The Shadow Market: How Sovereign Wealth Funds Secretly Dominate the Global Economy

Description

The most potent force in global commerce today isn't Wall Street, the multinational banks, or the governments of the G7 countries. In this brilliant and startling investigation, acclaimed business reporter Eric J. Weiner uncovers the real powers guiding our shaky recovery from the worldwide financial crisis and shaping the economy of our future. Taking advantage of the current recession and the liquidity problems in the United States and Europe, cash-flush nations such as China, Abu Dhabi, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, and even Norway are using sovereign wealth funds and other investment vehicles to secure major holdings in multinational corporations as well as massive tracts of farmland and natural resources. This is the Shadow Market, quietly controlling political agendas as well as the flow of capital in the West - and assembling gigantic investment portfolios that will form the power structure of tomorrow's economy.

Eric J. Weiner has investigated business and investments for more than fifteen years. He is the author of the critically acclaimed What Goes Up:The Uncensored History of Modern Wall Street.

"Weiner out-hustles the global influence peddlers." * Vanity Fair * "Alarming... A bleak survey of how flush authoritarian governments deploy financial means to achieve geopolitical ends." * Bloomberg BusinessWeek * "Disturbing... Weiner succeeds in making the case that something fundamental has changed in the world with the rise of Eastern and Middle Eastern economies, and that is worth paying attention to." * New York Times Book Review * "Remarkable" * Financial Times * " Highly informative and genuinely startling, Eric J. Weiner's account of the shift of global power is a wake-up call... A must-read for anyone interested in the future of the global economy or how and where to invest your money." * The Market * "Highly informative and genuinely startling, Eric J. Weiner's account of the shift of global power is a wake-up call... A must-read for anyone interested in the future of the global economy or how and where to invest your money." * The Market * "An eye-opener... A revealing - and troubling - overview of the uses of money and power at the international level." * Kirkus Reviews * "Informative, admirably lucid..." * Publishers Weekly *