Brilliantexplains how the rhetoric of competition has invaded almost every domain of our existence-Evgeny Morozov author of To Save Everything Click Here In this fascinating book Davies inverts the conventional neoliberal practice of treating politics as if it were mere epiphenomenon of market theory demonstrating that their version of economics is far better understood as the pursuit of politics by other means-Professor Philip Mirowski University of Notre Dame A sparkling original & provocative analysis of neoliberalism It offers a distinctive account of the diverse sometimes contradictory conventions & justifications that lend authority to the extension of the spirit of competitiveness to all spheres of social life This book breaks new ground offers new modes of critique & points to post-neoliberal futures-Professor Bob Jessop University of Lancaster Since its intellectual inception in the 1930s & its political emergence in the 1970s neo-liberalism has sought to disenchant politics by replacing it with economics This agenda-setting text examines the efforts & failures of economic experts to make government & public life amenable to measurement & to re-model society & state in terms of competition In particular it explores the practical use of economic techniques & conventions by policy-makers politicians regulators & judges & how these practices are being adapted to the perceived failings of the neoliberal model By picking apart the defining contradiction that arises from the conflation of economics & politics this book asks to what extent can economics provide government legitimacy? Now with a new preface from the author & a foreword by Aditya Chakrabortty