A Force for Good
How Enlightened Finance Can Restore Faith in Capitalism
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- $12.99
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
After the crisis of 2008, the social contract between the financial industry and everyone else was badly broken-perhaps, it seemed, irrevocably. Since then, banks have paid out billion-dollar settlements and Congress has passed some new laws, but a deeper rapprochement is still missing. John Taft has gathered some of the greatest financial minds of our time to explore how Wall Street can harness the same creative energy that invented credit default swaps and channel it towards the public good- in the form of a stable retirement system, investment strategies that protect the environment and reward responsible corporate behavior, and a financial industry with a culture of ethics, integrity and client focus. These perspectives, from a who's who of leaders in the field, offer a blueprint for a new kind of responsible finance and banking that secures the future for everyone. Contributors include:
* Robert Shiller on financial capitalism and innovation
*Charles D. Ellis on restoring ethical standards
*Sheila Bair on regulatory reform
*John C. Bogle and Mary Schapiro on rebuilding investor trust
*Judd Gregg on long-term fiscal imbalances
*Barbara Novick on the retirement savings gap
*David Blood on sustainable finance.
With so much brainpower in the financial sector, the potential for change is limitless. A Force for Good is the call to action the industry sorely needs.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This thoughtful, albeit challenging, exploration of the hard road back to credibility for the financial industry, edited by Taft, CEO of RBC Wealth Management, attempts to show how the transparency and trust lost in the 2008 financial crisis can be restored. He rounds up a number of thinkers authors, economists, academics, and politicians, among others to consider how such a goal could be accomplished. Contributors include author Stephen B. Young, who suggests a social contract for financial intermediaries; former FDIC chair Sheila C. Blair, who discusses reforming mortgage securitization; and BlackRock vice chairman Barbara Novick, who writes about the needs of retirees. Other topics addressed here are bringing a focus on clients back to the financial system, restoring confidence in equity markets, achieving fiscal- and monetary-policy equilibrium, resolving debt, and so on. Collectively, contributors propose how the credibility of the financial industry can be restored, primarily through reform, restructuring, and a renewed focus on providing value to individuals. The tone is generally positive, and readers are likely to come away with renewed hope in our financial system's future, but it's hard to imagine a significant audience outside academia for these dense, specialized pieces.
