Finance is one of the most vital infrastructures of modern societies. Social and economic welfare depend on the quality of financial services. In free and democratic societies, scientific advances cannot be transformed into goods and services without properly allocated and utilized capital. Much like blood circulation in the human body, finance has to be invisible externally but smoothly flowing internally. Finance has to be the problem solver but not the problem maker. The pages of the Financial Times or Wall Street Journal should not be occupied by gloomy news every day.

Unfortunately, the world today is nowhere close to this description of finance. Finance has turned into more of a trouble maker than a service industry. Financial intermediation has become an end in itself. There are fundamental problems in the financial system and flaws in our knowledge of finance. Starting with a major reform in financial education, we must reset our minds and act fast to cure finance. Or we may soon run the risk of an unpredictable disruption in the world order.

Problem areas were explained and possible solutions were proposed. In one sentence, the financial industry has evolved into a self-serving complex system sustainable only through a continually increasing supply of credit. As such, it has become more harmful than useful for the society. Businessmen with entrepreneurial ambitions try hard to stay away from the finance industry as much as they can. The 2008 financial crisis left a populace distrustful of financial firms and public authorities.

As explained with several examples in the book, the first step towards good finance is to break the growing vicious cycle of credit and debt. Short of this, regulation can never save the system, and it will always have to save the firms at the expense of the people. In a properly regulated industry, fates of firms are determined in free markets, not by governments. A functional approach to regulation is much needed.

Like two parties who disagree cannot agree on what they disagree about, we cannot design a model of good finance without redefining the basic reasons why finance exists as a discipline and practice. We must show the courage to question the existing assumptions and set of tools of finance and economics. This book hopes to be a first step to this end.