This week, we have a guest on the show - economics and finance writer Frances Coppola. She's the author of a book, "Quantiative Easing for the People", which argues that central banks and governments should work in concert to ensure that their response to financial crises really helps the entire economy, rather than just inflating asset prices.   In the first part of our wide-ranging discussion, we demystify the economy and debunk some common misconceptions by asking some basic questions: what's a central bank, and what is its role in the economy? What is quantiative easing, and what was it intended to do? It was a really fascinating discussion and it does amaze me how much economics is almost taken for granted + not explained as par for the course in our education when these ideas and principles have the potential to affect our lives so much. I hope you enjoy.