I strongly feel that The Force of Finance must be on the desks of all current and aspiring leaders who want to bring prosperity to their people.

Dr. Brenner writes on human nature in a very discerning fashion, probing and psychoanalysing the adminstration and machinary able of channelling hopes and ambitions into positive - rather than criminal - entrepreneurship and innovation... and he explains the emergence of Pax Americana vis-à-vis banks, underwriters, venture capitalists, asset management firms, etc., etc., etc. (i.e. democratised capital markets); for US capital markets - all in all - create a powerful 'trial-by-error' meritocracy:

(i) alluring the crème de la crème from around the world, and (ii) reshaping - bottom up - regulatory bodies and political parties.

Dr. Brenner shows and proves that 'democratised capital markets' are the bringer of prosperity, and the bringer of the governments and institutions worthy of generating and sustaining the back-cloth of trust. Writing in the vein of Ronald Coase, Peter Bauer and Friedrich Hayek, he explains that 'political democracy' can only come about by capitalism at the grass-roots; though for him capitalism must imbibe 'the ultimate standard of trust' (to borrow the title of a review on The Force of Finance by MIT's Michael Schrage) - not selfishness...

A marvellous mind throbs in every chapter of The Force of Finance; yet, assuringly, Dr. Brenner is cognizant of the Latin virtue of SIMPLICTAS - a man seeing things clearly and seeing them as they are, be it on topics such as nation-building, higher education, financial markets or currencies. Studying the glories and debacles of the twentieth century, he makes a cogent argument for Laissez Faire; and he openly criticises "the cargo cult" of Maynard Keynes, Paul Krugman, Samuel Huntington et al.

Dr. Brenner is covetous for solid research, and understands the wisdom in the dictum: "Persuade with facts, not speech!" A polymath, he refuses to wear the horse-blinds that tend to enslave many in the teaching profession. In addition, he has a remarkably vivid writing style, free of jargon, free of gerrymandering... and he takes a heroic stand against the ivory towers of university education... and having the intellectual calibre to face the academic mafioso, he shows a glowing gift for debate and repartee...

After careful reading - and re-reading - The Force of Finance, I find credit and collateral to be vital in creating a mobile people (bubbling new riches, ideas and experiments); and I realise that a spirit of 'risk-for-reward' is essential in the arts, sciences and humanities.

Dr. Brenner is a bearer of light! I can say no more, I will say no less.

Reuven Brenner, an intense, dynamic, and iconoclast economist, has entered a very weighty two cents into the current thought on the world economy with this new book.

With multiple clear examples of politics and history, he shows the difference between America's open capital markets and most of the world's nations closed capital markets, and why America has been at the forefront of econonomic and capitalist development for more than 50 years.

His main argument: Citizens of any nation should have access to capital in order to embark on ventures that will produce profit. The most valuable resource any nation has are its talented citizens, by denying them access to the ability to be entrepreneurs, the nation is hurting itself and its growth. The answer: Let them access the resources they need, but hold both sides accountable. It won't keep an Enron from happening, but it will keep it from happening again, as is obvious with new accounting reforms.

Using examples from pre/post Communist Russia, Latin America, Islamic Fundamentalist states, and budding open capital markets, Brenner proves that any system that restricts access to capital is doomed to fail. Sure to open your mind and expose you to the true story of the global economy, The Force Of Finance is the penultimate book on how to turn a third world nation into a modern state that is living up to its potential.