This book’s full title is Future of Capitalism: Facing the New Anxieties. I found a new interesting acronym of WEIRD – western, educated, industrial, rich, and developed. He talks about the huge divides in our society between the well-educated and less educated and between the metro areas and the hinterland outside the metro areas. I always love reading books by Paul Collier because he always brings up quite a different point of view.
I had a cottage north of Napanee in the 1980’s and 1990’s. They had a very different world view than me. I always thought it interesting that they thought of Toronto as a big scary city and said that they would never like to live there. Personally, I love Toronto and have always loved to live in this city. It has so much to offer in opportunity and in the variety of activities available and its wonderful parks.
Paul Collier seems to be able to identify a lot of the problems of our current world. However, I do not think that he has the solutions or solutions that people will run with. We need plans to move forward, not go backwards. I agree that who benefits most from firms is the top management. They talk about only making profit for the shareholders. However, they are the ones who benefits the most. Most investors I have talked with do not think of themselves as shareholders of the companies they invest in. I think that is a big mistake.
We boomers started out as flower children, but it seems we did not build a better and fairer society. Of course, there was also drugs, sex and rock and roll. Does history repeat? We seem today to be back to robber barons (FAANG) and revolt (people protesting inequality). We would all be happier and more prosperous if everyone could contribute to and benefit from our society.
I think that the answer lies in better education (in poor areas) and less red tape. The government should get out of the way of people trying to better themselves. We also need to stop the bobber barons from taking over everything in sight.
Martin Wolf on Financial Times did a great review of this book and its message. Bill Gates writes an interesting review of this book on his site of Gates Notes. Steven Pearlstein writes an interesting review in the Washington Post. There is also a wonderful review by Branko Milanovic at Global Policy Journal. With the second part of Branko Milanovic’s review at Brave New Europe.
Daniela Arregui Coka interviews Paul Collier on Global Economics Dynamics Project. There is a panel discussion of this book, with Paul Collier at Policy Exchange. Paul Collier is the second speaker on this panel. Paul Collier gives a lecture on how capitalism has derailed in the past the and present in Oslo. He speaks for almost 40 minutes and this is worthwhile to listen to as he talks about problems and solutions to the current form of capitalism. This last video is the best, so if you only watch one, watch this one.
An index of the books I have reviewed are on my website at Books. I have three blogs. The first talks only about specific stocks and is called Investment Talk . The second one contains information on mostly investing and is called Investing Economics Mostly. My last blog is for my book reviews and it is called Non-Fiction Mostly. Follow me on Twitter.
Wednesday, June 24, 2020
Friday, June 12, 2020
A Brief History of Doom by Richard Vague
This book’s full title is A Brief History of Doom: Two Hundred Years of Financial Crises. This is an interesting book talking about passed financial crisis being mainly caused by private. Richard Vague tells a good story.
One of the things that is pointed out is that investors sometimes bought bonds because they thought they were safer than buying a company’s stock. After all, bond holders have to be paid before stockholders get any money. However, if a company goes bankrupt, bondholders lose also. The lesson should be that you should not buy bonds from a company for which you would not buy the stock.
The thing that Richard Vague is pointing out in this book is that recessions are caused by private debt increasing dramatically against the GDP. Private debt is both of individuals and companies. Usually overbuilding comes into play (railways, real estate). Recessions are worsened then when people then stop spending. A lot of the economy, especially in the US, is dependent on individuals spending.
One of the things he points out is that the recovery from 2008 would have been much better if individual households who were under water because of mortgages were helped out. Only the banks and financial institutions were help. A lot of people in the US are still angry about that.
I live in Toronto and this book comes at a handy time because I have been worried about all the condo building going on. There has been an incredible number of condos built. Real estate prices just go higher and higher. You have to wonder who is buying all these condos. At night the ones that are built and bought seem to have few lights on at night. So, we seem to be overbuilding and anything I have read is that Canadians have a very high level of debt.
There are few reviews on Good Reads. On Good Reads, a lot of people have rated this book and usually with 4 and 5 stars. Joseph N. DiStefano does a review of this book for Philadelphia Inquirer. Some of the best reviews on in newspapers. Another good place is blogs. There is a good review also on the Dollar and Sense blog.
