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Daily Telegraph, 16 May, 2007
'Fantasy Island sets out in exquisite details the lies, damned
lies and statistical legerdemain that define Labour in office'
lies and statistical legerdemain that define Labour in office'
The Observer
`This is an angry tract, written like a thriller. It captures the public mood of dissatisfaction. Gordon Brown should take note...A thoroughly good read.'
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
22 of 22 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book contains many interesting facts and arguments which will give the reader much to cogitate over on politics well before the Blair decade, as well as during it. The discussions of personal debt, the Private Finance Initiative and how Gordon Brown made successive redefinitions of the economic cycle in order to meet his `Golden Rule' are particularly educational and thought-provoking, and made me long for more serious coverage of such issues in the mainstream media.
However, journalists' desire to play Cassandra often compromises any serious message they are trying to convey, and at times the book lapses into a hysteria which reduces its credibility. For example, having pinpointed the origins of the 1973 oil crisis in the collapse of the Bretton Woods system and a resulting `vast upswing in inflation across all economies', the authors later describe this episode to have been an `environmental-economic catastrophe' simply to tie in with their closing arguments on limits to economic growth. If it was genuinely an `environmental-economic' catastrophe, this should have been mentioned in their earlier exposition. Such occasional sloppy thinking does make one wonder how much of the book's stronger arguments are well-founded.
However, journalists' desire to play Cassandra often compromises any serious message they are trying to convey, and at times the book lapses into a hysteria which reduces its credibility. For example, having pinpointed the origins of the 1973 oil crisis in the collapse of the Bretton Woods system and a resulting `vast upswing in inflation across all economies', the authors later describe this episode to have been an `environmental-economic catastrophe' simply to tie in with their closing arguments on limits to economic growth. If it was genuinely an `environmental-economic' catastrophe, this should have been mentioned in their earlier exposition. Such occasional sloppy thinking does make one wonder how much of the book's stronger arguments are well-founded.
25 of 27 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Larry Elliott, the Guardian's economics editor, and Dan Atkinson, the Mail on Sunday's economics editor, have written a scathing account of the capitalist class's future for Britain. We would have no manufacturing industry, so no services. They cynically note that our so-called growth areas are all talk - barristers (like Blair and Darling), management consultants, spin doctors, PR men, speculators, deal-makers and brokers.
Britain has become a giant offshore hedge fund churning speculators' money, a giant tax haven for the world's super-rich, with four million of us now working `in service', as many as under Victoria. This is no future for a self-respecting people.
The City of London does not work for Britain. It costs 5.3% to raise investment funds in Britain, result, 1% of world R&D in engineering and electronics. In Japan, the cost of borrowing to invest is 1.1%, and they have 47% of world R&D in engineering and electronics. Over half of Britain's R&D money is spent in pharmaceuticals and aerospace, which the government has funded for decades, through the NHS and the Ministry of Defence.
Elliott and Atkinson show how the Labour government has got transport wrong. Between 1997 and 2005, the cost of motoring fell by 6%, but bus fares rose by 16% and rail fares by 7%. No wonder that between 1980 and 2002 road traffic increased by 73%.
Net immigration was 248,300 in 2004-5. Yet unemployment is 4.5 million, so why do we need to import workers? Employers like immigrant labour because it helps to depress wages: as Brown's new Trade Minister, Sir Digby Jones, says, "We have a tight labour market in the UK and yet wage inflation has not been a problem. Immigrants are doing the work for less."
Elliott and Atkinson recommend, "Rebuilding the manufacturing base requires support for strategic industries and, whisper it quietly, the sort of selective protectionism that would be feasible only if our relationship with the European Union were to be radically recast - at present, such assistance would fall foul of EU rules."
They conclude that we must end our `obeisance to globalisation, free trade and unbridled market forces'. And we must ditch the fantasies which hold us back.
Britain has become a giant offshore hedge fund churning speculators' money, a giant tax haven for the world's super-rich, with four million of us now working `in service', as many as under Victoria. This is no future for a self-respecting people.
