As the world struggles to emerge from the economic crisis, the links between business and government are increa-singly relevant. Political analysts from the United States and Britain to India and China are increasingly focusing on the ways that corporate interests influence, even control, public policy. Political activists and commen-tators from Anna Hazare to Paul Krugman have argued that corporate interests are to blame for increasing inequality, the decline in public services and corruption. The book under review represents a timely reminder of the deep and longstanding connections between the influence of business and that of political power.
Ghosh’s approach is that of the longue duree, or the study of long-term structural-historical processes in which specific events and histories are enmeshed. A preface, a prologue and introduction set out the different elements and backgrounds to the book, and provide the reader with a (too-)brief intro-duction to the different analytical approaches that have been applied to business-government relationship.