The Global Casino

For readers of Brett Christophers, Yanis Varoufakis and Grace Blakeley, Pettifor unpacks the hidden world of shadow banking and show how global markets really work. Wall Street controls the price of anything. Larger than the national economies, and almost invisible, it nevertheless determines the international costs of everyday things - from the cost of oil to household goods and most importantly of all, credit. Unless we understand how the money system works we will never be able to face the challenges of the climate crisis. We can not hope to face climate catastrophe until we have taken control of the financial system. It is the pursuit of profit, wherever in the world it can be leveraged, that makes it impossible for national governments to impose restrictions on carbon. Pettifor charts the vast networks that ensnare us, and shows that prices are more than supply and demand. She shows us that the rise in the price of oil in 2022 had little to do with Russia. And why the global price of copper is determined by an exchange in Chicago. Understanding these networks matter, and turning them towards the common good, if we have any hope for the future. ‘Pettifor was always the ideal author of a book that shatters the fantasy of apolitical money and the toxic myth that monetary policy must remain a democracy-free zone.‘ Yanis Varoufakis ‘In language we can all understand, Ann Pettifor explains the issues and the debates around money, shadow banking, QE and ‘helicopter money.‘ A must-read.‘ Caroline Lucas