Immeasurably dull

This is a classic case of one of those social science/philosophy"masterpieces" that put forward an argument that can be accurately summarised on an A4 sheet of paper but that insist on stretching out a pretty straightforward proposition over hundreds and hundreds of pages (see also, for instance, Rawls'"A Theory of Justice"). The title states that freedom constitutes economic development, and that is really all you are going to get out of it even after investing the weeks it will take you to machete your way through Sen's neutron-star-dense prose. I like Sen's work in general and appreciate him very much as a lecturer (hence the second star), but stay away from this text unless you absolutely require it for an essay or so.

Personal account of corporate skullduggery

Confessions of an Economic Hit Man is a personal account of one man's moral awakening, set against a background of international high finance. The author, John M. Perkins, was a consultant for a consulting company that specialised in `assisting less developed countries to achieve their economic growth potential.' In reality, this involved saddling already impoverished populations with further debt that would cripple future generations. This book, though, is not a dry volume of econometrics or development studies but rather a personal journey from amoral corporate executive shill to a man who rediscovers his essential humanity.<br /><br />Confessions... follows John Perkins career at Chas T. Main, Inc. (MAIN), and his involvement in such countries as Iran, Saudi Arabia, Ecuador, Panama and Indonesia. Crudely put, Perkins' job required him to undertake studies to prove that country X is on the cusp of an economic boom due to underexploited natural resources but that in order to achieve predicted growth rates of twenty per cent per year for the next five years, the country would require electricity generation stations and accompanying infrastructure (roads, hospitals et cetera) and accommodation for all the construction workers (these economic forecasts were deliberately and grossly exaggerated - low/accurate predictions would lead to less profit for MAIN and possibly even loss of one's job).<br /><br />Once the World Bank signed off on the forecast, massive loans would be made to the government of country X so that it could afford to undertake such substantial projects. However, when Perkins' economic prophesies fell (far) short, the development firms would vacate and the populations of the countries involved would be left to make the debt repayments; their taxes now being used by the government to finance the interest on the loans, often not the capital itself, instead of investment in schools, healthcare and so forth.<br /><br />These schemes often involved a transfer of funds from the World Bank to construction and consulting companies like Bechtel, Halliburton and MAIN. In essence, this was a gift from the taxpayer to the corporations, a welfare state for the super-rich, with the money never actually leaving the United States but being transferred directly from the accounts of the World Bank to the accounts of one of the above-mentioned firms (or others).<br /><br />To quote from the book:"The income ratio of the one-fifth of the world's population in the wealthiest countries to the one-fifth in the poorest countries went from 30 to 1 in 1960 to 74 to 1 in 1995. And the World Bank, the U.S. Agency for International Development, the IMF [International Monetary Fund], and the rest of the banks, corporations, and governments involved in international"aid" continue to tell us that they are doing their jobs, that progress has been made."<br /><br />John Perkins (whose papers are still referenced in PhD economic classrooms) was instrumental in such corporate deceit; the more he lied, the more he was rewarded for his skills of consulting and persuasion. What Confessions of an Economic Hit Man relates is how one man woke from his dogmatic slumber, how a life of private corporate jets and five star hotels, huge salaries and exotic locations lost its allure when weighed against the social and environmental legacy that he was bequeathing to his daughter and to the planet as a whole. This is where the book is on its strongest footing, with the personal account. Where it is at its weakest, is on the mechanical details; exactly how Perkins achieved such feats of deception is never fully explained.<br /><br />Confessions of an Economic Hit Man is an easy read, written in a loose, intimate style, more reminiscent of an espionage thriller than a book covering parallel material, such as Joseph Stiglitz's Globalisation and its Discontents. Get Perkins' book for the first-person perspective, get Stiglitz's book for the reform agenda and the academic interpretations of what's gone wrong. Taken together, these two books compliment each other commendably; for details of corporate deception and intrigue, John Perkins' testimony lacks sufficient minutiae but as a narrative of individual corruption, self-justification and ultimately, enlightenment - and which it should be read as such - Confessions of an Economic Hit Man is a success.

a great introduction to a confusing subject

Economics is one of those things I've always thought I ought to know more about, but all previous attempts to educate myself have ended in either confusion or terminal boredom. Well done then, to David Smith and his Free Lunch, for rendering the subject both understandable and engaging. Smith introduces all the basic ideas and the big names in this whistlestop tour of economic theory. By the end you'll be familiar with Adam Smith, Karl Marx and John Maynard Keynes, you'll be able to wax intelligent over the dinner table about interest rates, and you'll have heard some interesting anecdotes along the way. <br />I personally found it very useful in drawing out all the connections between consumer spending, tax, interest rates, and how they all impact each other in the mysterious machine known as 'the economy'. Those wanting deeper analysis will want to look elsewhere, but if you're only going to read one book on economics in your life (and let's face it, for most of us one is plenty), this is what you require.

