The Alchemists

Six times a year, Basel, Switzerland, hosts what is arguably the planet's most exclusive dinner party, an intimate weekend gathering of the world's most powerful central bankers to exchange ideas, eat and drink well, and enjoy the company of the only people who can understand the unique burdens they share. Neil Irwin's 'The Alchemists' opens in Basel during the May 2010 meeting, with Europe in the throes of a particularly acute installment of its ongoing financial crisis, and each of our protagonists facing his own particular dilemma.