GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. — The Bookloft and the American Institute for Economic Research are sponsoring an event with financial journalist and local author Eric J. Weiner. Weiner will be at AIER's headquarters Friday, Sept. 24, at 7 p.m. to speak and to sign copies of his new book "The Shadow Market," published by Scribner.

America's economic confidence has been deeply shaken by the Great Recession. But while the media has focused on such factors as consumer-debt levels, unemployment, and the government bailout of banks, an entirely different phenomenon has arisen — the arrival of the "Shadow Market," a multitrillion-dollar network of super-rich, secretive, and largely unregulated financial vehicles that are quietly buying up the world, piece by valuable piece.

Weiner reveals in his new book how these investors, many of them foreign countries, are increasingly controlling the global economy and seizing power from the United States in ways that our government cannot stop and about which the average American knows nothing.

Weiner has covered business and economic issues for 15 years as a writer and editor. A former columnist and reporter for Dow Jones Newswires, he has written for The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, The Boston Globe, The Village Voice, and countless other major publications. He is the author of the critically acclaimed "What Goes Up: The Uncensored History of Modern Wall Street as Told by Bankers, Brokers, CEOs, and Scoundrels Who Made It Happen." He is also a contributor to the news and opinion website The Huffington Post. He and his family live in Great Barrington.

The talk is open to the public. AIER is located at 250 Division St. Call The Bookloft at 413-528-1521 or AIER at 413-528-1216 for more information.