicting demands upon a limited amount of financial resources?  How can funding be assigned to each specific area of need in order to have a positive impact upon that service, while balancing the conflicting and equally demanding social needs of its citizens?  This book gives a detailed outline of what the main objectives are for each of those areas and gives details of inequalities, social justice and how the demands of providing everyday services are paid for and prioritised through the system of tax collection.  The section on Poverty and Welfare has a broad discussion on relative poverty and the debate for measuring income and wealth.

Each chapter is completed efficiently with a summary, a list of further reading and a series of questions which provide an impetus for further debate.  Within each subject area there is also an outline of the governmental policies and how these decisions impact upon the social policy of a country.

Albeit a broad snapshot of social policy in “industrialised countries”, this book is an excellent springboard from which social policy students, (or potentially economic scholars), can then move into further reading from the likes of Giddens' Modern Social Theory (1971) and Sociology (2006) for social theory; or Keynes' The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money (1936) for economic theory. 

It is a lucid and well-written and arranged text.  This book crosses diverse social barriers even in the brief format in which it is presented.  It swings from the social justice perspective to the economic and political viewpoint, and is hugely interesting even with the economic underpinning. However, for social work students I would have to say that although very interesting (especially the chapters on Social Objectives and the Allocation of Resources and the Poverty and Welfare subject areas ), this is one of those intriguing and thought provoking books that are best left until after the graduation party.