To those who don’t speak it, the language of money can seem impenetrable and its own ideas too complex to grasp. How to Speak Cash is acclaimed article writer John Lanchester’s entertaining and informative try to bridge the difference between the money people and the rest of us.

With characteristic wit and candor (‘wickedly funny’ –Dwight Garner, New York Instances), Lanchester shows how the world of financing and economics really works–from the terms and conditions of your personal checking account to the evasions of bankers appearing before Congress. How to Speak Cash reveals how the language of cash is often a tool to conceal and mislead; he points out a huge selection of common economic terms, from GDP to the IMF, amortization and securitization to collateralized debt obligation; and he argues that we all need to speak money lest those who do compose the financial rules for themselves.