Summary:
The book investigates the detrimental impact that an oversized financial sector can have on an economy, arguing that it can lead to inequality, economic instability, and reduced investment in more productive areas. It explores the mechanisms through which the "finance curse" operates, including tax havens, regulatory capture, and the distortion of politics and economics to serve the interests of the financial elite at the expense of the broader population.
Key points:
1. Finance Curse: Shaxson suggests that a large financial sector can harm an economy by taking resources from other areas, influencing politics, and causing instability and inequality.
Books similar to "The Finance Curse":
Makers and Takers
Rana Foroohar
Bad Money
Kevin Phillips
Treasure Islands
Nicholas Shaxson
13 Bankers
Simon Johnson|James Kwak
Other People's Money
John Kay
Financial Reckoning Day
William Bonner|Addison Wiggin
This Time Is Different
Carmen M. Reinhart|Kenneth S. Rogoff
Contagion
John R. Talbott
The Shifts and the Shocks
Martin Wolf
The Rise and Fall of Nations
Ruchir Sharma