The Price of Standing Still

An investment can survive a crisis and recover in value. An owner who has had to sell it to meet a mortgage payment, support a family or keep a business running may miss that recovery. The Price of Standing Still begins with this gap between the market’s horizon and the owner’s deadline.

Roberto Balbino examines how inflation, income, debt, taxation and institutions shape purchasing power and the choices people can actually make. The book tests the claims that money creation alone explains every price increase and that owning financial assets or property provides protection in itself.

From Italy’s inflation history to the experiences of Argentina and Japan, from financial crises to everyday household decisions, the analysis follows the mechanisms through which opportunities, risks and losses are distributed. The capacity to remain an owner is central: available resources and manageable commitments allow people to withstand difficulty without a forced sale.

Across 24 chapters, cash, bonds, equities, gold, property and digital money are examined alongside their owners’ obligations. Four illustrative cases set in Milan, Buenos Aires, Miami and New York connect the argument to buying a home, running a business, retirement and professional income. A concluding workbook translates the analysis into calculations, scenarios and decisions that readers can examine.

As the founder and CEO of FINTECH SCB, Balbino brings experience in international finance and business to the book, alongside personal episodes of loss and rebuilding. Written for savers, professionals and entrepreneurs, it examines the conditions under which wealth can continue to support the choices that matter throughout life.