Nobody tells it like Philip Coggan...

Years of experience writing for the FT definitely makes Philip Coggan an authoritative voice on the way the city works...

A great overview of the London market, and the development of the various different financial and investment instruments/products that exist within the city.

A recommended read for anybody seeking to extend their knowledge of the London financial market.

Great selling book

This is one of the best guide books for sales I've read in ages. Concise. Handy. Refreshing. Well worth a flick through so you can turn your patter into commission.

An Economics compendium hides therein

If you read the jacket you might think this was no more than memoirs and self justification. What you get is that and a whole lot more.<br /><br />Of course everyone likes to say they made generally the right decisions and were instrumental in having others act in the greater good. Greenspan is only human to do this for the first half of the book. <br /><br />The second half of the book is a very big bonus. It reflects a measured and carefully considered opinion upon many important topics in economics. If you prefer labelling, then yes he is strictly speaking neo-classical economist. However, only someone who doesn't understand econmoics would wear filtered glasses to worry about this. There is a good balance of what the consequences are of the various choices raised by each issue. Like any good economist, the price of the choices are defined - the question then becomes what is the preference of society and leaves the reader to make their own judgement.<br /><br />The writing is pithy and matter of fact. One can understand why Greenspan was once a successful consultant. This is an excellent book if you want to read a good summary of relevant economic issues (about 20-25 pgs each). You will never find this sort of coverage in the press. <br /><br />A positive investment of time and money.

A Revelation for Those Who Believe Efficient Markets and Good Regulation Exist

<br />David Einhorn is a man who believes in checking out companies carefully. When he saw that Allied Capital wasn't following accounting rules and was making lots of bad loans, he smelled an opportunity to make money as the company collapsed. After investing, he had an opportunity to share his idea at a charity event. Allied Capital's stock quickly dropped in response.<br /><br />This book describes six years of battling to get the story out of what he had learned, to persuade regulators to crack down on Allied Capital so the rules would be followed, and to stop any illegal activities at Allied Capital. The book is written from Mr. Einhorn's perspective.<br /><br />Along the way, Allied Capital decided that it had to discredit Mr. Einhorn's allegations and his motives.<br /><br />After many years of battling, Mr. Einhorn learned a number of important lessons:<br /><br />1. Policing small capitalization companies is a low priority for reporters, analysts, institutional investors, and regulators.<br /><br />2. If a company keeps paying a dividend (even if it's not smart to do so), many individual investors will be attracted and will be loyal.<br /><br />3. The Small Business Administration is more interested in shoveling out money to small businesses than it is in ensuring that fraud isn't being perpetrated on the tax payers.<br /><br />4. Wall Street investment banks will help defend any company that pays a lot of fees.<br /><br />5. With enough new capital, large mistakes can be smoothed over.<br /><br />I'm sure that if he were faced with the same investment opportunity today, Mr. Einhorn would run rather than take a short position.<br /><br />I highly recommend this book to people who learned about perfectly efficient markets and active, honest regulators in school."Let the investor watch out for himself or herself" would be a better motto in describing the capital markets.<br /><br />This book will be boring to those who want to a quick take. But you need to read all of the misrepresentations, misstatements, and personal attacks to get a true sense of how the game is played.<br /><br />If you want a more recent version of this problem, just look at securitized mortgages.<br /><br />Thanks for sharing, Mr. Einhorn!<br />

This book answers the question,"What is it you need to do to be a consistently good project manager?"

