"Since the 1960s, scholars and other commentators have frequently announced the imminent decline of American financial power : excessive speculation and debt are believed to have undermined the long-term basis of a stable U.S.-led financial order. But the American financial system has repeatedly...

art I: The benefits of free financial markets -- Does finance benefit only the rich? -- Shylock transformed -- The financial revolution and individual economic freedom -- The dark side of finance -- The bottom line on financial development -- Part II: When do financial markets emerge? -- The...