Why write а textbook on money, banking, and financial markets? As we set out on this project, we envisioned a book that would be different and, we believed, better than those available in the market: a book that (1) would deal with the real-life financial system and the real-life conduct of monetary policy, (2) would be based on a coherent, recognizable, economic framework, and (3) would be accessible to anybody who has completed an introductory course on the principles of economics. Accessibility is crucial. Why write a book if it cannot be read by those it addresses? But sacrificing substance for accessibility would be a hollow success. A substantive approach to money, banking, and financial markets requires an analytical framework that permits one to tackle important issues rather than to skirt them, especially during a period of great change and even upheaval in financial markets, as the past 15 years have been.