Written under the shadow of the global financial crisis, this book charts the current shape of global finance and tries to explain why the crisis arose -- and what can be done about it. Economics alone cannot fully explain how global finance operates, and why it is so crisis prone. Global Finance offers a wider approach in three key ways, by: setting markets and financial market failure in a historical context bringing politics and culture back into the analysis of global finance drawing on the latest thinking by sociologists of economic life. With a convincing argument for better regulation of markets, Robert Holton provides a fascinating insight into the volatile and often misunderstood world of global finance. This is a key text for undergraduate students of sociology, economics, business, and politics, as well as being an incisive, informative read for anyone with an interest in this topical issue.