The trustworthiness of the financial industry could hardly be worse than it is today in the painful aftermath of the 2008 financial meltdown. New York Times best-selling economist Robert Shiller is certainly no apologist for the sins of finance–he is probably the just person to possess predicted both currency markets bubble of 2000 and the true estate bubble that led up to the subprime mortgage meltdown. But in this essential and timely reserve, Shiller argues that, instead of condemning finance, we have to reclaim about Financing and the Good Culture it for the normal good. He makes a powerful case for spotting that finance, far from being a parasite on culture, is among the most powerful tools we have for solving our common complications and increasing the overall well-being. We are in need of more monetary innovation–not less–and finance should play a larger role in helping society obtain its goals.

Challenging the public and its own leaders to rethink finance and its role in society, Shiller argues that finance should be defined not merely as the manipulation of money or the management of risk but as the stewardship of society’s assets. He explains how people in financial careers–from CEO, investment supervisor, and banker to insurance provider, lawyer, and regulator–can and do manage, secure, and increase these assets. He explains how finance provides historically contributed to the nice of culture through inventions such as insurance, mortgages, savings accounts, and pensions, and argues that we need to envision brand-new methods to rechannel financial creativity to benefit society as a whole.

Eventually, Shiller shows how society can once again harness the power of finance for the higher good.