You’d need to have been comatose for the past two years not to see how both Brexit, here in the UK, and the Trump presidency in the US have splintered our families, communities and nations. The advent of both seems to have left us largely unable to participate in any civilised discourse around who voted which way and why. Furthermore, a pattern is emerging elsewhere across the Western world, as populism and voting for complete outliers seem to be increasingly the norm rather than the exception. Something fundamental is changing, and yet, in real time, it’s hard to decipher what.
WTF explores why the UK voted for Brexit and the US for Trump. It’s a well-argued diagnosis of the long-term impact of globalisation, and the extent to which this has led to social inequality, leaving increasing swathes of the population behind, and consolidating wealth in the pockets of the elite few.
As a seasoned political and economic journalist, Peston is well placed to analyse what’s gone wrong with capitalism, government, finance and business since the start of the 1990s. What’s clear from this book is, a) the way most modern businesses are run is no longer sustainable, and, b) the issue of societal inequality needs urgent redress. This book is compelling reading for anyone interested in a better future of work.