Raghuram Rajan, the author of Fault Lines, has an unparalleled vantage point onto the social and economic consequences and current populist backlash against globalization and their ultimate effect on politics. In The Third Pillar, he offers up a magnificent big-picture framework for understanding how these three forces- the state, markets, and our communities -interact, why things begin to break down, and how we can find our way back to a more secure and stable plane. He offers a way to rethink the relationship between the market and civil society and argues for a return to strengthening and empowering local communities as an antidote to growing despair and unrest. He compellingly urges economists to recognize a blind spot when concentrating too much on the perceived efficacy of the markets and the state, to go beyond protecting the vulnerable. It is a must-read for everyone seeking a way to preserve democracy as we've known it.