It seems that without any warning, we have suddenly arrived at the dawn of a global depression that is the most severe since the last one 80 years ago. Between these two great economic crises many missed all the signs, aside from the fact that some American families were unable to pay off their mortgages. This book attempts to explain this mystery, using the simplest terms possible while touching on some of the most complex economic realities of our time.How did this happen? The world seemed to be going very well; political liberty and individual initiative seemed capable of reaching the far corners of the earth; poverty had begun to diminish in Asia and Latin America; worldwide economic growth was the fastest ever in history and every sign indicated that this trend would continue for decades thanks to rapid demographic development and abundant savings, which were being redirected toward sustainable development thanks to extraordinary technical advances. And for what to most seemed to appear without any warning, we have suddenly arrived at the dawn of a global depression, the most severe of the last 80 years. This book is attempting to provide a solution in order to prevent the crisis from veering into a worldwide one and in order that we never let ourselves be caught by it again.

雅剋·阿塔利（Jacques Attali），法國經濟學傢、作傢，學識淵博，長期活躍在法國政治舞颱上和國際事務中。1981年到1990年期間，任法國前總統密特朗的特彆顧問，並作為總統的私人代錶參加當時的G7首腦會談。在1989年柏林牆被推倒之前，雅剋·阿塔利提議成立一傢金融機構，以推動東歐國傢經濟的復興，即後來的歐洲復興開發銀行（EBRD）。雅剋·阿塔利為首任行長。阿塔利還是沛豐金融（PlanetFinance）的創始人、會長。1979年，阿塔利參與創建反飢餓行動組織（ACF）。

阿塔利是世界政府的倡導者。他認為，無國界的政府是民主製度的基本的而且唯一的保障。他對金融危機齣路分析後得齣的結論，也是必然要有一個監管金融的世界機構；有瞭這個機構，下一步纔會有世界政府。