With a bombardment of management methods and other resources it's nice to read a book that actually spells out the essence of what project management really is. This book will help you identify what a Project Manager should be doing and what are the"common sense" tasks that turn the mediocre into the great. I read this book cover to cover and found it to be well laid out, easy to read and clearly written by someone who's been there and has got the t-shirt.<br />

Do NOT purchase this book

After reading through this book i can say that it is a waste of paper and money,some of the material is out of date and is badly written, i thought a three year old had written it,keep away from it if your serious about money saving

An inspirational book

I am a freelance coach and trainer and have been looking for a book to inspire and re-invigorate my approach to training. I have found the book I've been looking for in 'How to Run a Great Workshop'. The author utilises her knowledge of Neuro Linguistic Programming, language patterns, accelerated learning and Brain Gym and combines this into a cohesive whole. With the aid of this book I'm confident that not only can I run a great workshop but that I can also ensure that my workshop participants will meet the learning objectives, because the learning is of course the real outcome.<br /><br />This book is not only full of great ideas but they are ideas that I can put into practice. I look forward to sowing the seeds and watching them take root and grow!

Good defence of liberal democracy from the dark 1940s

First published in 1944, Hayek's polemical work is a defence of classical liberalism in the face of totalitarianisms of both right- and left-wing hues. The author deplores all sorts of `collectivism', that is departures from such aspects of liberalism as the free market, individualism and the minimal state. Thus, conservatives such as Bismarck (responsible for business cartels) share the dock with communists such as Lenin. In a chapter entitled `The Socialist Roots of National Socialism', Hayek argues that collectivist achievements such as the welfare state and the war economy paved the way for the collectivism of the Nazis: `Few are ready to recognize that the rise of Fascism and Nazism was not a reaction against the socialist trends of the preceding period, but a necessary outcome of those tendencies.' (p. 4). This is a mirror image of the classic Marxist argument that Fascism, far from being a reaction against the upheaval in the capitalist economy in the 1930s, was in fact the logical culmination of capitalism, the last redoubt of the bourgeoisie.<br /> Intriguing an argument as it is, I think Hayek over emphasizes the socialist element of National Socialism: as far as I know Hitler was quite happy to allow German capitalists to make large profits as long as they agreed to economic planning. Also, the German Workers' Party adopted `National Socialist' and `Workers' in the title only to attract working class votes, and not out of any enthusiasm for Marxism. Hayek would probably object that planning is planning regardless of whether capitalists are allowed to make profits or not. <br />This, of course, is the central conceit of the book and its Achilles heel: that all planning is bad and precipitates the onset of totalitarianism: `There is no other possibility than either the order governed by the impersonal discipline of the market or that directed by the will of a few individuals...' (p. 205). This argument is disingenuous. While Hayek recognizes that there are degrees of classical liberalism - he eschews what he calls the `dogmatic laissez-faire attitude' (p. 37) - he fails to concede that there are likewise degrees of collectivism. As a work of prediction, 'Serfdom' proved very wide of the mark, for although various postwar European governments instituted what Hayek would refer to as `collectivism' and `planning', they operated within the framework of liberal democracy, private property, and individual political liberty. <br />In spite of such objections, given all I had read about it, I was expecting Serfdom to be worse than it was. Given the atmosphere it was written in, the book's thesis is actually quite progressive. Maybe that's why such progressives as John Maynard Keynes, Bertrand Russell and George Orwell either gave it favorable reviews or were sympathetic to its argument. As a defence of liberal democracy, Hayek's polemic is indispensable. <br />

Excellent advice for the beginner

A study of the history of supply and demand of the commodities is essential reading for nayone wanting to trade. But don't forget the basics that apply to ALL trading, namely CUT YOUR LOSSES! Obviously commodities is more about supply and demand than stocks and bonds, so when the spot price is higher than the futures price, current demand is greater than supply and price will rise. Great book which should be part of every traders library.

a guide to happiness

I'm a bloke and bought this on the pretence of buying it for my sis. Merryn is an accomplished and entertaining financial writer and editor of Moneyweek, a brilliant publication for amateur and professional investors alike. Obviously this book is aimed at women but it's also very easy read for those who are money-illiterate and much of the info is equally relevant to men. Also gives us blokes a startling insight on why the fairer sex habitually haemorrhage cash. Follow her advice and you will be well on your way to financial freedom.

