Gary Stevenson grew up poor, got rich in the City – then found himself wrestling with depression. Now he says he’s the only person on the left who really understands the British economy – and the people who wield the power

I’ve interviewed Gary Stevenson three times. First in 2020 about global finance being screwed with a capital “S”; again in 2022 about the cost of living crisis; and then last year when he published The Trading Game, his compelling memoir about life as a trader at Citibank. Now I’m meeting him for the first time in the flesh, ahead of the book’s appearance in paperback, and we’re talking about yet another crisis.

“Have you seen the news?” is the first thing he asks, presenting it like a challenge even before he says “hello”. I rack my brain distressingly slowly, like a librarian using a card index for the very first time, thinking: which bit of the news? LA is on fire; Gaza is on fire; Ukraine is on fire; a bunch of Teslas are on fire. Seriously, we’ve all seen a lot of news.