Who Runs Britain? (eBook)

Synopsis

'Starkly lucid…reading Peston's book, you can only be flabbergasted all over again at how Labour kowtowed to wealth, glorified the City and put all the nation's economic eggs into one dangerous basket.' - Polly Toynbee, Guardian

On 13 September 2007, Robert Peston broke the news that Northern Rock had become a victim of the global credit crunch and was seeking an emergency loan from the Bank of England. It was the latest in a long line of scoops by this award-winning journalist. Over the weeks that followed, the Government found itself exposed to the Rock to the tune of 57 billion, or almost £2000 for every taxpayer.

Britain woke up to a new reality about the risks of globalisation: issues normally discussed on the business pages of broadsheet newspapers suddenly became front page tabloid news. Not understanding the way international business and money markets affect us now feels as irresponsible as leaving our front doors open at night.

As Robert Peston shows in his fascinating new book, the seeds for the collapse of Northern Rock, HBOS and the ongoing upheaval of the financial markets were sown years before. Who Runs Britain? is the first time anyone has drawn all the threads together to weave a story that's rich in extraordinary characters and outrageous feats of economic bravado. We meet chief executives, hedge fund managers, entrepreneurs, private equity partners, politicians and civil servants, all of whom have talked exclusively to Peston for this book.

This book is about the widening gap between the super-rich and the rest of us. It explores - and explodes - the myth that the financial creativity of those who are amassing these vast fortunes is good for the wider economy and for all of us. It examines how and why the main political parties are in thrall to the putative giants of wealth-creation.

Whether you're a financial expert or just have a bank account, Who Runs Britain? is a book you must read.