Strutting On Thin Air

Decline by aloof inadvertence is a uniquely British accomplishment. And achieved only by an elusive blend of skewed education, disinterest by governments and Whitehall, a myopic blindness to other national idioms for whom industry has been the driver of their development, and a managerial ethos undermined by the dysfunctional “disciplines” of City investors and banks. After a Whitehall career working with British industry and experience of cooperating with/competing against companies from other nations, Chris Benjamin casts a wry view over our national quirks and points up the challenges confronting any sustainable “rebalancing” to compensate for the implosion of financial services. “Churchill declared that he would like to see ‘Finance less proud and industry more content.’ Chris Benjamin has seen at firsthand what happens when this sage advice is ignored by successive governments.” William Keegan, CBE. Senior Economics Commentator, The Observer.