Richard Vague speaks on YouTube about his book. He speaks until around 14:41 and then the interview begins. He said that the US does not have a problem with private debt currently, however, Asia does. He thinks our next crisis will come from Asia. He thinks that ordinary people should have gotten debt relief in the 2008 crisis just as the banks got help. Rob Johnson interviews Richard Vague at the Institute for New Economic Thinking. Richard Vague talks at Oxford Union on why he has little hope for the next decade. Richard Vague talks about debt on New Economic Thinking.
An index of the books I have reviewed are on my website at Books. I have three blogs. The first talks only about specific stocks and is called Investment Talk . The second one contains information on mostly investing and is called Investing Economics Mostly. My last blog is for my book reviews and it is called Non-Fiction Mostly. Follow me on Twitter.
One of the things that is pointed out is that investors sometimes bought bonds because they thought they were safer than buying a company’s stock. After all, bond holders have to be paid before stockholders get any money. However, if a company goes bankrupt, bondholders lose also. The lesson should be that you should not buy bonds from a company for which you would not buy the stock.
The thing that Richard Vague is pointing out in this book is that recessions are caused by private debt increasing dramatically against the GDP. Private debt is both of individuals and companies. Usually overbuilding comes into play (railways, real estate). Recessions are worsened then when people then stop spending. A lot of the economy, especially in the US, is dependent on individuals spending.
One of the things he points out is that the recovery from 2008 would have been much better if individual households who were under water because of mortgages were helped out. Only the banks and financial institutions were help. A lot of people in the US are still angry about that.
I live in Toronto and this book comes at a handy time because I have been worried about all the condo building going on. There has been an incredible number of condos built. Real estate prices just go higher and higher. You have to wonder who is buying all these condos. At night the ones that are built and bought seem to have few lights on at night. So, we seem to be overbuilding and anything I have read is that Canadians have a very high level of debt.
There are few reviews on Good Reads. On Good Reads, a lot of people have rated this book and usually with 4 and 5 stars. Joseph N. DiStefano does a review of this book for Philadelphia Inquirer. Some of the best reviews on in newspapers. Another good place is blogs. There is a good review also on the Dollar and Sense blog.
Richard Vague speaks on YouTube about his book. He speaks until around 14:41 and then the interview begins. He said that the US does not have a problem with private debt currently, however, Asia does. He thinks our next crisis will come from Asia. He thinks that ordinary people should have gotten debt relief in the 2008 crisis just as the banks got help. Rob Johnson interviews Richard Vague at the Institute for New Economic Thinking. Richard Vague talks at Oxford Union on why he has little hope for the next decade. Richard Vague talks about debt on New Economic Thinking.
An index of the books I have reviewed are on my website at Books. I have three blogs. The first talks only about specific stocks and is called Investment Talk . The second one contains information on mostly investing and is called Investing Economics Mostly. My last blog is for my book reviews and it is called Non-Fiction Mostly. Follow me on Twitter.
Wednesday, June 10, 2020
Three Stones Make a Wall by Eric Cline
This book’s full title is Three Stones Make a Wall, The Story of Archaeology. The full Archaeological axiom is: One stone is a stone. Two stones is a feature. Three stones is a wall. Four Stones is a building. Five Stones is a palace. (Six Stones is a palace built by Aliens).
This is not the first book I have read by Eric Cline. I love archaeology and Eric Cline makes archaeology come alive. If you have not read anything on the subject this is a great book to read. This is not a new book, but it is also not that old. It was first published in 2017 and I got the paperback version published in 2018. You can tell from the reading that Eric Cline loves what he does.
Peter Lewis write a great review in StarTribune. I found another great review by Simon Caterson at The Sydney Morning Herald. Brian Fagan on Project Muse has a review and you can see an abstract on this site.
Eric Cline is on Junk Science and Archaeology. He speaks on his book called From Eden to Exile: Unraveling Mysteries of the Bible, In another video with Eric Cline on YouTube he gives an short talk on how archaeologists decide where to dig. Meet the author in an interview of Dr. Eric Cline by Nick Barksdale.
An index of the books I have reviewed are on my website at Books. I have three blogs. The first talks only about specific stocks and is called Investment Talk . The second one contains information on mostly investing and is called Investing Economics Mostly. My last blog is for my book reviews and it is called Non-Fiction Mostly. Follow me on Twitter.
