First indications from leading economic indicators for January 2024 show a slight pick up on activity levels late in 2023, but overall the prospects for both the irish economy, financial markets, and the global economy remain somewhat subdued, as the Covid recovery fades, and uncertainties come in to moderate optimism. Against this background there is a growing realism that people working in finance and business are needing to widen their perspectives beyond traditional professional boundaries to embrace other disciplines, evidenced by the increasing importance of new concepts, such as ‘ESG’ and ‘DEI’, words that have become very familiar in 2023 and recent years, as referenced in our feature ‘Finance Dublin Words of the Year’ appearing on page 14. Ahead of that, our feature ‘Books of Our Times”, facing opposite, brings together five perspectives from a panel of contributors who as historians and academics, as well as industry practitioners understand finance profoundly, but who also demonstrate here that broadening perspective that is sure to help point us towards better outcomes in times to come.