Following the likes of Bakan’s The Corporation, Andrew Simms, a director at the New Economics Foundation, presents yet another account of corporate power pursuing profits at a human and environmental cost. Tescopoly depicts the history of supermarkets with their origins in the US and paints a dark picture of the consequences of their ever-expanding reach. In particular, he considers the expansion of Tesco in the UK and the rise of the clone town. Simms sees this phenomenon as a failure of the market economy, which permits supermarkets to achieve monopoly status. The final chapters propose solutions to reverse the damage caused by giant retailers out of control.
Published by Constable
372 pp, £7.99, paperback
ISBN 9 781 845 295 110
www.constablerobinson.com