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  • Published: 15 February 2018
  • ISBN: 9781523094219
  • Imprint: Berrett-Koehler
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 288
  • RRP: $49.99

Can Finance Save the World?

Regaining Power over Money to Serve the Common Good



How to Make Finance a Force for Good

“A hugely important book [with] a compelling vision for ethical global finance that makes current political debates seem petty and thoughtless.” (Lawrence H. Summers, former U.S. Treasury Secretary)

According to Bertrand Badré, finance is neither inherently good nor bad. It's just a tool—the most powerful tool on earth. In Can Finance Save the World?, he describes innovative approaches and financial tools that can help us address many of the world's biggest problems, ranging from climate change to the eradication of poverty to building much-needed infrastructure. Badré details options for creating positive financial regulation and for strengthening international cooperation. He also explains what is working and what needs to change in financing the sustainable development of the world.

This book is rich with practical examples, some developed by Badré himself. For instance, he describes how at the World Bank he devised an innovative way to use insurance, a financial tool rarely considered in international development, to buttress fragile emerging economies against natural disasters and pandemics. Initiatives like these show that, as Badré writes, “when controlled and used intelligently, with benevolence and inventiveness, finance can accomplish great things.”

  • Published: 15 February 2018
  • ISBN: 9781523094219
  • Imprint: Berrett-Koehler
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 288
  • RRP: $49.99

About the authors

Emmanuel Macron

Emmanuel Macron was born in Amiens on 21 December 1977. After graduating from the École nationale d'administration in 2004, he worked as an inspector of finances in the Inspectorate General of Finances, and then became an investment banker at Rothschild & Co.
Macron was appointed Minister of Economy, Industry and Digital Affairs in François Hollande’s government in 2014, and resigned in August 2016 to launch his En Marche political party as part of his candidacy for the 2017 presidential election. He won the election on 7 May 2017 with 66 per cent of the vote, defeating the candidate of the National Front, Marine Le Pen. His party, La République En Marche, won an outright majority at the legislative elections in June 2017.

Praise for Can Finance Save the World?

"Bertrand Badré is a practical visionary. He fully recognizes the power of the backlash against financial globalization. But finance is an essential tool. As he argues in this heartwarming book, innovative partnerships between the public and the private sectors remain essential if we are to enjoy a cooperative world and a better future."
--Martin Wolf, Chief Economics Commentator, Financial Times

"Finance can do a lot of bad. But it can also do a lot of good. Bertrand Badré's book shows concretely how, with a focus on public-private partnerships, and the specific role of multinational development banks. This is important, practical work."
--Olivier Blanchard, Fred Bergsten Senior Fellow, Peterson Institute for International Economics, and Robert Solow Professor Emeritus, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

"Creating a world where no one is left behind requires a clear road map. We have the sustainable development goals, and Bertrand explains how the financial system can play a more effective role to help them come alive."
--Paul Polman, CEO, Unilever

"Can finance be a force for good? When a PPP (a person with in-depth private practice and a profound public commitment) proposes that PPP (private-public partnership) improves people's lives and future, then it can prove transformational for the role and purpose of finance and help make progress on the road to the sustainable development goals."
--Christine Lagarde, Managing Director, International Monetary Fund

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