Author Charles Wheelan has been a journalist for The Economist . In this follow up to his books Naked Statistics and < /Naked Economics , he uses plain language and a sense of humor to explain monetary policy and banking for general readers, looking at how these systems are supposed to work and how they work in real life. Part 1 explains basic concepts behind money, from why a piece of paper has value, through inflation and deflation, credit and crashes, central banking, exchange rates, and the global financial system. Part 2 deals with why it matters. This section begins with an overview of American monetary history, then explains the crashes of 1929 and 2008. Further chapters cover Japan, the euro, the relationship between the US and China, and the future of money. The final chapter gives suggestions on improving central banking. Annotation ©2016 Ringgold, Inc., Portland, OR (protoview.com) Read Less