Sunday 19 May 2013

So you want to be a DIY gonzo financial activist? The Heretic's Guide has arrived!

My new book, The Heretic's Guide to Global Finance: Hacking the Future of Money, is now officially out, published by the superb Pluto Press. Boom! I've set up a dedicated page for it here, and a Facebook page for it here.

3 THINGS YOU WILL LEARN FROM THIS BOOK
After reading this book, you will be an ass-kicking financial fighting monk on a mission to hack the future of money. The book uses a unique three part structure to achieve this:


Part 1: Exploring
This is where you learn the wiring under the bonnet of the global financial system. You'll see the circuitry of investment banks, commercial banks, institutional investors, hedge funds, and private equity funds, and explore investment processes, trading culture, and much much more as well.

Part 2: Jamming: This is the part where we learn how to bend the circuits of global finance. I cover how to destabilise investment cases in damaging projects, how to uncover information in opaque corporate structures, and how to design your own subversive hedge funds of dissent.

Part 3: Building: If you're going to bust dams, then you better build canals too. In part 3 we get creative and look at how to start building alternatives to channel money in positive ways. You'll explore alternative currencies, P2P, co-operative systems and open source finance, and learn what insights Jimi Hendrix offers us about the path forward to a more democratic financial system.



3 THINGS PEOPLE ARE SAYING ABOUT IT
Just is case that doesn't get you excited, take a look at what my three endorsers are saying.

Bill McKibben, the epic, inspiring environmental warrior who started 350.org, says: 
"This is an imaginative, even exuberant exploration of the daunting world of finance - it will unleash a generation of activists, and do a world of good."



Ha-Joon Chang, the irreverent, ass-kicking Cambridge economist who wrote 23 They Don't Tell You About Capitalism, says: 
"This book provides a unique inside-out look at our financial system, based on the author's unusual personal adventure. It not only provides us with a user-friendly guide to the complex maze of modern finance but also tells us how to utilise and subvert it for social purposes in innovative ways. Smart and street-smart."

Tony Greenham, alternative finance guru with the awesome New Economics Foundation, says:
“Money is power, but so too is knowledge. Tinkering with regulation will not change the world, but empowered citizens just might. Brett Scott’s entertaining and informative book is brimming with good ideas on how we can engage and change global finance on our own terms.”



3 WAYS YOU CAN HELP ME OUT
Pluto Press is a bold, independent publisher, which firstly means they produce great books, and secondly means they're not a global corporate megalith with a massive marketing budget. Any help that you can give Pluto and myself promoting the book is thus vital and would be much appreciated! Here are three things you can do:
  • Please can you help share this on Twitter: Here's a tweet you can retweet if you're short on time
  • Please like the Facebook page, and share it with you friends
  • Please email this blog to 1 friend who you think will appreciate it - you can find an email button at the bottom of this post

And if you feel like ordering it ;)
You can order it directly from the publisher, or from Amazon, or if you're feeling creative, you can use alternative currencies to get a signed copy (see details at bottom of page). Thanks, and I'd love to hear your feedback on the book - my email is in the right hand panel so please do contact me with your thoughts. Cheers!

No comments:

Post a Comment