Professor Mihir Desai of Harvard Business School guides you through the complicated world of finance in clear and simple terms.

The world of finance can appear exclusive and mysterious to outsiders.

But understanding finance is vital for anyone hoping to have a career in business, and helpful for many other careers as well, since finance is the lifeblood of the world economy.

Mihir Desai is a professor at the Harvard Business School and an advisory board member at the International Tax Policy Forum.

In this book, Desai illuminates the central principles of finance for a general audience through real-world examples, exercises, and interviews with financial experts.

How Finance Works covers how companies pay for their operations and investments, why cash flow is emphasized over profits, how value is created, measured, and maximized, and how capital markets drive companies' growth.