Low growth has become the economic default in the West. While China and other Asian Tigers continue to steam ahead, western commentators either argue that stagnation is inevitable, ignoring growth in order to focus on other factors such as inflation or inequality, or disclaim growth altogether.

Low growth has become the economic default in the West. While China and other Asian Tigers continue to steam ahead, western commentators either argue that stagnation is inevitable, ignoring growth in order to focus on other factors such as inflation or inequality, or disclaim growth altogether.

In Why the West is Failing, veteran businessman and economist John Mills strongly refutes these arguments. He maintains that the anaemic performance of western economies since the 1970s is due to the dominance of a policy framework that has fatally ignored the importance of industrial competitiveness. He shows that the key to driving up productivity - and thereby growth - is to promote a revival of manufacturing through investment and a competitive exchange rate policy. This would produce the extra resources needed to tackle climate change and reduce the risk of western politics continuing to spiral towards populist excess. It would also allow us to impede the baleful political consequences of Chinese economic domination.