How to Speak Money: What the Money People Say — And What It Really Means

How finance really works — by the writer hailed for “explain[ing] complex stuff in a down-to-earth and witty style” (Economist).To those who don’t speak it, the language of money can seem impenetrable and its ideas too complex to grasp. How to Speak Money is acclaimed writer John Lanchester’s entertaining and informative attempt to bridge the gap between the money people and the rest of us. With characteristic wit and candor (“wickedly funny” — Dwight Garner, New York Times), Lanchester shows how the world of finance and economics really works — from the terms and conditions of your personal checking account to the evasions of bankers appearing in front of Congress. How to Speak Money reveals how the language of money is often a tool to conceal and mislead; he explains hundreds of common economic terms, from GDP to the IMF, amortization to securitization to collateralized debt obligation; and he argues that we all need to speak money lest those who do write the financial rules for themselves.