Tanked

In the autumn of 2022, Liz Truss took Britain on a journey into economic la-la land and comprehensively tanked the economy. The result? Higher mortgages and rents, soaring inflation, debt at an eye-watering 2.7 trillion, and a sluggish economy rapidly falling behind our (ex-)European partners. As economic journalist Paul Wallace argues in this incisive, expert and accessible book, this was the low point of a once supercharged economy that, over the past 15 years, has failed to recover from the financial crash of 2008.

Written across ten chapters tackling the most important issues - Brexit, debt, the City, immigration, manufacturing, levelling up and public services - Wallace asks, in clear, jargon-free prose, what the problems are and what we can do to solve them. He offers a ten-point plan to get our economy back on track, building on its most resilient aspects.

Part primer, part passionate argument, Tanked is the perfect book for anyone who wants to know their quantitative easing from their bond market - and to understand how Britain devalued itself.

'Trenchant, clear and comes complete with solutions. Essential reading' SIMON JENKINS

'An exceptionally clear-eyed account of the malaise that afflicts the UK economy... this is a must-read analysis' ALEX DEAN, MANAGING EDITOR, PROSPECT

'Crisp, comprehensive and forensic, Tanked casts an unflinching eye across the British economic horizon' TOM CLARK, EDITOR OF BROKE: FIXING BRITAIN'S POVERTY CRISIS

Paul Wallace has written an exceptionally clear-eyed account of the malaise that afflicts the UK economy. He explains how the usual culprits-excesses in the City, stark regional inequality, false promises on Brexit-have dovetailed with deeper structural neglect to leave the British economy operating at a fraction of its potential. There is a way out-but it will require politicians to put aside short-term expedients and invest in the country's future. This is a must-read analysis Alex Dean, Managing Editor, Prospect
Wallace's plea is for what could be called common sense through stability: ending the churn of ever-changing ministers and half-baked policies, and bringing in some longer-term strategy. Let us hope -- Bill Emmott Financial Times
A rare book on economics that is actually written in English. Trenchant, clear and comes complete with solutions. Essential reading Simon Jenkins
Crisp, comprehensive and forensic, Tanked casts an unflinching eye across the British economic horizon. The sooner we pay attention, the better Tom Clark, editor of Broke: Fixing Britain's Poverty Crisis
Paul Wallace has written a really useful primer on why the UK economy is in the state it is in and an admirably clear prospectus for reform Ben Chu, former Economics Editor, BBC Newsnight
A lively review of Britain's economic history since the Global Financial Crisis. It is a sad story, but Wallace finds some room for hope amidst the gloom Howard Davies

Paul Wallace is an economic and financial journalist. Previously, he has been Britain economics editor and European economics editor at The Economist, and before that economics editor at the Independent. He has also been a columnist for Reuters. He is the author, most recently, of The Euro Experiment, published by Cambridge University Press in 2015 and before that wrote Agequake: Riding the Demographic Rollercoaster Shaking Business, Finance and our World and co-authored The Square Mile, based on a television series about the City of London he produced for ITV. He has been a council member of the Royal Economic Society and a visiting fellow at the National Institute of Economic and Social Research. He has degrees from Cambridge University (MA) and the London School of Economics (MPhil).

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