Predistribution is Gaining Momentum in the Labour Party

Updated November 18, 2013 (with links)

Jacob Hacker’s ”Predistribution,” the concept that the state prevents inequalities from occurring in the first place rather than ameliorating them through redistritbution, is the new buzzword in British politics right now.

>>>See Hacker’s article about predistribution at The Guardian (June 12).

Link to the video of Professor Hacker’s talk at the Policy Network on June 12, 2013.

Link to the video of Professor Hacker’s BBC4 Analysis interview at the Institute for Government (audio here).

• June 12: An article in The New Statesman looks at how Labour Leader Ed Milliband makes the case for it in his speech on welfare, via The Guardian.
• June 12: The Economist View claims the concept is “reinvigorating the centre-left.”.
• June 17: And BBC4 interviews Jacob Hacker as the “US thinker who coined the phrase.”  (Audio recording available for downloading)  
• June 18: Anke Hassel at the Welfare and Work Blog writes that, “Predistribution is part of a necessary debate on the future of social-democracy in advanced industrialized countries.”
• June 19: The Cedar Lounge Revolution Blog, remarks: “A lot to think about there.”
• June 21: On BBC News “Prof Jacob Hacker explained the phrase - a way of redesigning what the government does when it does not want to spend any more money or raise taxes - to Daily Politics reporter Adam Fleming.” (video)
• June 28: Sunny Handal, over at the Liberal Conspiracy Blog, highlights his favorite paragraph from Hacker’s article in the Guardian, emphasizing the “crisis of legitimacy.”
• July 4: George Eaton of the New Statesman, interviews Jacob Hacker in “Meet Mr. Predistribution.”
• November 18: Stefan Stern on the LabourList blog writes a column: “Why is there a slightly uneasy feeling of déjà vu hovering in the air?”