This is a book that none of us can afford to ignore – an agenda-setting, campaigning investigation that shows how global finance works for the few and not the many. ** A Financial Times Book of the Year **‘Essential reading’ YANIS VAROUFAKISWe need finance – but when finance grows too big it becomes a curse. The City of London is the single biggest drain on our resources, sucking talent out of every sphere, siphoning wealth and hoovering up government time.Yet to be ‘competitive’, we’re told we must turn a blind eye to money laundering and appease big business with tax cuts. Tracing the curse back through economic history, Nicholas Shaxson uncovers how we got to this point.Moving from offshore tax havens to the bizarre industry of wealth management, he tells the explosive story of how finance established a stranglehold on society – and reveals how we can begin to break free. ‘A radical, urgent and important manifesto for improving our country’ Oliver Bullough, Observer‘Superbly written… A must-read’ Misha Glenny, author of McMafia‘Hard-hitting, well written and informative’ Financial Times