Bean Counters

Triumph of the Accountants and How They Broke Capitalism

By: Richard Brooks

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Paperback | 1 May 2019

At a Glance

Paperback
368 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
2.9 x 12.8 x 19.8

Paperback

$35.75

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A compelling, lively expose revealing how the world's accountants are ruining the world for their own benefit.

They helped cause the 2008 financial crash.
They created a global tax avoidance industry.
They lurk behind the scenes at every level of government...

The world's 'Big Four' accountancy firms - PwC, Deloitte, Ernst & Young, and KPMG - have become a gilded elite, with an average partner's salary rivalling that of a Premier League footballer. How has this seemingly humdrum profession achieved this, and what price are we paying for their excesses?

Informed by numerous insider interviews, investigative journalist Richard Brooks charts the profession's rise to global influence and offers a gripping expose of the accountancy industry. This is essential reading for anyone interested in how our economy really works.

About the Author

Richard Brooks is a British investigative journalist for Private Eye, and author of several books. Brooks worked for the British government as an HMRC tax inspector until 2005, followed by a year at the Treasury giving ministers policy advice.

Industry Reviews

A timely expose... A comprehensive yet wildly readable indictment of the "Big Four" accountancy firms. * Sunday Times *
An improbably rollicking history of the accountancy profession... Such a good book... Any MP interested in making the City trustworthy again should take this book on their holidays. * Prospect *
Explosive... a devastating expose * Mail on Sunday *
Gripping. This is a must-read for anyone who seeks to expose corruption and bad behaviour. * Margaret Hodge MP - former Chair of the Public Accounts Committee *
With forensic detail, Richard Brooks has exposed the march of the accountants from humble bean counters to a small cartel dominating modern capitalism. * John McDonnell MP - Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer *
Impeccably researched and written, this is a ground-breaking expose of a profession that has lost the plot. Everyone in business and finance should read this. * Ian Fraser - Bestselling author of Shredded: Inside RBS, the Bank That Broke Britain *
Truly devastating. How many more workers and pensioners will have their lives and expectations smashed, before politicians pluck up the courage to require those occupying the heights of British capitalism to get their accounting and auditing houses in order? * Frank Field MP - Chairman of the Work and Pensions Select Committee *
Richard Brooks is a digger and a troublemaker who niggles away at difficult subjects in a meticulous, punchy and highly effective way * Alan Rusbridger - Former Editor, The Guardian *
Brooks says things that have needed saying for many years. * John Kay - Financial Times columnist and Visiting Professor of Economics, London School of Economics *

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