If you're not a numbers person, then finance can be intimidating and easy to ignore. But if you want to advance in your career, you'll need to make smart financial decisions and develop the confidence to clearly communicate those decisions to others. In How Finance Works, Mihir Desai-a professor at Harvard Business School and author of The Wisdom of Finance-guides you into the complex but endlessly fascinating world of finance, demystifying it in the process. Chapter 3 focuses on demystifying the world of finance. The world of finance-of hedge funds, activist investors, investments, banks, and analysts-can seem baffling and somewhat opaque. But it is critical to understand that world as you progress in finance and as a manager. We'll try to answer to question: Why is the financial system so complex? Could there be an easier way?