Dissaponting, but makes a good door stopper

I have not read The Undercover Economist, and I certainly don't plan to after I've read this book, that is if it's as bland and obvious as the logic of life. I stuck with the book after 150pages then put it down feeling disappointed and conned after reading some of the reviews. I imagined that I'd be intellectually inspired or intrigued by some of the theories Harford postulates. Ocassionally, i let out a tiny grubble at some mildly interesting anecdotes. Overall, a book wholly committed to rationalising pretty much everything is fraile with limited attributes.<br />Boring !!<br />

SOLID, ENJOYABLE READ

An excellent book which offers a good insight into the LBO business and the workings of Wall Street during the 1980s. There are some serious amounts of money involved and some very amusing characters - It almost reads like a comedy when detailing the exploits and excess of the chairman of RJR Nabisco with his fleet of company jets and"superstar" cronies.<br /><br />Essentially, it reads like a thriller and although a little confusing (and perhaps too detailed on the history / background in parts), it is nevertheless a solid, enjoyable read and a 'keeper'. Recommended<br />

Packed Full Of Thrifty Hints

350 pages of thrifty hints in a slightly larger than CD sized book. <br /><br />There are 8 chapters and I found some more useful than others. Being a vegetarian I'm not going down the route of keeping livestock simply to save a few pennies!<br /><br />However, hidden within each chapter are some hints that will save you money. One example I now use is splitting dish washer tablets in half. Martin suggests that unless you have a particularly dirty load then there's no need to use a whole tablet every time. Little suggestions like this will save you the cost of the book throughout the course of a year.<br /><br />I'm sure there are a handful of suggestions that every reader will find equally as useful. Perhaps like me you might reject 99% of he suggestions but every 1% of them you'll embrace and save plenty of pennies.<br /><br />9/10

Google Endless Growth

This book describes the growth of the Google Empire. It is written in a gripping detective like format that you dont want to put down. <br /><br />Even though it is written 2 years ago, the book does not have a dated feel.<br /><br />A great read!

Works for me

I read this book from cover to cover and found it both informative and enjoyable to read. From the moment I picked it up to study, I didn't want to put it down again. The content was sufficient to move the reader on from the"beginner" stage to greater things. This book will now remain a valuable reference book for me and I look forward to reading the author's new book.

A great fun read.

A well written, easy to read book. Full of fun and facts essential to those interested in spread betting. Not full of jargon like so many of the other stuffy books on the subject. Money well spent, so you can learn from the Authors mistakes and dont have to suffer the pain of making them yourself.<br /><br />10/10

Good book for those who enjoyed The Devil Wears Prada

Although I may agree that this book contains a rather predictable elliment to the writing style and choice of characters, I couldn't help but be gripped by an unexplainable force to read on. No pacey plot line should be expected but for a light, quick read I would most certainly suggest it to those with a light sense of humor and interested in the basics of the fashion world. I would no doubt suggest it to those who have read 'The Devil Wears Prada' as this book carries similar writing style and overall concept and view of the fashion industry.

impressive!

finally a book on the subject worth reading....yes, it goes over some ground already covered by others...but it does offer new insight...i was skeptical reading this as an African...but in the end I found myself fully persuaded by his arguments....what an impressive book by Easterly!...this is by far the best book I have read on the subject...Easterly provides a unique blend of economic insight, personal experience and local knowledge of the issues...if it was possible, I would make every politician, activist and anyone who cares about aiding read this book BEFORE they act....its a pity that may be this book has come too late...go read it...

