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Decades ago a fearless woman managed to change Wall Street forever. Her name was Wilma Soss and she spoke truth to powerful men running massive public stocks. What was clear from reading "Fearless: Wilma Soss and America's Forgotten Investor Movement" by Janice Traflet and Robert Wright, is that she was a force to be reckoned with and we should be grateful to her. She got large corporations to listen to the concerns of individual investors. Those high-rolling CEOs didn't like it, but she didn't stop.
In his book Retail Gangster: The INSANE, Real-Life Story of Razy Eddie, Gary Weiss deftly tells the story of three mind-bogglingly complicated things at the same time: The history of the Antar clan, the state of New York City in the 1970s and 1980s, and the nature of the epic fraud committed by Crazy Eddie’s CEO, Eddie Antar, and his cronies. Weiss does all that without scrambling your brain. It's a must-read.
Spencer Jakab has produced a book that tackles a complex piece of recent history, and yet makes it understandable and entertaining for those not familiar with the ways of Wall St. “The Revolution that Wasn’t: GameStop, Reddit and the Fleecing of Small Investors,” published February 2022, deals with the period when a group of small investors communicating via Reddit pushed up the value of some stocks of beleaguered companies and inflicted huge losses on seasoned Wall Street pros, who in turn got hit with massive losses. This story screams “David versus Goliath,” only not in the holy land thousands of years ago, but rather on Wall Street recently and with a twist.
Many groups, including women, and African Americans, have been denied fair access to banking and finance. That matters because while money makes the world go around anyone treated unfairly will be disadvantaged. Financial historian Robert Wright tackles the topic with thoroughness in Financial Exclusion: How Competition Can Fix a Broken System.
U.S. President Jimmy Carter drove his economic advisors so crazy that they felt forced to set up a secret policy committee. That's just one of the bizarre stories from When the President Calls: Conversations With Economic Policymakers, by NYU professor Simon Bowmaker, sheds new light on the inner workings of how things get done in the executive branch. It includes interviews with Alan Greenspan, Paul Volcker, Austan Goolsbee, Janet Yellen, Robert Rubin, and Hank Paulson.
Harvard's Todd Rose is back with another must-read book: Dark Horse: Achieving Success Through the Pursuit of Fulfillment. The title, 'Dark Horse,' alludes to the idea that people who don't take a standardized career path can achieve just as much success as those who do. In other words, you'll get more success by doing what is right for you than you would by shoehorning yourself into an ill-fitting role.
There's a growing concern that the capitalist system isn't working enough for everyone. Step forward Universal Basic Income (UBI,) a government-funded monthly stipend that citizens would receive if the idea is realized. Proponents think it might solve the perceived ills of our system. Annie Lowrey writes about it in her book titled "Give People Money: How A Universal Basic Income Would End Poverty, Revolutionize Work, And Remake The World."
What's really going on inside "Team Trump?" It's a question that some authors have tried to answer, but few would have ventured the same place as author Gary Lachman: The Occult. His book, "Dark Star Rising: Magick and Power in the Age of Trump," is one you should read because it revolves around the methods of achieving goals using little more than brain power. That is the essence of so-called "New Thought."
How good or bad is the so-called gig economy compared to holding a permanent staff role? It all depends on who you ask. Sarah Kessler, author of Gigged: The End of the Job and the Future of Work, spoke with more than a few people about the matter and discusses it at length.
The chances are high you'll eventually end up working with people who battle mental illness. How can you learn about it without visiting the psych ward? You could do far worse than read the recently published Walk A Mile: Tales of a Wandering Loon by Chris Young. It's the story of a working man who battles his illness and mostly wins.
How good or bad is the so-called gig economy compared to holding a permanent staff role? It all depends on who you ask. Sarah Kessler, author of Gigged: The End of the Job and the Future of Work, spoke with more than a few people about the matter and discusses it at length.
The chances are high you'll eventually end up working with people who battle mental illness. How can you learn about it without visiting the psych ward? You could do far worse than read the recently published Walk A Mile: Tales of a Wandering Loon by Chris Young. It's the story of a working man who battles his illness and mostly wins.
Once upon a time, people would worship the sun as a deity. It provided much of what sustains life on our planet. Then came industrialization and we mostly forgot the sun. But just because we stopped paying attention doesn't mean that it lost any of its importance or the fact that the sun is far more complex than many realize. That's why it is rather handy that an important book on the matter was recently published in paperback. Nature's Third Cycle: A Story of Sunspots by Arnab Rai Choudhuri. The third cycle is that of the Sun and the dark spots which appear on the solar surface.