The City of London does not work for Britain. It costs 5.3% to raise investment funds in Britain, result, 1% of world R&D in engineering and electronics. In Japan, the cost of borrowing to invest is 1.1%, and they have 47% of world R&D in engineering and electronics. Over half of Britain's R&D money is spent in pharmaceuticals and aerospace, which the government has funded for decades, through the NHS and the Ministry of Defence.
Elliott and Atkinson show how the Labour government has got transport wrong. Between 1997 and 2005, the cost of motoring fell by 6%, but bus fares rose by 16% and rail fares by 7%. No wonder that between 1980 and 2002 road traffic increased by 73%.
Net immigration was 248,300 in 2004-5. Yet unemployment is 4.5 million, so why do we need to import workers? Employers like immigrant labour because it helps to depress wages: as Brown's new Trade Minister, Sir Digby Jones, says, "We have a tight labour market in the UK and yet wage inflation has not been a problem. Immigrants are doing the work for less."
Elliott and Atkinson recommend, "Rebuilding the manufacturing base requires support for strategic industries and, whisper it quietly, the sort of selective protectionism that would be feasible only if our relationship with the European Union were to be radically recast - at present, such assistance would fall foul of EU rules."
They conclude that we must end our `obeisance to globalisation, free trade and unbridled market forces'. And we must ditch the fantasies which hold us back.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Having read this book 18 months ago, I can't help but feel that the authors have a right to feel a little smug.
The unconstitutional change of Labour leadership has done nothing to change the premise of this book, and the global financial melt-down can be seen retrospectively as vindication for the final sentence of the book, sadly not heeded by Mr. Brown.
I can't pretend that I had a profound interest in economics prior to reading this book, but it has acted as a catalyst for further reading, which I should thank it for.
The unconstitutional change of Labour leadership has done nothing to change the premise of this book, and the global financial melt-down can be seen retrospectively as vindication for the final sentence of the book, sadly not heeded by Mr. Brown.
I can't pretend that I had a profound interest in economics prior to reading this book, but it has acted as a catalyst for further reading, which I should thank it for.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
fanyast island
excellent condition book - very pleased! BIG reminder of the dangers of socialism + the unprincipled treachery of Blair...no coincidence his name could be B..liar.
Published on 13 Jan 2010 by Joe Higgins
Useful overview of the Blair legacy, a little short on detail
I found this quite an entertaining and reasonably informative read. Larry Elliott and Dan Atkinson, both economic journalists with the Guardian newspaper, have a lively style, and... Read more
Published on 28 Sep 2008 by Nicholas Johnson
enjoyable and stimulating critique
I've nothing to add to the excellent review by PhilosopherKing except to say that the economics can be quite tough going at times -- nothing worse than what you need for the... Read more
Published on 22 Sep 2007 by N. Housley
Pretty poor
This is an underwhelming book, and I'm not really sure what the authors were trying to achieve in writing it. Read more
Published on 21 Sep 2007 by tomsk77
On the money
Given that potential disasters that are already starting to become apparent with Northern Rock and Barclays, the authors' assessment of "Bulls*it Britain" is already being proven... Read more
Published on 16 Sep 2007 by Kevin Hall
Disappointing
I bought this book because of the rave reviews, and because the authors are two very experienced economic journalists, and because there is a huge mismatch between themes spun by... Read more
Published on 4 July 2007 by G.Bennet
An entertaining read!!
This is an entertaining read, and does a good job of making recent British political history from World War II to the present easily digestable. Read more
Published on 12 Jun 2007 by S. N. Godwin
Entertaining but not entirely credible
I find this book difficult to rate: as a piece of polemic it is well-written, punchy, and has an eye for skewering a few sacred cows of the new economy (e.g. Read more
Published on 11 Jun 2007 by Laurie W.
A scathing critique that offers no sensible solutions
"Fantasy Island" attempts to deconstruct the myths and paradoxes of the New Labour era, focusing on issues such as debt, unemployment, immigration, educational standards, the NHS,... Read more
Published on 10 Jun 2007 by M. Gordon
The perfect antidote to a decade of spin
If you've ever had a nagging feeling in recent years that, despite frequent assurances from Gordon, something's not quite right with the British economy and by extension with... Read more
Published on 6 Jun 2007 by Ballamory
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