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Bandit Capitalism: Carillion and the Corruption of the British State
“Comparable with Michael Lewis’ The Big Short or indeed Ian Fraser’s Shredded , Bob Wylie has done a forensic job . . . a powerful book.” — Talk Media Podcast
The collapse in January 2018 of the construction giant Carillion, outsourcer of huge Government building contracts, is one of the great financial scandals of modern times. When it folded it had only £29 million in the bank and debts and other liabilities adding up to a staggering £7 billion. When the total losses were counted it was established that the banks were owed £1.3 billion in loans and that there was a hole in the pension fund of £2.6 billion. That left British taxpayers picking up the tab to salvage the pensions owed to Carillion workers.
On one level, this is a familiar story of directors who systematically looted a company with the aim of their own enrichment. But in a wider context the Carillion catastrophe exposes everything that is wrong about the state we are in now—the free-for-all of company laws which govern directors’ dealings, the toothless regulators, the crime and very little punishment of the Big Four auditors, and a government which is a prisoner of a broken model born of a political ideology which it cannot forsake. Through the story of Carillion, Bob Wylie exposes the lawlessness of contemporary capitalism that is facilitated by hapless politicians, and gives a warning for the future that must be heeded. Bandit Capitalism charts, in jaw-dropping detail, the rise and rise of the British Oligarchy.
“An excoriating book on the corruption that can lurk within contemporary capitalism.” — Financial Times , “Best Books of 2020”
The collapse in January 2018 of the construction giant Carillion, outsourcer of huge Government building contracts, is one of the great financial scandals of modern times. When it folded it had only £29 million in the bank and debts and other liabilities adding up to a staggering £7 billion. When the total losses were counted it was established that the banks were owed £1.3 billion in loans and that there was a hole in the pension fund of £2.6 billion. That left British taxpayers picking up the tab to salvage the pensions owed to Carillion workers.
On one level, this is a familiar story of directors who systematically looted a company with the aim of their own enrichment. But in a wider context the Carillion catastrophe exposes everything that is wrong about the state we are in now—the free-for-all of company laws which govern directors’ dealings, the toothless regulators, the crime and very little punishment of the Big Four auditors, and a government which is a prisoner of a broken model born of a political ideology which it cannot forsake. Through the story of Carillion, Bob Wylie exposes the lawlessness of contemporary capitalism that is facilitated by hapless politicians, and gives a warning for the future that must be heeded. Bandit Capitalism charts, in jaw-dropping detail, the rise and rise of the British Oligarchy.
“An excoriating book on the corruption that can lurk within contemporary capitalism.” — Financial Times , “Best Books of 2020”
- GenresEconomics
387 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 10, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 1, 2021
Absolutely shocking disclosure of the rampant greed and corruption that has been taking place in recent years in the UK
June 10, 2024
Well researched, entirely accurate and brilliantly explained.
This book fills in all the blanks about what you thought went on with what actually went on. The disgusting disregard for employees pension and the regulator, combined with the weakness of the financial regulator combine to create the perfect storm. Several Directors come in for criticism but none for justifiably than Richard Adam. How he is not behind bars is beyond me.
This book fills in all the blanks about what you thought went on with what actually went on. The disgusting disregard for employees pension and the regulator, combined with the weakness of the financial regulator combine to create the perfect storm. Several Directors come in for criticism but none for justifiably than Richard Adam. How he is not behind bars is beyond me.
January 11, 2024
As an employee of a company that was taken over by Carillion in 2011 this book reinforced many of the issues and behaviours that came with that take-over.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews