Offering a comprehensive guide to financial shocks and crises, this book explores their increasing occurrence in current market economies, as well as their power to wrench the macroeconomy. It discusses three critical questions: what causes financial shocks; which channels may exacerbate their impact; and what policies could help avoid them or limit their negative effect on the economy and society at large. Drawing together contributions from top scholars in the field, this Modern Guide addresses both the causes and consequences of financial instability after the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) at both micro and macro levels. Chapters conceptualise financial crises, highlight their main channels of transmission, and explore the role of public policies, looking at how to learn from past financial crises to prevent future ones. The book further examines why financial shocks will be a permanent trait in the future, and the potential impacts of market economics continuing to expand financialisation as they have done over recent decades. This Modern Guide will be a timely resource for economics students and scholars, particularly as it compares the impacts of the GFC and Covid-19 and explores why these are so different. It will also be an important read for policy makers seeking advice on how to manage and avoid financial crises.