Best Business & Investing Cheap Books Reviews

Almost Did Not Buy, Reviews Too Negative–This Was Worth My Time, March 29, 2008

I almost did not buy this book as I sought to explore the new literature on behavioral and cognitive science. The negative review are too negative. You get from this book what you bring to it in open mindedness, in my opinion.

My truth-teller, off-setting the reality that this is a double-spaced book that inflates 120 pages of thought into 240 pages of easy to digest presentation, is the author’s unique provision in the end-notes of both direct references to seminal works that each chapter is based on, with additional references suggested, AND his recognition of 17 collaborators, each with a long paragraph of biographic information. This is in short a worthy work, it was worthy of my time, and I do not agree with those who are dismissive or cavalier about this book.

As with Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness and other works of this ilk, they seem to be blessed with an immaculate conception that fails to recognize the work of the 1960’s and 1970’s (e.g. Herbert Simon, "satisficing," but I no longer mark this down–this is a new generation thinking new thoughts, and I have decided it is too much to expect them to go back more than 20 years.

(more…)

Well written, great perspective, March 17, 2008

I am learning a lot reading this, even though I’ve followed the economy for years. The preface summarizes the situation and outlines the book, but is maybe slightly dense and technical for the average person.

But the first chapter is great for giving perspective on how the US economy has evolved, especially the troubles of the stagflation period and what caused that.

The book goes up to November 2007, with a clear understanding that the credit bubble was going to have to unwind, and it was either going to cost $1 trillion, or, if the government tried to paper it over, a lot more.

(more…)