"The End of Alchemy" by Mervyn King is a great book that explains fiscal/monetary policy and the modern banking system from the ground up. King was the head of the Bank of England during the last recession. This was the book that made me "get it". "When Genius Failed" by Roger Lowenstein is the story of the fall of Long Term Capital Management which was basically the biggest hedge fund failure ever. Teaches you a lot about modern high finance and systemic risk.
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