Reading itinerary for a layman

Hello,

I want to learn about present-day global finance to understand better what's going on in the world. I started with A History of Economic Thought which, although very worthwhile reading in its own right, stops around 1930 and seems to emphasize political economics which isn't quite the goal I had in mind. I'll certainly need something on globalized economy and financial markets in general to go on from there—and since I know so little of the field there may be topics I don't know about at all but should. I would appreciate any reading suggestions!

Tom Friedman's lexus and the olive tree and Joseph Stiglitz's Globalization and its Discontents both are excellent starts.

Thanks! It turns out the latter is just being cleared out in translation.

Most textbooks for a Money and Banking or Financial Institutions class are good for a layperson who wants to understand the various kinds of financial institutions and what they do.

For example, this one will tell you what a hedge fund is, what securitization is, what Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac do, etc. These are all topics that have received a lot of attention in the recent financial sector unpleasantness.

Typically they have about two chapters on the rudiments of international aspects of finance.