“This story essentially tells of the financial crises that the markets always end up inflicting on those who have abused their innovations, their excesses and the lax atmosphere.

Dealing with these crises – in often inventive ways – has taken up much more energy than their prevention or any substantive reforms.

I had the privilege of being involved in some of these ‘ways out of crisis’. I lived through their dramatic intensity and was, sometimes, able to contribute to pragmatic solutions which helped to steady the ship. This was true, for example, of the Latin American crisis, negotiation of the IMF adjustment programmes and aiding the transition of the Eastern European countries.

But the picture is still dark. The 2007-2008 crisis, with its trail of unemployment and recession, is an extreme example of what excess debt can do. And quantitative easing policies, implemented to minimize the effects of the ‘great recession’ despite its origins in the abuse of debt, plunge an observer like myself into an abyss of questions and doubts.”

From the collapse of Bretton Woods to that of Lehman Brothers, a first-hand account of fifty years of financial crises by a participant on the front lines of finance and currency.

The memoirs of an exceptional, influential man who worked alongside Jacques Delors, Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, Raymond Barre, Paul Volcker, and many others.

Jacques de Larosière spent his entire career at the head of financial institutions: he was first Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (1978-1987) before becoming Governor of the Banque de France (1987-1993), then president of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (1993-1998). He is currently Advisor to the president of BNP-Paribas.

1. Cover
2. Title Page
3. Copyright Page
4. Dedication
5. Preface
6. CHAPTER I - Family and upbringing
7. CHAPTER II - The study years (1945-1961)
8. CHAPTER III - London, Algeria and the Inspection des Finances (1961-1963)
9. CHAPTER IV - First years at the Ministry of Finance (1963-1971)
10. CHAPTER V - The collapse of the Bretton Woods system in 1971
11. CHAPTER VI - After the oil shock, four years as Treasury Director: 1974-1978
12. CHAPTER VII - The IMF: the “magic years” (1978-1987)
13. CHAPTER VIII - The Banque de France (1987-1993): seven years of permanent crisis
    1. The Neiertz law
    2. The September 1992 crisis
    3. The December 1992 crisis
    4. Speculation resumed in summer 1993
14. CHAPTER IX - The Eastern countries: the EBRD's role in the transition (1993-1998)
    1. The Baltic gold
    2. Hungary joins the IMF
    3. Poland and the IMF
    4. The symposium at the Banque de France
    5. The Banque Commerciale de l'Europe du Nord
    6. The reorganization of the Bank
    7. The Annual General Meeting in St Petersburg
    8. Uzbekistan
    9. Ukraine
    10. Nuclear power
    11. The environment
    12. Energy savings
15. CHAPTER X - What was that about retiring?
16. Postface
17. List of the main (non-French) personalities mentioned in the biography
18. Bibliography
19. List of some articles and speeches by Jacques de Larosière
20. Index
21. Table of contents