Book description
In Robert Peston's new book he explains in his characteristically
straightforward way how the world got itself into the current economic
mess - and how we might get out of it. 'How do we fix this mess? I don't
know. But don't stop reading now. Perhaps if we have a clearer
understanding of what went wrong, we'll have a better idea of what needs
to be done. This book is a map of what needs to be fixed.' The
record-breaking unbroken growth between 1992 and 2008 wasn't the
economic miracle that it seemed. It was based on a number of dangerous
illusions - most notably that it didn't matter that the UK and US year
after year consumed more than they earned. But we couldn't go on
increasing our indebtedness forever. The financial crash of 2007/8 and
the subsequent economic slump in much of the west was the moment when we
realised we had borrowed more than we could afford to repay. So who got
it wrong? Bankers, investors and regulators? And were they greedy,
stupid or asleep? What was the role of government? And what part did we,
as consumers, play in all this? How do we get through this difficult
period of transition to a more sustainable economy, one based on
investment and exports, rather than on borrowing and consumption? With
the same probing lucidity he brought to WHO RUNS BRITAIN?, Robert Peston
takes us step-by-step towards a common sense way to fix this mess.
'Lucid explanations... stark analysis of what the financial meltdown
means for us... Peston's book is actually scarier than most descriptions
I've read of the crisis. It goes way beyond Wall Street and City greed
in its scope.' Robert Peston is the BBC's Business Editor. Prior to
joining the BBC, he was Political Editor and Financial Editor of the
Financial Times
, City Editor of the Sunday Telegraph
and a columnist for the New Statesman
and Sunday Times
(inter alia). He has won numerous awards for his journalism, including
Journalist of the Year and Scoop of the Year (twice) from the Royal
Television Society, Performer of the Year from the Broadcasting Press
Guild, Broadcaster of the Year and Journalist of the Year from the
Wincott Foundation and Business Journalist of the Year from the London
Press Club. Peston has published two critically acclaimed books, WHO
RUNS BRITAIN?, his best-selling account of who is to blame for the
economic and financial crisis of 2007-9, and BROWN'S BRITAIN, a
biography of Gordon Brown and analysis of the New Labour government. His
prize-winning blog, which has more than 800,000 readers, can be found at
www. bbc. co. uk/robertpeston. He is the founder of Speakers for Schools
(www. speakers4schools. org), a pro bono educational service which
organises free talks from inspirational speakers for students at state
schools. He is a trustee of the Education and Employers Taskforce. He is
married to the writer Siân Busby. You can follow Robert on twitter at
www. Twitter. com/Peston
