This best-selling No-Nonsense Guide examines the debt trap; the acceleration of neoliberalism and the ‘free trade’ model; competition for energy resources; the links between the ‘war on terror’, the arms trade and privatization; the emergence of China and India as economic superpowers. Full analysis of the financial crisis that started in 2007 outlines what happens when deregulation, speculation and greed are given full rein. And it explores strategies for redesigning the global economy so that it better serves the public good.