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Who Runs Britain?: and Who's to Blame for the Economic Mess We're in [Paperback]

Robert Peston
3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (43 customer reviews)
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Book Description

30 Oct 2008
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.As Robert Peston shows in his fascinating new book, the seeds for the collapse of Northern Rock and the upheavals in 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. 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. Whether you're a financial expert or just have a bank account, WHO RUNS BRITAIN? is a book you must read.

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Who Runs Britain?: and Who's to Blame for the Economic Mess We're in + How Do We Fix This Mess?: The Economic Price of Having it All, and the Route to Lasting Prosperity + Made In Britain: How the nation earns its living
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Product details

  • Paperback: 368 pages
  • Publisher: Hodder Paperbacks; First Paperback Edition edition (30 Oct 2008)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0340839449
  • ISBN-13: 978-0340839447
  • Product Dimensions: 13.1 x 19.8 x 2.4 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (43 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 39,455 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Review

A compelling portrait of early 21st century casino capitalism ... essential reading. (Howard Davies, The Times)

Fluent, incredibly up to the minute look at Britain ... Peston, in relaxed, conversational style is a great travelling companion along the highways of finance. (Observer)

This lucid and timely guide to the world of turbo-capitalism ... absorbing book, essential reading for anyone who wants to know how the British economy now operates. (Peter Wilby, Guardian)

starkly lucid (Polly Toynbee, Guardian)

Peston catches the zeitgeist of Britain and the paradox that is Gordon Brown. (Financial Times)

engaging (Harry Mount, Telegraph)

Peston is our rock... The triumph of Robert Peston makes me proud of my old paper, the BBC and of journalism in general. (Sarah Sands in Independent on Sunday )

This remains the most riveting book on finance you may ever bother to read. (Evening Standard)

I recommend this book (Nicholas Lezard in The Guardian)

wonderful clarity (Sunday Telegraph )

this remains the most riveting book on finance you may ever bother to read (Scotsman)

Book of the year (Financial Times)

About the Author

Robert Peston is the BBC's Business Editor. In 2007, he won the Royal Television Society's Television Journalism Award for Scoop of the Year and the Wincott Award. He was Journalist of the Year in the Business Journalism of the Year Awards for 2007/8. Previously the Sunday Telegraph's City Editor and Political Editor at the Financial Times, he won the 'What The Papers Say' award for investigative journalism. www.bbc.co.uk/robertpeston.

Inside This Book (Learn More)
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
22 of 23 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Financial Follies 23 April 2010
By Neutral VINE™ VOICE
Format:Paperback
Robert Peston asks a question he is unable to answer. This was certainly the case on Black Wednesday as Kenneth Clarke admitted in a television interview.On that occasion Peston's argument that decisions taken by an international super-rich stateless elite have unduly influenced policy and over-rode policy makers seems true. In so doing they have scooped a disproportional amount of the nation's wealth and the gap between rich and poor has increased no less under New Labour than under the Conservatives. What does emerge from Peston's coverage is that there are times when it is far from apparent whether anyone is running the country.

Peston identifies inefficiencies within the decision making system of which pensions is a good example. In 1997 Gordon Brown raided the pension funds of final salary schemes, removing tax credit on dividends. the reason behind Brown's policy was clear. He wanted to raise revenue to reduce the structural deficit in the public finances. Treasury officials expressed concern but Brown went ahead. The result was a decline in income to pensions funds over a five year period from £7.1 bn to £3.3.bn. Final salary schemes collapsed. Yet Brown's policy was the logical extension of Nigel Lawton's 1988 decision to limit the amount of surplus schemes could retain and of Norman Lamont's reduction in tax credits to pension schemes in 1993. Both were designed to raise revenue.

