Cédric Durand is among the most promising of young French university economists today. We awaited the publication of his new book with bated breath. It was worth the wait. Fictitious Capital is an important intervention which tries to make sense of the excesses of capitalism over the last forty years and of the development of finance. -Jacques Sapir

Durand has provided a very insightful view of finance-driven capitalism over the last three decades. Why was it able to prosper alongside sagging investment and plummeting productivity gains? The answer, argues Durand, lies in the tight connection between the shareholder value principle and the globalization of the real economy. -Michel Aglietta

Fictitious Capital is a fascinating and extremely informative exploration of the destructive role of finance in our contemporary political economy. Filled with brilliant insights and an impressive historical and theoretical reach, Durand explains and utilizes Marx's concept of 'fictitious capital' to illuminate the inner workings of contemporary global capitalism and to pierce the murky veil that mainstream economics and neo-liberal thought has long used to hide and distort the powerful role of finance. Students trying to understand the precarious political and economic position in which we find ourselves, as well as the theoretical foundations for understanding this, will learn much from this well-written, data rich, and theoretically clear exposition. If you read this terrific book, you will come away well-armed for the struggle ahead. -Gerald Epstein