Can You Run the Economy? Bloomberg reporter Joe Mayes lets readers try

By Isla Mustin and Abigail Tobias

Many of us have likely daydreamed about taking control of the nation’s purse strings and seeing if we could run the economy better than the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Anyone who has an interest in politics, or indeed pays tax has most likely criticised Rachel Reeves, Jeremy Hunt or any of the six other Chancellors of the United Kingdom to have held the position over the last ten years. 

Bloomberg political reporter Joe Mayes’ new book Can You Run the Economy? allows you to do just that. An interactive, ‘choose your own fate’ book has you implementing the fiscal policy you’ve always advocated – whilst of course balancing a budget and an ever-present public approval rating. After reading the book, we sat down with former Palatinate Politics Editor Joe  Mayes to discuss his debut release. 

Fiscal policy is often a term that can strike fear into those without an Economics background, though its implications affect us all, something that Mayes has seen repeatedly in his time working at Bloomberg. 

“The choices a chancellor has to make have massive impacts on all of us, all society. And too often, we don’t understand why those decisions are being made – what the trade-offs are. So I wanted to write a book which really brought all that to life in a fun, engaging, easily accessible way.” The book definitely takes a different tone from the technical articles you’re likely to read from Mayes at Bloomberg: “I feel like if you read the front page of a national newspaper, for many people you wouldn’t really guess why what’s happening is happening. And I think that it’s our job as Journalists to break down that wall of complexity and distill things to their  simplest and most easily accessible form. And I thought this book was a fun way of doing that.

“The choices a chancellor has to make have massive impacts on all of us, all society. And too often, we don’t understand why those decisions are being made – what the trade-offs are. So I wanted to write a book which really brought all that to life in a fun, engaging, easily accessible way”

The story of Can You Run the Economy? invites readers to quite literally take the Treasury into their own hands, making decisions on everything from the national budget to fiscal policy and international relations. Each choice can leave the reader, now the “Chancellor” either hailed as a hero or sinking in the polls. 

“I felt like this way of storytelling was the best way compared to what might be a stale economics textbook,” Mayes explained. “ By nature this subject matter is quite dry, and I feel like the drama and the interest comes from being in the position of power yourself and having to make the decisions. I hope that reading the book is almost quite a stressful experience – one where you need to lean forward.”

“When I was editing the book, I would play through the scenarios myself and would find I was asking, ‘Am I going to win this election?’”

The book is scattered with fictional newspaper clippings, reporting either the triumphs or disasters that follow each decision. 

Mayes spoke about how these show how the media portrays a simplistic narrative of what is a complex decision. “It was fun adopting the voice of different media outlets,” he said. “But I was also trying to convey how powerless you often feel as a politician or a Chancellor and even if you act with  good intentions, the way it is perceived in the media and then communicated to society can be twisted.”

“There is often little consideration for a bigger picture the Chancellor is having to operate within and why decisions are being made. The alternative consequence could sometimes be worse. It’s our job as journalists to help the public understand that there’s more to it.”

The final chapter of the book is made up of real interviews with Chancellors of the Exchequer conducted by Mayes. These include the likes of Norman Lamont, Kwasi Kwarteng and Rachel Reeves, who reflect on the pressures of the job, and the realities behind the major decisions that have shaped the British economy. Mayes told us how these interviews offered a new perspective to his writing process. 

“I used a lot of their testimony to inform how I created scenes and dialogue,” Mayes explained.

“I loved uncovering the little details I wouldn’t otherwise have known. One of my favourites was learning that the Chancellor meets the monarch a few days before the Budget to reveal everything that’s in it. That absolutely blew my mind because as journalists, we’re always trying to work out what the big surprise in the Budget will be. To think the King will know before the rest of us was really fun.”

Readers choices closely mirror those of recent Chancellors. From potential free trade agreements with the US to energy crises due to war – with background information being presented to the reader as fictional press clippings, and real figures taken from the treasury. “I wanted to really accurately convey how much money certain tax decisions would raise, because that’s also something that can be difficult to understand for the public.” Mayes tells us “If I want to increase income tax, how much money would that raise and what would you then spend that on?” 

The figures certainly put the nation’s treasury into perspective. We tell Joe we both ended up going bust: “I think that when you play through the book yourself, I think you can’t help but come away and think, oh goodness, that really is quite hard.” He tells us  “You don’t always realise the kind of trade-offs that you have to make – it’s always someone you’re making unhappy”

Whilst most don’t likely view managing the country’s finances an easy job we can often have limited sympathy for what we perceive as poor decisions. Our having gone bust, compounded with a series of interviews with Chancellors at the end does have us closing the book (and our spreadsheets) with, if not quite approval, at least with empathy. 

“If someone finishes [the book] and thinks, ‘Okay, I now feel like I really understand how the British government works, the branches of the economy, I’ll be happy. My aim is just to make this as accessible, interesting and fun as possible. And my hope is that, after you read my book you’ll understand the decisions made at each budget, you’ll understand the trade-offs might disagree with those decisions, but you understand why they were made.”

“If someone finishes [the book] and thinks, ‘Okay, I now feel like I really understand how the British government works, the branches of the economy, I’ll be happy”

We finished our conversation reminiscing with Joe about his days working at Palatinate as Politics Editor and the role of student journalism. “Palatinate really gave me the confidence to pursue a career in journalism. Palatinate really taught me the value of doing on the ground reporting and gave me great experience of going out as a journalist and speaking to Politicians. 

“Student journalism is so important in giving students access to political events and the chance to ask questions. Palatinate also plays a huge role in holding both Durham University and Durham County Council to account. I couldn’t speak highly enough of what it does for aspiring journalists.”

Image: Joe Mayes