The political myopia demonstrated by politicians then became a farce with the introduction of stakeholder pensions. Theoretically designed to prevent alleged mis-selling and provide for the less wealthy, the stakeholder became a tax-free vehicle for the rich. Pensions minister, Ian McCartney, ignored unwelcome research statistics because they came from a Conservative David Willetts.
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22 of 24 people found the following review helpful
By A. J. Sudworth VINE™ VOICE
Format:Paperback
I liked this book a lot because it does not treat the reader like an idiot
What is also good is that he evidently has talked to the people involved and so it includes a huge amount of personal views from some of the main protagonists. His explanation of the greed of the finacial wizards, the wrong headed approach of the government and the effects on you and I is very clear - the only problem after reading this is that the depths of the problems in the financial sector look a lot worse and its clear that we as individuals will pay for this collective failure.
I did not give it five stars because of a style issue is that certain things were repeated a number of times so that it read a bit like a collection of essays but overall if you want to understand why we have the problems in the financial sector and now the real world economy then I can recommend this. Think of the plus when someone asks you what a Structured Investment Vehicle (SIV) is - and thanks to this you will know. You'll be bemused was to why it was ever thought a good idea, but you will know what it was and why valuing them became such a problem.
And finally it comprehensively shows the failings of the Prime Minister when he was chancellor - he may not have caused all the problems but the policies he pursued have made the problem worse for us all - and our grandchildren as well. Read this and I suspect that you will not see him as 'Super Gordon' after this.
Damm good read - making financial economics interesting !
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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars worth it 28 Dec 2008
By MrB
Format:Paperback
I got the impression that Peston was urged to put out a book quickly, so he used a lot of his old archive material (Green, M and S etc). But it's worth it as there are some good chapters on hedge funds, and a reminder that our banks were actually borrowing to buy all that toxic waste, which somehow drove home the stupidity of it all.
Not as good as his scoops!
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24 of 27 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars The Credit Crunch: who dunnit?: a good read 27 Dec 2008
Format:Paperback
To predict the future it is necessary to understand the past and Robert Peston's book is a valuable, well written and easy to read way to do this. It is the recent background to the business elite of a Britain that now faces an unprecedented financial mess

It gives colourful insight into the big personalities ( Philip Green, Stuart Rose, Allan Leighton ) the big financial organizations ( hedge funds private equity firms, and globalised investment banks) and the big politics which provide the backdrop to the dance of excess and greed that led us into the current melt down.

Much of the material is not new but it is very well told. It's a journalist's book rather than that of an historian. In truth it is really a number of different short books pulled together between one set of covers. It is a series of stand alone stories: Arcadia Group, Marks & Spencer's, Royal Mail, a who's who of hedge funds and private equity and the background to the sale of honours.

Peston has had a ringside seat for the past few years and this book allows us to share his privileged access. Most of the individual stories are fascinating, well written and related by a deeply well connected and knowledge insider. Although, to be honest, the chapter on pensions is rather hard going and only for real enthusiasts like Lord Turner who gets numerous mentions.

The title is a little misleading and echo perhaps of the seminal "Anatomy of Britain". by Anthony Sampson. "Credit Crunch: The Suspects" might have been a better alternative.

And finally in one sense the book is a mystery story. Does Peston like Gordon Brown and the Labour party or not? He seems unsure himself but at least it keeps the reader guessing.

All in all an adornment to any book shelf.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars Very useful info.
Very interesting insights into the current economic crisis. Good reading for anyone interested in understanding economics past and present. A depressing overview. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Rosemary Glen
5.0 out of 5 stars Just excellent
Really engaging and thought provoking just wish I had read this sooner. Robert Peston makes this topic accessible, I wish our elected "leaders" had this clarity of insight into... Read more
Published 5 months ago by Stuart Hall
4.0 out of 5 stars Who Runs Britain?
Peston cuts to the chase in writing this. Clearly, financial products/dealings are complicated at the best of times for us common folk, but here we are made to understand that some... Read more
Published 8 months ago by J. Robinson
2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing
I had hoped for better. It has chapters on private equity and pensions and long turgid sections on Marks and Spencer. Read more
Published 10 months ago by Andy
1.0 out of 5 stars Don't bother - very poor.
While Preston would like you to believe he has his finger on the pulse of what makes Britain tick (financially), he doesn't. Read more
Published 12 months ago by Film nut
5.0 out of 5 stars anti-crisis economics
As far as economics and banking are concerned there is a lot of bias towards stock markets and other types of wayward investments which are promoted by many national television... Read more
Published 18 months ago by anti-gerry
4.0 out of 5 stars A good introduction to our current plight
A very good summary of the large shift of real political and financial power that has come about over the last couple of decades. Read more
Published 20 months ago by G Browne
4.0 out of 5 stars Insightful interesting book
Quite interesting book by the author with knowledge in the field and experience.

An interesting description of interconnection between power structures and world of... Read more
Published 20 months ago by Pav
4.0 out of 5 stars Who runs Britain?
I think that my review is a bit late. The book refers to a Labour government but without any change in legislation, I would have thought that the situations described in the book... Read more
Published 22 months ago by Bacchus
4.0 out of 5 stars Thought provoking and insightful
An eye opening perspective from Robert Peston that goes behind the scenes and offers an insight into the back office machine of politics, banks, millionaires and government. Read more
Published on 23 Mar 2011 by M. Ahmed
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