It was directed to developing the advantages of extending the power of government. A major theme was the alleged contrast between private affluence and public squalor. The New Industrial State Galbraith's book, The New Industrial State , was published in 1967. Milton Friedman thinks that this work is one were Galbraith attempts to update certain of the theories espoused by Veblen . Unhappily, it is a fiction.
Technical development has long since become the preserve of the scientist and the engineer.
A British economic authority of long standing, Professor John Jewkes, in his review of The New Industrial State , concluded that the facts on which Galbraith based his arguments were incorrect. And while his lectures were full of interest and fire, Galbraith mislead people. The notion that the economic history of modern times shows a steady progression from highly competitive markets to monopoly is remote from the truth. The industrial system is much more complicated and intricate than it appears in his version of it. And the solution of the problems created by economic growth and advanced technology cannot be found within the confines of his own ideology.