Collusion: How Central Bankers Rigged the World

This unflinching, troubling exposé from Prins (All the Presidents’ Bankers), a journalist and former banker at Lehman Brothers, forecasts impending doom for the global economy—all at the hands of central bankers. Prins criticizes the efforts made since 2008 to guard against future banking crises, charging regulators with increasing the supply of “artificial money” rather than fostering sustainable growth. She ascribes the 2008 crisis to a too loosely regulated banking system; ever since, G7 central banks have “colluded” to keep private banks afloat through quantitative easing, which entails buying bonds and other assets from financial institutions to increase the money supply. According to Prins, this has resulted in asset bubbles, which, when popped, could bring down banks and markets. The book’s most chilling section consists of Prins’s predictions of what awaits a world economy threatened by rising income inequality and an elite class bent on preserving its dominance: a bigger collapse than the 2008 crisis. This dense though lively treatise is not for the faint of heart, but it’s well worth a close read by anyone looking to understand the roots of the last crash and prepare for the next. Agent: Andrew Stuart, Stuart Agency. (May)