{"id":91601,"date":"2026-04-15T07:13:50","date_gmt":"2026-04-15T06:13:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/?p=91601"},"modified":"2026-04-15T07:56:23","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T06:56:23","slug":"economic-questions-the-guy-standing-question","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/2026\/04\/15\/economic-questions-the-guy-standing-question\/","title":{"rendered":"Economic questions: the Guy Standing question"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is one of a series of posts that will ask what the most pertinent question raised by a prominent influencer of\u00a0political economy<\/a>\u00a0might have been, and what the relevance of that question might be today. There is a list of all posts in the series at the end of each entry. The\u00a0origin of this series is noted here.<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

This series has been produced using what I describe as directed AI searches to establish positions with which I agree, followed by final editing before publication.<\/em><\/p>\n

Why is Guy Standing<\/a> <\/em>in this series? That is because he has argued that contemporary capitalism is producing a new social class: the precariat<\/span>. Unlike the traditional working class, whose identity was tied to stable employment, the precariat is defined by precarity, meaning that they have insecure jobs, unpredictable income, lack of rights, and an absence of long-term prospects.<\/em><\/p>\n

Standing\u2019s work, particularly in<\/em> The Precariat: The New Dangerous Class<\/i>,<\/a> suggests that this is not a marginal phenomenon. It is a structural transformation of labour markets driven by globalisation, technological change, deregulation and the erosion of social protections. <\/em>The implications of this are profound. In Guy's opinion, work no longer guarantees security, identity or dignity.<\/em><\/p>\n

I came to respect Guy's opinion during the run-up to Covid, when we were both members of the Progressive Economic Forum, which eventually proved itself to be anything but progressive on the issue of modern monetary theory, as a result of which I was expelled from membership. That said, whilst I was there, Guy and I often sat next to each other during meetings and during the conversations we had then, and in later correspondence, I got to know a man committed to the betterment of the human condition through tackling issues around work, the creation of a universal basic income, and the reclaiming of the commons<\/a> for the benefit of all. That is why he is in this series.<\/em><\/p>\n

Hence<\/span>,\u00a0the<\/span>\u00a0G<\/b>uy Standing Question:If a growing share of the population lives with chronic economic insecurity, without stable work, rights or identity, can we still claim to have a functioning and fair economy?<\/strong><\/em><\/i><\/p>\n

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The rise of the precariat<\/strong><\/p>\n

Guy Standing identified the precariat as a class characterised by uncertainty. Members of the precariat often experience:<\/p>\n