In this brilliant and timely new book, former Bank of Canada Governor and bestselling author Mark Carney charts an ambitious and urgent path forward for Canada and the world as we collectively face a multitude of existential threats to our long-standing democratic traditions.

We are at a hinge moment in history—reminiscent of what the Allies faced at the end of 1941, when Winston Churchill was in Ottawa meeting with Mackenzie King—an age of uncertainty and rising perils that is reshaping global political, economic, technological, and social orders, and overturning our day-to-day lives. The good news is that, just as Churchill, King, and FDR would eventually swing what Churchill termed the “Hinge of Fate” towards freedom and prosperity, we too have agency to build an even better Canada.

The series of crises that have plagued us are not bolts from the blue but rather the product of a gathering storm whipped up by the structural drivers of inequality, the forces of economic volatility, the erosion of democratic principles, the scourge of autocratic governing, and our growing confusion between value and values. Over the past quarter century, the combination of crises, globalisation, and technological change have meant that real wages and quality of life in advanced economies have been falling at unprecedented rates. The consequence is a deep loss of trust in institutions at precisely the time when they will be needed most.

Into this storm come two of the most profound—and rapid—economic and social transformations in human history: the net zero revolution and the AI transformation. Each will disrupt almost every industry and change many aspects of our lives. At this hinge moment, we have the choice of whether the impact of the transitions on people will be positive and empowering, or brutal and disenfranchising.

For Carney—one of our most astute economic minds and passionate advocates for a more just world and healthy planet—the solutions to our problems in Canada and beyond are complex, but our most important goals are straightforward and fundamental. The results that matter to people—jobs, investment, growth, peace of mind, trust in institutions—should be at the centre of our efforts. Policies should be subject to a simple test: Will they help or hinder progress for people?

Our responses could not be more vital. As Canadians, we’ve solved big problems in the past. With The Hinge, Mark Carney shows us how we can solve bigger ones in the future. It is time to build, to build things that last. Not as a government, but as a people.

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MARK CARNEY is currently the U.N. Special Envoy for Climate Action and Finance, and the Co-Chair for the Glasgow Finance Alliance for Net Zero. He is also a Chair of Brookfield Asset Management and Head of Transition Investing, as well as Chair for Bloomberg LP. Mark was previously Governor of the Bank of England (2013-2020), and Governor of the Bank of Canada (2008-2013). Internationally, Mark was Chair of the G20’s Financial Stability Board (2011-2018). He is Chair of the Group of Thirty, and a member of the boards of Bloomberg Philanthropies, Harvard University Overseers, The Rideau Hall Foundation, the Peterson Institute for International Economics, and the Hoffman Institute for Global Business and Society at INSEAD. Most recently, Mr. Carney will serve as chair of a new Leader’s Task Force on Economic Growth for the Liberal Party of Canada. He is the author of Value(s): Building a Better World for All (Signal, 2021). Born in Fort Smith, NWT, Mark Carney lives in Ottawa.