Global financial markets have transformed over the past three decades ¿ with potentially dangerous results. Growing competitiveness in financial markets has forced banks to adapt ¿ by merging, growing, and innovating. The result has been an unprecedented transformation in the identity of society's borrowers: households and banks are borrowing more, businesses are borrowing relatively less. This "Great Debt Transformation" has profound consequences: as we shift toward economic growth fueled by consumption and financial investment, instability, indebtedness, and inequality have all risen. This book explains this transformation, why it matters, what caused it, and ¿ most importantly ¿ examines how some countries have restrained the transformation underway. Britain, France,