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The cover of Finance and the Good Society

Finance and the Good Society

Robert J. Shiller

What do bankers, investors and regulators owe society, given that finance still depends on the judgment of individual people?

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At a glance

Author
Robert J. Shiller

Why read it

  • You will weigh the argument that powerful financial leaders are partly the price of a system that needs people to decide
  • You will see finance as the stewardship of society's assets rather than a game of getting rich
  • You will learn to see investment managers as stewards of other people's wealth and to ask what that duty demands of them

Who it is for

  • A finance student choosing a career in an unpopular industry
  • A young banker asking what the job owes the public
  • A citizen angry at Wall Street who wants the full argument

Contents

  1. Preface to the Paperback Edition
  2. Preface
  3. Introduction: Finance, Stewardship, and Our Goals
  4. Part One: Roles and Responsibilities
  5. 1. Chief Executive Officers
  6. 2. Investment Managers
  7. 3. Bankers
  8. 4. Investment Bankers
  9. 5. Mortgage Lenders and Securitizers
  10. 6. Traders and Market Makers
  11. 7. Insurers
  12. 8. Market Designers and Financial Engineers
  13. 9. Derivatives Providers
  14. 10. Lawyers and Financial Advisers
  15. 11. Lobbyists
  16. 12. Regulators
  17. 13. Accountants and Auditors
  18. 14. Educators
  19. 15. Public Goods Financiers
  20. 16. Policy Makers in Charge of Stabilizing the Economy
  21. 17. Trustees and Nonprofit Managers
  22. 18. Philanthropists
  23. Part Two: Finance and Its Discontents
  24. 19. Finance, Mathematics, and Beauty
  25. 20. Categorizing People: Financiers versus Artists and Other Idealists
  26. 21. An Impulse for Risk Taking
  27. 22. An Impulse for Conventionality and Familiarity
  28. 23. Debt and Leverage
  29. 24. Some Unfortunate Incentives to Sleaziness Inherent in Finance
  30. 25. The Significance of Financial Speculation
  31. 26. Speculative Bubbles and Their Costs to Society
  32. 27. Inequality and Injustice
  33. 28. Problems with Philanthropy
  34. 29. The Dispersal of Ownership of Capital
  35. 30. The Great Illusion, Then and Now
  36. Epilogue: Finance, Power, and Human Values

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