"The Chinese economy appears destined for failure, the financial bubble forever in peril of popping, the real estate sector doomed to collapse, the factories fated for bankruptcy. Banks drowning in bad loans. An urban landscape littered with ghost towns of empty property. Industrial zones...

Central banks are major players in today's economic and financial policy making. While respected for their technical acumen and their pivotal role in defusing the global financial crisis, they are at the same time mistrusted by others and considered to be too powerful. In order to contribute to...

Contents: Salvatore Rossi -- Foreword -- Introduction / Barbara Alemanni, Umberto Filotto, Shabnam Mousavi, Riccardo Viale -- Part I -- The many faces of finance in the academia -- 1. Understanding financial behaviour for better policy making: an introduction / Riccardo Viale -- 2. Behavioral...

Meeting the predictors -- The problem with forecasting in economic theory -- Inside Swiss banking -- Among financial analysts -- Intrinsic value, market value, and the search for information -- The construction of an investment narrative -- The politics of circulating narratives -- Analysts as...