The Only Game in Town

Central Banks, Instability, and Avoiding the Next Collapse

By: Mohamed A. El-Erian

Narrated by: Dan Woren

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A roadmap to what lies ahead and the decisions we must make now to stave off the next global economic and financial crisis, from one of the world’s most influential economic thinkers and the author of When Markets Collide

“The one economic book you must read now . . . If you want to understand [our] bifurcated world and where it’s headed, there is no better interpreter than Mohamed El-Erian.”—Time

Our current economic path is coming to an end. The signposts are all around us: sluggish growth, rising inequality, stubbornly high pockets of unemployment, and jittery financial markets, to name a few. Soon we will reach a fork in the road: One path leads to renewed growth, prosperity, and financial stability, the other to recession and market disorder.

In The Only Game in Town, El-Erian casts his gaze toward the future of the global economy and markets, outlining the choices we face both individually and collectively in an era of economic uncertainty and financial insecurity. Beginning with their response to the 2008 global crisis, El-Erian explains how and why our central banks became the critical policy actors—and, most important, why they cannot continue is this role alone. They saved the financial system from collapse in 2008 and a multiyear economic depression, but lack the tools to enable a return to high inclusive growth and durable financial stability. The time has come for a policy handoff, from a prolonged period of monetary policy experimentation to a strategy that better targets what ails economies and distorts the financial sector—before we stumble into another crisis.

The future, critically, is not predestined. It is up to us to decide where we will go from here as households, investors, companies, and governments. Using a mix of insights from economics, finance, and behavioral science, this book gives us the tools we need to properly understand this turning point, prepare for it, and come out of it stronger. A comprehensive, controversial look at the realities of our global economy and markets, The Only Game in Town is required reading for investors, policymakers, and anyone interested in the future.

Solid Framework

Provides solid framework for thinking about today's issues and organizing how they should be thought about. May be too simplistic for the very advanced econ reader. Thought provoking overall.

excellent analysis of the impact of central banks

This was a very thought provoking analysis of modern centrak bank policues with suggestions for future action

Very Cerebral

Very long but informative. Good analogies. A b c d e f g h i

Awesome!

Really great summary of what's going on in the world. Very easy to follow! Highly recommended

Unhappily not much new or insightful

Perhaps because it is dated, there was nothing insightful or new in the narrative. Would not recommend.