'The Storm' by Vince Cable

In today's world people will probably know John Vincent 'Vince' Cable as the Business Secretary in the coalition cabinet of  David Cameron, having previously run as the Deputy Leader of the British Liberal Democrats. Many may not be aware, including myself, that Vince Cable gained a degree in Economics from the University of Cambridge, and then went on to become the economic advisor from the Kenyan government. It was only after learning about Cable's economic background that I picked up the book, and I am so glad that I did.

Vince Cable provides a clear and concise reasoning behind the global recession, while backing up his points with relevant history. The book is written in standard English and Cable has diverted away from over using economic termonolgy. This makes 'The Storm' easily readable and does not require a vast amount of economic knowledge to understand it. As an A level economics student I found this particularly important, as it allowed me to make sense of the majority of the books content, without being overwhelmed by new information and lexis. Vince Cable determines what did and did not happen during the build up to the global recession. This is easily done in hindsight to it all, but provided me with a deeper understanding of the present recession, and assisted me in understanding what steps must be taken to improve the current economic position. Furthermore, Vince Cable uses a variety of situations through the book. These vary from the collapse of Northern Rock, to the problems caused by cheap labour in China. By putting his information into an economic contexts, Vince Cable makes the book increasingly more approachable when it comes to picking it up for the second or third time and helps justify his reasoning for the global recession.

One of the few criticisms I have about 'The Storm', is that Vince Cable's purpose or drive for writing the book is not always clear. Cable can sometimes come across as writing the book with a 'hate to say I told you so' approach. Although he conveys himself as surprisingly charismatic, I read some of his statements as being quite spiteful or as a means of gloating at politicians in power at the time.

I would have also enjoyed the book more if Vince Cable included substantially more opinions on the situations he mentions. Throughout the book Cable never says what he would have done differently or where he thinks the problem lies, not even a suggestion about what to do next. I read the final chapter with the anticipation of reading an opinionated conclusion at least. And despite the build up throughout the entirety of the book, I  was unfortunately met by a ten page summary of the book, which undeniably left me feeling cheated by Cable when it came to closing the book.

Star Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★