The Grand Livre des taux d’intérêt (The Great Book of Interest Rates) is an encyclopedia of finance that not only covers rates – the “most important figures in the modern world” – but also all instruments, institutions, procedures, events… of modern finance. The book includes both alphabetical entries by concepts and acronyms, as well as focus sections (especially historical) and quotes from famous financiers, references to the sources consulted, and references to related concepts. It is solidly structured and is written in a clear and precise style. It demonstrates that the traditional book format, when well constructed, is more didactic and practical than online consultation of a search engine, even one enriched by AI. It is also an opportunity to organize useful financial literacy quizzes.
Gérard Blandin’s book summarizes in only 328 pages the sum of knowledge that all practitioners, teachers, and students in finance must fully master, and that savers and financial investors must at least partially know. The reader of the Grand Livre will discover several hundred abbreviations and acronyms, regulatory texts, and names of famous financiers and politicians, who are or have been essential in the functioning of monetary, financial, and accounting systems. The Grand Livre is not only practical; it attests to the complexity of contemporary finance and delivers a subliminal message about the unparalleled creativity of financiers, the speed of change in finance, and the importance of its economic and social utility.
A graduate of Sciences Po Paris, Gérard Blandin has over thirty years of experience in the field of investments. He has led the editorial teams of several financial weekly publications and is the author of about fifteen works on the stock market, real estate, collective management, and market finance.
Jean-Jacques Pluchart