ABSTRACT
The elites of our population have—unsurprisingly—had considerable influence on the orientation and content of economic and social policy in the country. This is true both for those that might be classified broadly as ‘right-wing’ and those as ‘liberals’. For the right-wing elite, the b?te-noir of economic policy is public spending in the cause of what it has been pleased to call appeasement through the implementation of wasteful populist measures. Where the liberal elite is concerned, I would argue that it has been more than reasonably tolerant of the long-standing injustices of poverty, inequality, and discrimination that characterise our society. These themes are elaborated on in the rest of the chapter.
