今日全球貿易最具影響力的不是美國聯準會，不是國際銀行，也不是七大工業國的政府，更不是歐盟，而是這個有數兆億元流通的網絡，由極富、神秘以及大多不受法律規範的投資工具組成，包括外資主權基金、國營企業、私人股權基金以及對沖基金。這些投資工具正悄悄地一分一分收購世界，任何一塊版圖都不會放過。
The most potent force in global commerce today is not the Federal Reserve, not the international banks, not the governments of the G7 countries, and certainly not the European Union. Rather, it is the multi-trillion-dollar network of super-rich, secretive, and largely unregulated investment vehicles—foreign sovereign wealth funds, government-run corporations, private equity funds, and hedge funds—that are quietly buying up the world, piece by valuable piece.