The Financial Times Guide to Understanding Finance, 2nd Edition

Preface to the first edition

I always thought I’d write a book but never quite knew when or on what topic. I never felt the need of doing it and, to be honest, I never set it as a goal for myself. But eventually I got to a point when I decided to surrender to the evidence: Too many people were asking for the same thing, and the market, in my opinion, had not delivered. So I thought I’d deliver it myself.

A brief history of this book

It happened many times. During the course of an executive education program, I’d come in to give a few sessions on finance topics. After finishing those sessions, someone would come to me and say something like, ‘Listen, this was very interesting and, though my job is only marginally related to finance, I’d like ...