Whether we realize it or not, all of us participate in the social contract every day through mutual obligations among our family, community, place of work, and fellow citizens. Caring for others, paying taxes, and benefiting from public services define the social contract that supports and binds us together as a society. Today, however, our social contract has been broken by changing gender roles, technology, new models of work, aging, and the perils of climate change.
Minouche Shafik takes us through stages of life we all experience—raising children, getting educated, falling ill, working, growing old—and shows how a reordering of our societies is possible. Drawing on evidence and examples from around the world, she shows how every country can provide citizens with the basics to have a decent life and be able to contribute to society. But we owe each other more than this. A more generous and inclusive society would also share more risks collectively and ask everyone to contribute for as long as they can so that everyone can fulfill their potential. What We Owe Each Other identifies the key elements of a better social contract that recognizes our interdependencies, supports and invests more in each other, and expects more of individuals in return.
Powerful, hopeful, and thought-provoking, What We Owe Each Other provides practical solutions to current challenges and demonstrates how we can build a better society—together.
Awards and Recognition
- Longlisted for the Financial Times and McKinsey & Company Business Book of the Year Award
"In this intelligent and lucid book, she calls for a new social contract based on three principles: security for all; investment in capability; and efficient and fair sharing of risks."—Martin Wolf, Financial Times
"In her new book What We Owe Each Other: A New Social Contract, Minouche Shafik reviews where we stand, and quotes Yeats: ‘surely some revelation is at hand.’ The revelation required is that of an inextricably interlinked society."—Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury, Prospect
"Offer[s] a persuasive diagnosis of the present social malaise and offer[s] plenty of suggestions about what policymakers could do."—Diane Coyle, Financial Times
"Books dealing with the social contract often tend to be soothing, even soppy. They quote Rousseau and construct grand theories. Minouche Shafik brilliantly avoids this pitfall, simply defining the social contract as what we can expect, in society, from each other."—Julien Damon, Telos
"What We Owe Each Other … articulates why, when, and how government policies can help society reach its goals. Shafik wields her compelling personal experience and a wealth of academic research to argue for a more robust social contract and renewed commitment to shared responsibility. Readers will be left cautiously hopeful that governments can be a force for good and that a better tomorrow is possible."—Andrew Stevens, The Christian Century
"What We Owe Each Other is data-driven, immensely informative, insightful, and provocative."—Glenn C. Altschuler, Psychology Today
"An appeal to use the occasion of the pandemic to recast our view of rights and obligations. . . . A welcome update of Rousseau-vian ideals of duty, responsibility, and reciprocity."—Kirkus Reviews
"A persuasive argument for a new social contract to address modern inequalities and dissatisfaction."—Shelf Awareness
"Progressive, pragmatic, and deeply empathetic."—Fast Company Magazine
"An intelligent and honest attempt to tackle a broad range of problems"—John Phelan, American Experiment
"Minouche Shafik's up-to-the-moment work of economic policy presents a powerful and persuasive moral argument. She calls for a more generous, more equal world and offers an analysis that is rigorous and specific enough to help readers think practically about the policies needed to bring that world into being. For societies asking how to rebuild, What We Owe Each Other is an important place to start."—Melinda Gates
"Informed by her many journeys to all corners of the world, Minouche Shafik weaves economics, philosophy, wisdom, and common sense into a social contract of simplicity, solidity, and harmony. A must-read recipe for the improvement of our life together."—Christine Lagarde, President of the European Central Bank
"What We Owe Each Other is a thought-provoking, beautifully argued, and easily accessible book. It is a must-read for all those seeking to understand why the bonds that bind society together are so frayed and what we can do about it to create a world fit for our children and grandchildren to live in."—Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Director-General of the World Trade Organization
"In this timely call for a new social contract, Minouche Shafik invites us to rethink what we owe one another as citizens, within and across generations. In the tradition of Beveridge, one of her predecessors as director of the LSE, Shafik points us toward a more generous social contract, one that shares risks and broadens opportunity. At a time when government seems broken, this excellent book offers a hopeful framework for social, economic, and political renewal."—Michael J. Sandel, author of The Tyranny of Merit: What's Become of the Common Good?
"We are hearing from many corners that things are broken in Western democracies. But how to fix them? This erudite book argues that we need to build a new social contract, recognizing our obligations to each other and to society and building a welfare state that avoids the mistakes of the past and is adapted to the challenges of the present. It is a thought-provoking addition to our current, urgent debates."—Daron Acemoglu, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
"A necessary contribution at a turning point in history. Minouche Shafik maps out the great challenges of our time and inspires us to rise to them. Her book is a must-read for policymakers—as well as anyone interested in making the world a better place."—Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission
