What Works

Hamish McRae is a principle commentator for the Independent, the Independent on Sunday and associate editor of the Independent. He is author of ‘The World in 2020’, which has been translated into more than a dozen languages. He also co-wrote ‘Capital City: London as a Financial Centre’ with his wife, Frances Cairncrosse, and broadcasts regularly on the BBC.

‘Hamish McRae’s study of winning organisations around the world is very much not in the dogmatic style of tomes by American management gurus…McRae’s approach is altogether more whimsical — and this makes his little sermons on the nature of success much more of a pleasure to read.…The BBC does not qualify for entrance into McRae’s hall of fame, but I insist that our national broadcasting monolith immediately commission McRae to do a series based on this bracingly upbeat…book… We could all do with cheering up; and it would be nice, for a change, to have an economist on our screens with a smile on his face.’ Dominic Lawson, Sunday Times‘Each case study is lean and precisely crafted…McRae deserves credit for writing a can-do anthology in defeatist times.’ Observer‘[McRae] has picked a difficult subject…withholding deep analysis in return for making What Works broad, accessible and colourful…seeing the markers of success as far more than balance sheets and statistics. It’s good to have a book that shows faith in people.’ Independent on Sunday‘Optimistic yet realistic, humane yet incisive, Hamish McRae’s inspiring and wide-ranging book is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand what works, what doesn’t, and why.’ Tim Harford, author of ‘The Undercover Economist’