The Real World of Finance

The finance sector of Western economies is too large and attracts too many of the smartest college graduates. Financialization over the past three decades has created a structure that lacks resilience and supports absurd volumes of trading. In a dazzling and revelatory tour of the financial world as it has emerged from the wreckage of the 2008 crisis, John Kay does not flinch in his criticism: we do need some of the things that Citigroup and Goldman Sachs do, but we do not need Citigroup and Goldman to do them. The finance sector needs to be reminded of its primary purpose: to manage other people's money for the benefit of businesses and households.