In Scotland, each year the 900 or so graduating new doctors are given a copy of a poetry book titled “Tools of the Trade: Poems for New Doctors.” It’s a tiny thing, which can be carried in a shirt pocket and is meant to help relieve stress for the medics.
The problem with economics is that even the leadership of the Federal Reserve seem to get confused. Luckily, The Growth Delusion: Wealth, Poverty, and the Well-Being of Nations will help sort out the situation. It explains what GDP is and isn't, and how we got to where we are now.
By any standards, Howard Bloom has achieved great things. Scientist, publicist, and author barely begin to describe it. His book, How I Accidentally Started The Sixties, adds mightily to the oeuvre. It also has some lessons for the rest of us.
A lot of business people confuse what it means to be creative. They frequently talk about creativity as if artists and filmmakers are the only ones endowed with such ability in significant quantity and quality. While this view is commonplace, it doesn't make the observation accurate. Step forward iconic self-help author Napoleon Hill with a previously obscure book How to Own Your Own Mind. It was "first compiled in 1941," and then forgotten, according to the publisher. Whatever happened it's back and worth a read.
Expert history writer Dan Jones digs deep for the facts and chronicles their history in his book The Templars: The Rise and Fall of God's Holy Warriors. It is published by Viking in the U.S. and by Head of Zeus in the U.K. The story begins in the year 1102 and takes us through to the unceremonious disbanding of the order in the early 1300s. Along the way, Jones recounts the gruesome battles in the Holy Land where the warriors fought to either take or hold key positions. If you have any illusion that war was ever glamorous, then these passages should be a quick antidote.
Despite the reputation of some economists, it is still possible to learn things from them and not just about economics. A case in point is a recently published book of letters from legendary economist J.K. Galbraith, who clearly had a lot to say. The book, The Selected Letters of John Kenneth Galbraith, edited by Richard Holt, runs just over 700 pages. Still, it's worth flicking through for some nuggets of wisdom.
Economics got a drubbing during the financial crisis. At least part of the problem is that some people keep holding on to some horrible ideas, or theories that just don't work except on paper. As with much in life these days the matter is polarized. Helping to keep the debate amiable are Bruno S. Frey and David Iselin who recently edited and published Economic Ideas You Should Forget. It's a book of short essays by a slew of economists including such notables as Robert Frank (Cornell,) Alan Blinder (Princeton,) and Jeffrey Sachs (Columbia.) Of course, there are many others.
It should be clear that slavery was and is a moral abomination. Most would leave the matter at that, hoping that never again will the practice become entrenched anywhere. Not so, Robert Wright, treasurer of Historians Against Slavery. He delved further. The result is The Poverty of Slavery. He starts boldly: "Wherever and whenever people enslave other people the entire economy suffers on net, and pretty much to the extent that enslavement occurs. No ifs, ands, buts, maybes, exceptions, or other qualifications." He continues: "If slavery does spur economic growth (which emphatically it does not) enslaving others would still not be morally justifiable."
When it comes to how people behave in the business world, few things are as disheartening as when individuals with lack of character are installed in management positions. That's why I found a recently published book on leadership so refreshing. The title in question is The Leadership Secrets of Hamilton: 7 Steps to Revolutionary Leadership from Alexander Hamilton and the Founding fathers by Gordon Leidner.
Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness
is the latest book by Alexandra Fuller. It takes us back further than her childhood in Rhodesia that was chronicled so well in Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight: An African Childhood
. Instead, Cocktail Hour looks at how her parents came to love Africa, and it will likely make you do the same. Well worth the read.
is the latest book by Alexandra Fuller. It takes us back further than her childhood in Rhodesia that was chronicled so well in Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight: An African Childhood. Instead, Cocktail Hour looks at how her parents came to love Africa, and it will likely make you do the same. Well worth the read.
Anne Applebaum's Red Famine: Stalin's War on Ukraine describes in gruesome detail the plight of Ukrainians under the Soviet system starting in 1917. She then takes us through the 1920s to the famine of 1933 when an estimated 4.5 million, or more than one-in-10 of Ukraine's population, died directly and indirectly as a result of the catastrophe. Most of the deaths from the famine of 1933 came in the first half of the year, according to research cited in the book.
For many people who don't focus on the economy, the concept of economic growth can seem a little abstract. That's a problem because it really does matter. Take, for instance, the memoir A Land Girl's Tale by Mona McLeod which details life in rural Scotland during WWII. It shows in stark detail how far the world has come. Or if you like, it shows how poor we were then relative to our living standards now.