A manifesto for sustainable globalism

This book is not so much a book about economics as it is a political manifesto. Professor Sachs is on the faculty at the School of International and Public Affairs and is director of the Earth Institute, both at Columbia University. He is also Special Advisor to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, and was previously Special Advisor to Kofi Annan, Director of the UN Millennium Project, and was advisor to a number of governments around the world at times of economic crisis. In 2007 some of his students at Columbia sought to get him to run for president. In short, Sachs is not"just" an academic, but a man with a mission, and this book is a call to action.<br /><br />Sachs considers that, with 6.6bn people, we live on a"very crowded planet". (There are those who disagree: see Julian Simon and his followers, for example (there are some excellent lectures on YouTube), who believe that there need be no practical upper limit to the number of people on the planet.) Personally, however, I am instinctively with Sachs on this one, and even if Simon turns out to be right I would rather we approached further population increases rather cautiously. Sachs demonstrates how the key to lowering population growth depends above all on reducing infant mortality in those areas of greatest poverty that are also the areas of highest population growth - sub-Saharan Africa, Asia and some parts of South America. That in turn depends as much on reducing that poverty as tackling disease directly, and that on education, appropriate investments and support, economic participation in the global economy, etc. These were the subject of the"Millennium Promises" that the developed world made in 2000 but which, as Sachs points out, are a long way from being delivered.<br /><br />Population is at the core of this book, but Sachs covers many other areas as well. He covers global warming, water shortage and biodiversity in some detail, although I found this the least satisfactory part of the book: this section is a good example of what Bjorn Lomborg called"the litany" in"The Skeptical Environmentalist", and Sachs repeatedly refers to the consensus about man-made global warming, etc, without any acknowledgement that there are those who disagree, e.g."the outcome, we now know with near certainty, is that human activity is decisively changing the climate...". Sachs is, of course, a"UN man", so may have thought it politically sensible to repeat the IPCC line. In fact, action to prevent man-made global warming forms only a small part of his final recommendations, and I was left wondering to what extent he is really convinced by these arguments. (He puts a great deal of faith in the idea of carbon sequestration from coal burning power stations and industry.) In short, if you tend towards scepticism on MMGW you might skip Part Two, while if you agree with the IPCC's assessment and"the consensus" you will find all your existing views confirmed.<br /><br />Sachs also talks about foreign policy, and in particular (and not surprisingly), about US Foreign Policy. He is highly critical of the current approach of the US government and of neo-conservatism. This is all probably rather more controversial in the US that it will appear to most European observers. His suggestion that supranational organisations like the European Union represent the future, and that the EU should be strengthened through giving its executive a democratic mandate, may be more challenging to those in the UK. Sachs is clearly not an economist who believes that the free market can deal with all of the world's problems, but nor is he a very"left wing" one. He was, after all, the man responsible for devising (although he dislikes the term)"shock therapy" for dealing with economic malaise in Eastern Europe and South America.<br /><br />Sachs recommends the creation of six new"global funds", along the line of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis & Malaria, to bring together governments, academics, NGOs, philanthropists, entrepreneurs and businesses to tackle (more) diseases, African food production, the environment, population, infrastructure, education and community development. To achieve this he estimates a cost of 2.4% of GNP for donor countries, including 1% to develop sustainable energy systems to tackle MMGW. This is a great deal more than the rich world is currently spending, but might, Sachs argues, be a small price to pay to remedy the many problems that will otherwise arise, like overpopulation, famine and mass migration.<br /><br />This is a thought-provoking book. Whether his plans would work, and whether this approach would represent the best use of the substantial funds required, is another question. There must be a fair chance, however, especially if Barack Obama wins the presidential election, that the US will look much more favourably on this multi-lateralist approach to global economic development.<br /><br />Apart from its parroting of the"global consensus" view on global warming, I have few criticisms of this book, but the main one would be about references. Sachs makes a large number of quite bold statements in the book, but there are no footnotes, although he does give a series of page referenced notes at the end. I was also surprised that Bjorn Lomborg, whose work on ways to reduce world poverty are not so very different from Sachs', gets not a single mention!<br />

Best Books for Business Starts

This book along with THE BLACK BOOK OF OUTSOURCING (Brown & Wilson, Wiley Publishers 2005) gave us the best start we could as for.

If you’re starting a business, don’t go another step without reading these two books. They will put you on track to successes you didn’t even know possible.

Great books!

The exam is based on this book

The PMI PMP examination is based on this book. This book is the PMI version of a project management methodology. The PMI is a US based organisation. If your company is US based, or does work globally, it probably bases the way it does things on this book. The PMI PMP qualification is an excellent addition to any CV.

Helpful and non confusing

This book is great for those just about to head in to the city to work, those thinking about doing so but are scared or even people that have been in there for a while and need to brush up.<br /><br />It answers so many questions that you'd feel embarassed to ask and does so delightfully - it's written simply and not like a textbook, it's actually enjoyable to read and you won't want to put it down.<br /><br />However I would recommend looking elsewhere for a better price, I got mine on ebay for £9 inc. delivery!

