I discuss King's proposed regulatory reform, the ‘Pawn Broker for All Seasons’ (PFAS) and I compare it to an alternative solution developed in my own work. I wasnt entirely convinced to put it mildly but Kings arguments got me thinking and thinking hard. I review The End of Alchemy by Mervyn King, published by W.W. What King calls 'alchemy' and why he feels it has to go is very well explained and reasoned. Most accounts of the recent crisis focus on the symptoms and not the underlying causes of what went wrong.īut those events, vivid though they remain in our memories, comprised only the latest in a long series of financial crises since our present system of commerce became the cornerstone of modern capitalism.Īlchemy explains why, ultimately, this was and remains a crisis not of banking - even if we need to reform the banking system - nor of policy-making - even if mistakes were made - but of ideas. Kings answer to the ongoing and he argues inherent instability of todays banking model is 'the end of alchemy'. Mervyn King may well have written the most important. In the space of little more than a year what had been seen as the age of wisdom was viewed as the age of foolishness.Īlmost overnight, belief turned into incredulity. Affordable digital textbook from RedShelf: The End of Alchemy: Money, Banking, and. It also gives a genuine insider's account' TelegraphThe past twenty years saw unprecedented growth and stability followed by the worst financial crisis the industrialised world has ever witnessed. Agree or disagree, Kings visionary ideas deserve the.

The End of Alchemy isn't just an elegant guide to the history of economic ideas. In his fascinating and thought-provoking book, The End of Alchemy, Mervyn King recounts a post-dinner conversation with a Chinese central banker during a visit to Beijing in 2011. Mervyn King may well have written the most important book to come out of the financial crisis.

Mervyn king the end of alchemy