The Economist gave the best read of the Easter break: 5 Slumps That Shaped Modern Finance: At its core, finance does just two simple things

The Economist gave the best read of the Easter break: 5 Slumps That Shaped Modern Finance: At its core, finance does just two simple things. It can act as an economic time machine, helping savers transport today's surplus income into the future, or giving borrowers access to future earnings now. It can also act as a safety net, insuring against floods, fires or illness. By providing these two kinds of service, a well-tuned financial system smooths away life's sharpest ups and downs. In addition, as investors seek out people and companies with the best ideas, finance acts as an engine of growth. Yet finance can also terrorise. As the impact of the crisis of 2008 subsides, leaving its legacy of unemployment and debt, it is worth asking if the right things are being done to support what is good about finance, and to remove what is poisonous. (VIEW LINK)