“We all know that our world has become very indebted over the past decades and that its ‘financialization’ has reached proportions never observed before, at least in peacetime.
But how serious is this phenomenon?
What are its consequences on the solidity of our financial system, on the functioning of our economy and on the future of our society?
Above all, we must understand how our world has surreptitiously changed its model for the past two decades. It has slipped to a strange paradigm, one in which the bulk of economic activity is now reflected in the rise in the value of financial assets at the expense of growth, wage income and productive investment.
It is time to put an end to the reign of illusion and to reinstate the fundamental economic springs without which there can be no real growth.” J. de L.

“No one alive today combines Jacques de Larosière’s experience with an acuity about global finance. His sharp and cogent expression of alarm in this timely volume deserves and even demands the attention of the global financial community.”
Lawrence Summers, Former Secretary of the United States Treasury and President Emeritus of Harvard 

“This is a must-read for those who want to understand the ‘economic illusions’ hiding in plain sight. And for those who are prepared to step-up to the benefit of a new generation.”
Kevin Warsh, member of the Federal Reserve Board (2006-2018), and professor at Stanford

“The book is a harsh criticism of the fairy tales that have guided monetary theory and the actions of central bankers in recent decades.”
Vito Tanzi, Honorary President of the International Institute of Public Finance


Jacques de Larosière spent his entire career at the head of financial institutions: he was first Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (1978-1987) before becoming Governor of the Banque de France (1987-1993), then president of the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development (1993-1998). He is currently Advisor to the president of BNP-Parisbas.