Top Stuff

This is a top quality book. The best thing about the book is that it gets you thinking and bring out the hidden entrepreneur in yourself. But it doesn't stop there, it also tells you how to practically set up an internet business. <br /><br />I found this book extremely useful and practical. <br /><br />Anybody starting up an internet business then this book is a must read!<br />

Get both sides of the argument

I buy into a lot of what Lomberg has to say, however just because he produces copious footnotes and references doesn't mean that his view has to be taken as sacrosanct. Indeed whilst having read a few books, read many arguments on the net, and listened to numerous programmes and podcasts on this issue recently it seems to me that everyone is in danger of becoming entrenched in their views and rejecting any view that differs from their own. Fiddling whilst Rome burns indeed (pun intended) and of course it all becomes someone else's problem. Many of the"anti" environmentalist lobby (and large swathes of this book) complacently argue that there is nothing wrong in our western lifestyle and indeed that it is a force for"good", forgetting all the while the damaging effects on the rest of the world to feed our"wants" (most consumer goods are hardly"needs"). <br /><br />Eventually - and this is where the jury may well still be out - those effects may start to be felt in the West. I can't believe that Lomberg thinks that any capital gained through carbon tax or whatever would be pumped back into envornmentally friendly schemes. I can just see the city fat cats giving their multi-million pound bonuses to Oxfam for instance. Still it is good for the debate that not everyone goes along with the received wisdom that cutting carbon emmissions is the be all and end all. <br /><br />The whole climate change argument for me is summed up by the situation in Cumbria recently where"environmentalists" rejected plans for a wind farm"because it spoils the view" and a few birds might get whacked by the blades. Yep, renewable energy is alright when the windmill is built somewhere else - much like a nuclear power station really

Very rewarding

This is a superb book that sets out Sen's influential approach to thinking about economic development. In it he combines economics and political philosophy to show how thinking about what people have and what they are capable of attaining, given their situation, can yield important insights into the nature of development. The focus is not just on the material aspects of development, but also on considerations such as political and societal participation, human rights and institutions. Sen views the ultimate goal of development as maximising peoples' freedom to lead the lives they wish within the context of society.
Among the 12 chapters, a couple of my personal favourites include his analysis of the problem of"Missing Women" in China, a chilling illustration of the consequences that a prohibition of societal participation can bring about. Also, his discussion on famines, which views their possible cause not just as crop failiure, but as a failiure of democratic rights.
Sen's writes with the aplomb that one would expect from a philosopher (he is published in ethics and political philosophy as well as economics). There are many parts of the book, especially one of the earlier chapters, that require some concentrated reading (several times in my case!) to fully grasp the ideas, but the rewards to be had are more than worth any effort put in.
I would thoroughly recommend this book to anyone with any interest in the developing world. This is a human, hopeful, brilliantly lucid and intelligent read that does what all the best non fiction does: really makes you think.

If you have a pension, be afraid, be very afraid

This book does exactly what it says on the cover - it charts the amazing rise and scandalous fall of Enron. It is well written, lucid, and chronicles the trail of havoc and destruction left by a gang of greedy and corrupt men. From the outset the company recruited as its executives only people of above average intellegence, and virtually to a man they used that intellegence to lie, cheat, and steal. Cynically, it was the very regulations put in place to prevent fraud that Enron and its collaborators used as inspiration to cheat their shareholders and employees. Their accomplices, the accounting firms, law firms, and investment banks, were all complicit. As long as the fees kept rolling in, everything was just fine. <br />But ironically, as zealous prophets of a free market, it was the free market that eventually brought Enron down. It wasn't the regulators, or conscience-stricken advisors, that sounded the company's death-knell - it was short sellers.<br />The frightening thing is that even after a few exemplary jail terms and fines, they are all still out there - managing your money. You would get a better, more honest, more open, bargain from a drug dealer than you would from the investment community. Be afraid, be very afraid - and if you are not, buy the book, because you will be after you've read it.

Insightful, easy reading with valuable lessons

A great read for those daring souls considering the life of a trader. The traders interviewed all provide valuable lessons that could have saved me thousands of dollars (or more) if I had only read this book sooner. It also puts things in perspective when you read how much timeand effort these guys put into their work to become the best. Very enlightening, although I found the book to get a bit dry in the middle.

Excellent Introduction

This very readable book lives up to its title - it really is a complete guide to trading. It provides a clear and in-depth introduction to the key aspects of psychology, systems, money management, organisation, and record keeping. I am grateful to Dr Elder for giving me the starting points and the encouragement to put together a comprehensive plan and to resume trading on a more disciplined, intelligent, and professional basis than previously.