What is there in common between going into a bank and driving on a winter day along a road in the Po Valley? The fog. "This is the metaphor that seems to best characterize the relationship between banks and savers," says Angelo Baglioni in his introduction to Banks of Fog. Finding your way around financial disinformation (Bocconi University publisher – UBE 2017; 168 pages; 16 euros). "The problem", continues the author, "is called information: little, too much, excessively technical, in many cases misleading".
What should a saver know in order to consciously evaluate the quality of the service that his bank provides him with? What are the costs he is charged, the risks he incurs, the protections he enjoys thanks to the rules and authorities that control the banking sector?
Information is often difficult to find: sometimes deliberately concealed, other times transmitted in an incomprehensible way. At a time when the financial crisis and the problems of Italian banks make savers increasingly distrustful, the book simply provides some tools to navigate in a complex world, warning the reader against the pitfalls he may encounter when he sets foot in a bank.
From the analysis of securities, which all look the same, but which in reality hide different risks, to mutual funds with hidden commissions and fake coupons, to explaining the rules of the game at a European level. From single supervision to crisis management and bail-in, to arrive at an analysis of Italian banks highlighting their strengths and weaknesses.
It is therefore clear what the objective of the book and of Baglioni is: to shine a light on financial disinformation, highlighting where the main pitfalls are hidden and what are the risks to defend against.
Angelo Baglioni is Professor of Political Economy at the Catholic University of Milan, where he teaches Microeconomics and Monetary Economics. Member of the editorial board de lavoce.info.
