The City

Praise

“The City is a tour de force, which will soon be recognized as a formidable challenge to conventional wisdom and an essential contribution in its own right.”
—Robert Brenner, author of The Economics of Global Turbulence

“It is not every day you read a book about global finance by a banker who quotes Lenin approvingly on page two. Unlike many of those who produce Marxist critiques of financial capitalism, Norfield writes from a position of experience: he has worked in the belly of the beast, and the book is the better for it … In The City, he has done the research and pulled together the financial statistics that explain how the bloodsucking works.”
—Financial Times

“This book does the seemingly impossible: rendering finance’s mysteries transparent to the average reader, and at the same time delivering a penetrating analysis of the global economic system that will enlighten even experts. Tony Norfield has written a truly exciting and important book.”
—Paul Mattick, author of Business as Usual

“The City is a valuable addition to the critical analysis of the financialisation of our world. And Tony Norfield is an experienced and radical guide to London’s role in this process. This book should be required reading for both bankers and activists alike.”
—Joris Luyendjik, author of Swimming with Sharks: My Journey into the World of the Bankers

“With heaps of empirical research and a clear style of argumentation, he demonstrates that the City isn’t a ‘satellite of Wall Street’ as many think, but its own beast, using Britain’s imperialist privilege to extract value from the world economy. Much of the book is directed against bad arguments made by the liberal-left—the distinction between ‘productive’ capitalism and ‘casino’ banking; the populist vitriol against ‘the banks’—which Norfield believes aren’t just analytically false but let capitalism off the hook.”
—Yohann Koshy, Vice

“Tony Norfield has had 20 years experience in City of London financial dealing rooms, for ten years as an executive director and global head of FX strategy in a major European bank. He went on to complete a PhD in economics at SOAS, London. Above all, he is a Marxist. It’s a perfect recipe for an excellent book on modern British imperialism and the features of global finance in the 21st century.”
—Michael Roberts, author of The Long Depression

“How many Marxists are at work in the dealing rooms of the City? Presumably they keep their heads well down. Tony Norfield is—or was—one. Twenty years a trader at the centre of the financial web, he has married the insights into the workings of the system he gained to a thorough Marxist understanding of political economy. The result is this fascinating book.”
—Morning Star

“Tony Norfield’s opus The City takes on a big subject and makes it, well—big … Casts a new light on a well-researched subject.”
—Financial Adviser

“A timely and insightful book … It is an excellent read for anyone seriously wanting to consider the financial system.”
—Scottish Business Insider

“An invaluable book for anyone wishing to better understand the world of finance, how the City operates and how this relates to the broader capitalist system.”
—Tom Haines-Doran, rs21