Clear, down to earth, and witty, Pollock's account of the "dismal science" sparkles.

In Adventures in Political Finance, Alex Pollock illuminates the workings of our financial system and explains why the inescapable uncertainty of knowing what's really going on in the economy leads inevitably, yes, inevitably, to crises and busts. The book is a compendium of Pollock's thoughts, observations, and discussions, which he's chosen from his writing over the past twenty-five years.

"All finance is political finance. Political finance over time accompanies the miracle of long-term economic growth, which revolutionized human life beginning in the 18th century and continues to do so. Political finance reflects this amazing progress; it also features repeated crises and panics, preceded by booms and followed by recoveries and, sooner or later, by renewed booms and crises. It displays vastly increased well-being for ordinary people; it also displays notable ironies of huge mistakes made by very smart people, bad results produced by good intentions, and notable failures of the predictions of supposed experts. It is characterized by fundamental and ineluctable Uncertainty, making the financial future not only unknown but unknowable--and making it unfailingly intriguing."
--From the preface