Masters of Nothing

MASTERS OF NOTHING: FEATURED IN FORBES

Masters of Nothing has been featured in an Article in Forbes' magazine: "an interesting new book describes what did happen to the people who did speak out and try to blow the whistle on what was going on. They were ignored or sidelined in the rush for the money." 

The full article can be read at this link: http://www.forbes.com/sites/stevedenning/2011/11/22/5086/ 

MASTERS OF NOTHING PODCAST INTERVIEW

 At the Conservative Party Conference, Matthew and Nadhim were interviewed by the Guardian's Michael White for the Business Podcast.

Learn more about the arguments in the book and why they wrote it in this 15 minute interview. The interview starts about 13 minutes into the podcast, which can be found at this link: http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/audio/2011/oct/04/business-podcast-conservative-conference-george-osborne?newsfeed=true 

MATTHEW ON RADIO 4'S TODAY PROGRAMME

 In September, Matthew was invited to speak on Radio 4’s flagship news programme this morning in the wake of the publication of his book, Masters of Nothing, co-authored with Nadhim Zahawi MP.

Masters of Nothing looks at the human behaviour behind the financial crisis. It looks at the world as it is, and tries to understand how people actually behaved in the run up to the biggest crash in the history of capitalism. From the herd instinct and outrageous risk taking of the boom years, through the tipping point of 2008 and the rewards for failure received by those at the top, the book combines stories of gritty reality with concrete proposals for what must change.

Articulating the key message of Masters of Nothing, Matthew told the Today Programme:

“The big argument is that economic behaviour is underpinned by human behaviour, and how we behave as individuals and as groups. Often that isn’t rational. We did some extraordinary polling and found that 43% of people believe that they are always rational but only 34% of people think that their friends are always rational. We have run the economy on the assumption that everybody is rational all of the time, and they are not.

“We know this from our everyday lives and the people we talk to and our marriages. We have got to move away from that... the conclusion that we draw is that if you, in a complex system, have more and more detailed rules to try to dictate what behaviour should be, then those rules are gamed and ways found round them.

“Far more important is to give policy makers and the authorities – like the Bank of England – the power to make judgments and the authority to go to the big banks and say, whatever the detailed rules say, your business plan is not sustainable.”

The full interview with James Naughtie can be listened to at this link.

LAUNCH PARTY FOR MASTERS OF NOTHING

 Matthew and Nadhim’s book has been published by Biteback Publishing and can be bought from selected bookshops or online at Amazon. You can also find out more by visiting  www.mastersofnothing.co.uk

REVIEWS OF MASTERS OF NOTHING 

“Amusing and incisive, Masters of Nothing is the best account of the crash I have read. Hancock and Zahawi make original and powerful arguments about the crash, told through gripping stories about the real behaviour of the people at the heart of it. With the anecdotal appeal of Freakonomics, this entertaining, honest and provocative book is a must-read from two rising voices in British politics.”  – Danny Finkelstein, The Times.

“At the root of this crisis was human behaviour...That's what this entertaining book gets to grips with in an original and thoughtful way.” – John Humphreys

“Anyone wishing to understand the nature of the global economic mess in which we still find ourselves - an understanding which is essential if we are to avoid a repetition - would do well to read this timely book”. – Nigel Lawson

Masters of Nothing was launched on Monday 5^th September at No 11 Downing Street. George Osborne, Chancellor of the Exchequer, opened the evening, welcoming the book as “an incredibly important contribution”. Warm speeches followed from leading Times journalist, Danny Finkelstein, and Peter Riddell, head of the Institute for Government.