Something Will Turn Up: Britain’s Economy, Past, Present and Future

by David Smith

As the prevailing winds of the global economy have changed, so Britain has been buffeted from boom to bust and back again. But how much is our country's economic landscape shaped by the huge forces of international capital - and the hope that 'something will turn up' - and how much by the individual men and women at the heart of our economic policy?David Smith forged his career as Britain's leading economic journalist during the country's traumatic transition from the 'workshop of the world' in the Midlands where he grew up, to an economy built on the sometimes shaky foundations of services and the City. Something Will Turn Up is his account of the chancellors, prime ministers, Bank of England governors and senior officials he has encountered and interviewed over the last five decades, and their impact on the realities of modern British life since the war. Smith leads us through the mire of government policy and long-term trends with wit and clarity to paint a vivid, personal picture of how we got to now - and where we might go from here.

Genres: Economics, Nonfiction, History

289 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 16, 2015

About the author

Librarian Note: There are more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

===========

David[2 spaces]Smith : Art
David[3 spaces]Smith : Economics Editor of The Sunday Times
David[4 spaces]Smith : Politics, Australian
David[5 spaces]Smith : David (Darkcat) Smith, Computer
David[6 spaces]Smith : GR Author, Literature & Fiction, Historical Fiction, Humor
David[7 spaces]Smith : GR Author, Mystery, Humor & Comedy, Romance
David[8 spaces]Smith : GR Author, Contemporary, Historical Fiction, Crime
David[9 spaces]Smith : Sports
David[10 spaces]Smith : GR Author, Poetry
David[11 spaces]Smith : History

Reviews

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

A brief economic history of Britain from about 1960, and very little else, is not exactly a sure hit. And if you are not interested in such a topic, you'd be advised to steer clear. But this was more accessible than I'd expected, and managed to give a balanced account without getting too bogged down in detail, while adding colour from Smith's experience as a journalist. Smith often related the fate of the West Midlands to that of the economy as a whole, which was very relevant to a Midlander (if perhaps of less interest to the average reader).

There's unfortunately little more to say; as a graduate economist, Smith perhaps favours the free market and a more Conservative outlook - and he seems to have no time for unions, seeing them as an obstacle to business success seemingly in principle - but this was not a one-sided political history, and Smith was unafraid to offer his opinion on political figures and economic measures both Left and Right. The vote to leave the EU, however, very much puts his predictions for the future in danger, and serves only to show how unexpected Brexit and Trump were.

Anyone with a passing interest in the British economy would get a recommendation for this from me.

[David Whittlestone · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was not an easy read. Interesting maybe, though I'm not sure how much of its considerable information content I shall in the long term retain. Or short term for that matter.

It was an interesting history of the British economy from the 1950s to the present day - to just after the 2015 election in fact. It was an exposition of the chancellors over that period and serves to evaluate their performances.

The peroblem was that, while Smith endeavoured to make the whole readable, he peppered much of the text with economic statistics. No doubt to some extent this was a necessity but I found it too much and couldn't retain all that data for long enough to be able to understand the argument. I consequently tended to read and dismiss, hoping that the narrative would carry me through. It didn't.

So I've got a potted history of Britain's performance over the last 70 years; I hope I retain a bit of it.