Whatever the reason, the Bank of England holds a special place in the psyche of Britons. That fondness is no doubt enhanced by the majestic building in which it sits at the heart of London's financial district. Its story is detailed in "Till Time's Last Sand: A History of the Bank of England 1694-2013," by David Kynaston.His book gives a blow-by-blow account of the bank through its auspicious founding through crises through its 1946 nationalization through its eventually securing independence in matters of monetary policy, right up to the recent financial mess of 2008-2009 and a bit beyond. In short, there’s a lot to tell.
At the best of times, the market for fine art and antiquities is murky, but even at its worst, it's nothing compared to the seedy underworld of forgeries. The latter is the world which Shaun Greenhalgh illuminates in his book, A Forger's Tale. It's the story he wrote in prison after the 2007 conviction for crimes that he details in the book. In addition to the inner workings of the art world, there is something for business people to learn.
Napoleon Hill's classic The Law of Success was reissued in 2017, nearly nine decades after its first publication. Still, the lessons seem as relevant as ever.
I've long held that real men love cats. Why? Because real men appreciate that cats are all born engineers who will assist you by quickly highlighting the many structural short comings in your home. The fact that author Charles Bukowski loved them too helps. He wrote enough on the subject to fill a compilation titled On Cats.
Another edited compilation of writing by Charles Bukowski, this time the book, On Love, deals with the heart. As with all things Bukowski, it is about much more than the title. It's about life, failure, success, and regrets. One thing I like about him is that he pursued his own goals rather than the goals others might have set for him. That's something we should all learn.
Back in the 19th century, some American scoundrels mounted a vast fraud on "The Old Lady of Threadneedle Street," as the BofE is known. At the time the Bank was the center of global finance. The rough equivalent now would be to successfully pull off an enormous financial heist on the Federal Reserve. Nicolas Booth ably recounts the tale in his recently published book, Thieves Of Threadneedle Street. It's a yarn of devilish daring, that would make an excellent movie.
It might be hard to imagine Moby as anything other than an uber-famous artist, musician, and DJ. But once upon a time, he lived in a disused factory. That's basically where Moby's book Porcelain, starts. It then moves to early 1990s New York. There Moby, a descendant of Moby Dick author, Herman Melville, went about creating an unlikely career for himself. Unlikely, that is, to many people in his chosen field. That's something we can all learn from.
Until the first half of the twentieth century, there remained no accepted measure of economic output that could easily compare the wealth that different countries were producing with even a modicum of accuracy. Then came Gross Domestic Product or GDP. That was the invention that Ehsan Masood refers to in his book The Great Invention. Indeed, it was a great creation, but as Masood points out in some detail, it wasn't perfect and remains imperfect.
Back in the 1930s and 1940s, the Nazis teamed up with art experts to rob Europe's Jews of priceless art, often via forced sales. Susan Ronald chronicles one man's extraordinary career of thievery in her recent book, Hitler's Art Thief: Hildebrand Gurlitt, the Nazis, and the Looting of Europe's Treasures.
Technology has become synonymous with the latest devices from Apple. But it doesn’t have to be restricted to the inventions of the digital age. That’s something author Mark Kurlansky takes on in his book Paper: Paging Through History. In short, it’s a book about an invention that is ancient and one that refuses to die. Just because it's old doesn’t make it irrelevant.
A Hero of Our Time 
by Mikhail Lermontov. This is a slim volume which bucks the stereotype for Russian novels. It's actually a great metaphor for us. Highly recommended.
by Mikhail Lermontov. This is a slim volume which bucks the stereotype for Russian novels. It's actually a great metaphor for us. Highly recommended.
Reason Foundation scholar, and economics journalist, John Tamny writes Who Needs the Fed? If you believe Tamny and what he’s written, then the answer is clearly, not us. His book, published 2016, is about much more than the Federal Reserve, the central bank of the United States. It’s about sound economic policy. It’s about what works in economics, and what doesn’t work.
I’ve long been a fan of Hunter S. Thompson, author of such classics as “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” and “Hell’s Angels.” So when I saw a book by his son, Juan F. Thompson, I itched to get a copy. The book, Stories I Tell Myself by Juan F. Thompson: Growing Up with Hunter S. Thompson, is well worth a read. In some ways, it’s a love letter to his departed father. Perhaps more important is that for us as outsiders it paints a three-dimensional portrait of a literary giant. People are complicated; Thompson Sr. more than most.
Depression can arrive without apparent reason or cause. It can even afflict the young, such as 21-year-old comedian Kevin Breel. His book, Boy Meets Depression: Or Life Sucks, and Then You Live was published Tuesday. Its title is self-explanatory: Breel writes about his childhood in Canada and how he successfully battled suicidal thoughts.