This is not the first book I have read by Eric Cline. I love archaeology and Eric Cline makes archaeology come alive. If you have not read anything on the subject this is a great book to read. This is not a new book, but it is also not that old. It was first published in 2017 and I got the paperback version published in 2018. You can tell from the reading that Eric Cline loves what he does.
Peter Lewis write a great review in StarTribune. I found another great review by Simon Caterson at The Sydney Morning Herald. Brian Fagan on Project Muse has a review and you can see an abstract on this site.
Eric Cline is on Junk Science and Archaeology. He speaks on his book called From Eden to Exile: Unraveling Mysteries of the Bible, In another video with Eric Cline on YouTube he gives an short talk on how archaeologists decide where to dig. Meet the author in an interview of Dr. Eric Cline by Nick Barksdale.
An index of the books I have reviewed are on my website at Books. I have three blogs. The first talks only about specific stocks and is called Investment Talk . The second one contains information on mostly investing and is called Investing Economics Mostly. My last blog is for my book reviews and it is called Non-Fiction Mostly. Follow me on Twitter.
Monday, June 1, 2020
Inheritors of the Earth by Chris Thomas
This book’s full title is Inheritors of the Earth: How Nature Is Thriving in an Age of Extinction. I loved this book for its optimism. I must admit that I think that humans will survive the damage we have done to our beloved earth. Something will come along. I also think that calling the present age the Anthropocene is rather arrogant, but I guess time will tell.
He talks about how nature is coping with humans on earth and doing so surprisingly well. He talks about how we have not stopped other live from diversifying or how we have help diversification along (but perhaps rather unknowingly). Life has always adapted and there is no reason to think this will stop because of us. Conservationists seem to arbitrarily chose what past to return to. He argues that we are producing a new Pangea.
To gain further understanding of a subject, I like to read other peoples reviews. Also, the other thing to do, and probably my favourite is to hear an author talk at several venues. I gained a lot from this book and also from listening to Chris Thomas speak.
Gaia Vince does a great review in The Guardian. Arne Mooers reviews this book at Science Mag. Christoph Kueffer does a very thorough review of this book at Research Gate. To be able to read this, you should download it as a PDF. Christoph Keuffer talks about this book, the problems, and limitations with the book as he sees it.
Chris Thomas speaks on De Balie. He starts speaking at around 3.50 minutes in to 40 minutes. Then Hans de Kroon, professor Plant Ecology at the Radboud University speaks. Half way down this page is a short video (3.50 minutes) with Chris Thomas on CBC about how to help species with Climate change. Chris Thomas talks on Brain Bar.
An index of the books I have reviewed are on my website at Books. I have three blogs. The first talks only about specific stocks and is called Investment Talk . The second one contains information on mostly investing and is called Investing Economics Mostly. My last blog is for my book reviews and it is called Non-Fiction Mostly. Follow me on Twitter.
He talks about how nature is coping with humans on earth and doing so surprisingly well. He talks about how we have not stopped other live from diversifying or how we have help diversification along (but perhaps rather unknowingly). Life has always adapted and there is no reason to think this will stop because of us. Conservationists seem to arbitrarily chose what past to return to. He argues that we are producing a new Pangea.
To gain further understanding of a subject, I like to read other peoples reviews. Also, the other thing to do, and probably my favourite is to hear an author talk at several venues. I gained a lot from this book and also from listening to Chris Thomas speak.
Gaia Vince does a great review in The Guardian. Arne Mooers reviews this book at Science Mag. Christoph Kueffer does a very thorough review of this book at Research Gate. To be able to read this, you should download it as a PDF. Christoph Keuffer talks about this book, the problems, and limitations with the book as he sees it.
Chris Thomas speaks on De Balie. He starts speaking at around 3.50 minutes in to 40 minutes. Then Hans de Kroon, professor Plant Ecology at the Radboud University speaks. Half way down this page is a short video (3.50 minutes) with Chris Thomas on CBC about how to help species with Climate change. Chris Thomas talks on Brain Bar.
An index of the books I have reviewed are on my website at Books. I have three blogs. The first talks only about specific stocks and is called Investment Talk . The second one contains information on mostly investing and is called Investing Economics Mostly. My last blog is for my book reviews and it is called Non-Fiction Mostly. Follow me on Twitter.
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