A sweeping cascade of ideas, charting the ascendancy of the corporation and the attendant rise of individualism, materialism and antisocial behaviour, alongside the demise of socialism and the social contract.Focusing on the UK and western economies, retired Financial Times journalist Peter Whitehead shows how an apparently simple change in the calculation of bosses’ remuneration half a century ago sparked changes in the way companies think and act that have had far-reaching consequences.From the 1970s heyday of participatory democracy, through socialism’s collapse and the exploitation of labour, to today’s Brexit debacle, Whitehead provides clear explanations of the underlying forces at work and gives the reader a tool for understanding every day’s events. After reading this book, very little in the news will come as a surprise…