A life changer

This audio book is quite simply a life changer. The messages, examples and stories are interesting and powerful and mostly common sense. It has opened my eyes to my poor social manners and boosted my confidence when in those situations. I now 'try to' listen rather than just talk and find myself holding back rather than interrupting a conversation when I have a thought. Situations I would shy away from I now heartily embrace and am loving it - I have never been so sociable!<br />It is already helping me in my family and business life as well. I cannot recommend this book highly enough and only wish I had listened to it years ago. It is quite simply improving me as a person with the result that I am happier and am earning more friends - how can you put a price on that?<br />NOTE: The book will help you see things in a new light. For example - I now even notice that my review is all about me and what I have gained from the book rather than what you will gain. Clearly, I still have quite some way to go - but what a fascinating journey it will be!

Unleashing the power of Excel in Corporate Finance!!

In 2001, I was working for an investment bank in London where I was trying to come up with a consistent framework for my Excel models as applied to everyday corporate finance issues. My boss showed me this book he'd recently purchased in the High Street that set out a standardised methodology for developing models and unleashing the power of Excel. This book was Day's first edition and I had to have it but for some reason it slipped off my book purchase list. Try as I might, I was unable to find a copy these last six years (mainly because I'd forgotten the title & author!!).<br /><br />Anyhow, I finally tracked the book down (completely by accident) together with its counterpart"Mastering Financial Mathematics" recently on a trip back to London. This book is great for those seeking to develop intuitive models that are likely to endure and serve the needs of the business. The corporate finance theory is kept (deliberately) a bare minimum as the focus is on structuring a consistent framework that maximises the presentational aspects of modelling and at the same time minimises the potential for errors. The model templates serve as a springboard for in-house customization and the techniques used are both simple and intuitive. <br /><br />Although there may be superior Excel modelling books out there, I believe Day has truely laid out the stage for the common or accidental modelling analyst to deliver high impact corporate finance presentations using Excel.<br /><br />Highly recommended!!

A mind shift of great importance

Sir Ken's insights are slowly leaking into schools. We are finally understanding the extent of the damage brought about by competitive, risk adverse school environments. At the centre of his approach is a belief in really valuing human capacity in its fullest sense, both in ourselves and in others.<br /><br />Sir Ken has inspired so many educators and organisations through his truly deep insights into how we will ultimately solve the world's problems through collective creativity. So if you are a teacher and know that you want to bring a change of emphasis to your students, and develop open create school climates, then this book will be a perfect resource. Written in 2001 - more relevant than ever in 2008. <br /><br />This book is equally important for all other types of organisation as well.<br /><br />For a good insight into this topic watch Sir Ken Robinson's TED talk -"Do Schools Kill Creativity"... literally hundred's of thousands of people have!

At last a little balance

This book is so incredibly well-researched that the bibliography and footnotes make up about a quarter of its total length. Sources look impeccable and a great deal of the data comes from the IPCC so it's hard to argue with much of Lomborg's data. The conlusions are extremely eye-opening. Are we doomed? Well no, we're not. And if we're not, is it possible there are some issues facing the world today that are even more important than global warming? <br /><br />The answer to that is that there are plenty, and that it would be a genuine crime to waste scarce resources on futile efforts like Kyoto when the same money could be used to save lives now. Lomborg doesn't argue that we should do nothing about global warming - he has some very sane suggestions. But he does argue that we should prioritise, and does a good job of showing that at the moment we're failing to do that effectively. <br /><br />The book is perhaps most effective in revealing the distortions and exaggerations to which we're subjected by the media. It's vital to have the kind of perspective this book offers, especially when it's so hard to come by anywhere else.

Yet another pyschobabble book posing as science

Sorry Van but I was taken in by your cult of expectancy for a while, and suffered as I consequence. Reader beware, you are entering the world where you can be seduced by delicious notions of logic with liberal portions of self-help nonsense. The basic remit of this book and all Van Tharps work is that once you have established your expectancy, that is your probability of winning and the amount you win per trade/bet, you are able to use money management to best fit your system and maximise your profit. It is true to say that Van Tharp has made a fascinating study into this and the maths are quite compelling even to a non numerical student. However, Tharp compares trading to a game where the expectancy can be foreseen as in the marble games that he uses to promote his ideas. Unfortunately trading is not like that. Its very interesting that like so many gurus Tharp chooses to teach trading rather trade himself. I am sure that he realises that the expectancy of running a business charging thousands of dollars to teach traders his"secrets" is far easier to predict than a trading system.

Like all the rest of these types of books treat it with a very big pinch of salt and ask yourself the obvious question - why trade when you can tell other people how to do it.