Can finance be considered globally useful? Does it create economic wealth and does it contribute to social progress? Should the world of finance be regarded as a parasite world, disconnected from the “real economy”? Is too much power in the hands of financiers and financial institutions (central banks, the International Monetary Fund, etc.)? And, if so, is this power dangerous?
These are some of the doubts and criticisms addressed here by André Lévy-Lang, from the perspective of a career that has spanned industry, research, banking and finance. What does finance deal with and how? How do financiers function? What are the contributions, limits and risks of finance? How is it controlled and what measures exist to ensure that finance serves reality, and not the other way round?
Using specific examples and non-technical terms, André Lévy-Lang explains the foundations of finance and the workings of banks, insurance companies, financial markets, business financing, exchange rates, financial by-products.
Written by a skilled professional, this book will prove to be indispensable to understand the current controversy over the excesses and breakdowns of finance and globalisation.

André Lévy-Lang was the president of Paribas Bank until 1999, when BNP-Paribas was created. A physicist (Ecole Polytechnique) and economist (Stanford), he began his career as an engineer, working first in research at the French Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) and later in industry (Schlumberger). He has worked in both France and the United States. For the past six years, he has taught finance at Dauphine University, in Paris. He is on the administration of several major companies and a trustee of numerous scientific and financial research foundations.