Between Debt and the Devil

Between Debt and the Devil Money, Credit, and Fixing Global Finance

Hardback (06 Oct 2015)

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Publisher's Synopsis

Why our addiction to debt caused the global financial crisis and is the root of our financial woes

Adair Turner became chairman of Britain's Financial Services Authority just as the global financial crisis struck in 2008, and he played a leading role in redesigning global financial regulation. In this eye-opening book, he sets the record straight about what really caused the crisis. It didn't happen because banks are too big to fail-our addiction to private debt is to blame.

Between Debt and the Devil challenges the belief that we need credit growth to fuel economic growth, and that rising debt is okay as long as inflation remains low. In fact, most credit is not needed for economic growth-but it drives real estate booms and busts and leads to financial crisis and depression. Turner explains why public policy needs to manage the growth and allocation of credit creation, and why debt needs to be taxed as a form of economic pollution. Banks need far more capital, real estate lending must be restricted, and we need to tackle inequality and mitigate the relentless rise of real estate prices. Turner also debunks the big myth about fiat money-the erroneous notion that printing money will lead to harmful inflation. To escape the mess created by past policy errors, we sometimes need to monetize government debt and finance fiscal deficits with central-bank money.

Between Debt and the Devil shows why we need to reject the assumptions that private credit is essential to growth and fiat money is inevitably dangerous. Each has its advantages, and each creates risks that public policy must consciously balance.

Book information

ISBN: 9780691169644
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Imprint: Princeton University Press
Pub date:
DEWEY: 332.042
DEWEY edition: 23
Language: English
Number of pages: 320
Weight: 520g
Height: 167mm
Width: 241mm
Spine width: 28mm