Public policy for the 21st century is a collection of essays in memory of Henry Neuburger, an economist whose career spanned half a dozen government departments, and who was for much of the 1980s an adviser to the leadership of the Labour Party. His original contributions to economic policy analysis across the field of public policy are the starting point of the essays, whose contributors between them cover the same broad span of economic policy. The essays look forward to the new century and together form an introduction to key issues in contemporary policy making.

Policy issues covered include macroeconomic policy, the impact of the National Minimum Wage, the distributional effect of tax and benefit policies since the 1997 change of government, the debates around an ‘urban renaissance’, and the impact of European integration on policy making. Contributors also examine and explain debates around different approaches to economic analysis, and show how analysis can be carried beyond the conventional confines of the money economy and of the household as a ‘black box’. The book concludes with a discussion of Henry Neuburger’s career, looking in particular at the role of economic advisers within policy making.

This is a timely book on economic policy making and commitment to making that policy work. It is important reading for students and academics concerned with public, economic and social policy, and government economists.