"In this book, the authors address the question of whether modern international finance - with its complex financial products, instant electronic trading shifting billions of dollars daily and the philosophy of the free market economy - is in fact a boon or a burden to the 'real' economy that is populated and relied upon by the vast majority of us."

"Mixing traditional storytelling techniques with contemporary insights into the financial world, Briys and de Varenne have produced a thought-provoking and creative book. The current trend in today's financial writing is to criticise the activities of the world's international markets over the seemingly fickle manner in which they wield their power over huge sums of money. In The Fisherman and The Rhinoceros, the authors argue convincingly against these commonly held beliefs. Using three illustrative stories as the basis of the book, the authors suggest that in fact the existence of complex and effective financial markets are actually of considerable benefit to the sustainable economy in its widest sense."--Jacket.