The book is a dialogue between a money manager and a young man who asks whether or not he should invest. Their conversation explores -How 'for money' and 'not-for-money' investment differ; -How accounting and economic assets compare with social and natural assets; -How time is central to all of investment, building capabilities in the present which can deliver resources in the future; -How banks collectively create and destroy money; -How the yield curve shows the market interest rates for financial assets of different durations; -How competitive advantage is important in determining the returns achieved on real assets; -How 'fundamental value' differs from price, or what someone is prepared to pay; -How 'fundamental analysis' and 'technical analysis' of price data provide insights into risk; -How mean-variance analysis of price data is the conventional approach to risk; -How the economic ecosystem creates prices -How capitalism may be a lousy system and yet the best available as it adapts continuously to align money prices and human values.