This book's full title is Double Entry, How the merchants of Venice created modern finance. This book started off as a well told story and was interestingly written. However, she ends with big rant against corporations. Too bad she goes from being a good historian to being a raving idiot on a rant against corporations.
There is a good interview done by the economist on YouTube. It is only 5 minutes long.
There is a good review of this book at Wall Street Journal. This review concentrates on the history of the double entry method which is the best part of this book. This is also another good review at the Management Today site. This reviewer, Luke Johnson, ends the review with a remark on the deterioration of this book at the end. "It is a shame the book deteriorates into a left-wing diatribe, because the key story - the history of bookkeeping - is an interesting one, and well told."
One of things she talks about and about which I think one of the stupidest ideas I have heard is the one where people look at the worse possible characteristics of a corporation and use the Mental Disorder test and declare corporations psychopaths (by their very nature). Corporations are run by people. To say that we should not expect corporations to behave like a "good corporate citizen" is just giving some business leaders a license to behave badly.
I do not think that we should tie corporations up in so much read tape that they cannot function. However, it is proper to regulate them. For example, government rules about (or against) pollution is decidedly good for society as a whole. We should go after executives who falsify accounting records. (However, putting them in jail for hundreds of years is pointless, but this is a whole other conversation. I think that we can be more innovative than jailing non-violet offenders. It is too bad that we are so set in our ways that if any Judge decides to be innovative in sentencing (beside jail), we talk about cruel and unusual punishment.)
The author seems to just now be realizing that money is not everything. Yes, we do need a certain amount of money to live, but there is a limit to what we need. Of course, people look at this differently and calculate differently what they required, but after a certain amount of money or level of living, we want more than just money. We do want things like pollution control. And, the western world has moved strongly in this direction. We have done a lot to clean up our environment. Yes, more needs to be done, but we have still done quite a lot.
GDP is just money, but I do not decide to stay in Canada just because of its GDP. Life is good in Canada. No, it is not perfect and we do have problems, but I believe we will solve them.
I also do not believe in the redistributions of money. (This is just another form of plunder.) If people get money for nothing it has no value. This is what is wrong with welfare. It was a great idea that did not work. I think we need to get families that have been on welfare for 3 to 4 generations off it so we can spend more time and money on more current problems, like the homelessness problem. Our current welfare programs have done nothing to solve homelessness.
She has a chapter on "How Accounting Could make or Break the World". I think that accounting (or Double Entry Bookkeeping) cannot do everything. If you want to save the world, perhaps you should use other methods. To just view our world through the eyes of an accountant is wrong on so many levels. There is far more to life than money and accounting for it. Sorry, but to make accounting as a view to life is so short sighted.
However, a big problem I see today is that everyone wants things like pension and health case, but they want someone else to work and pay for it. At some point people are going to have to realize that if they want pensions and health care, they will have to work and pay for it themselves.
On my website is how to find this book on Amazon if you care to purchase it. See White. Also, this book review and other books I have reviewed are on my website at Book Reviews.
Monday, May 6, 2013
Monday, April 8, 2013
The Measure of Civilization by Ian Morris
This book is really supporting evidence for his popular book of "Why the West Rules for Now". Morris chose 4 traits to measure civilization. They were energy capture, social organization, information technology and war-making capabilities.
The last two traits did not come into their own until rather later than the first two. Information technology had no effect on civilization until around 3300BCE. War-making capabilities had not real effect until 3000 BCE.
By energy capture, the author means the full range of energy captured by humans. Humans capture energy using food, whether eaten directly or given to animals. Using fuel for cooking, heating, cooling, firing kilns and furnaces or powering machines and includes wind and waterworks as well as wood, coal, oil gas and nuclear power is another form of energy capture. The last form is in raw materials. Raw materials are used in construction, metalwork, pot-making, clothing or any other purpose.
With looking at social organization, the author talks about the long tradition of research in social sciences that has shown the strong relationship between the size of the largest settlements within a society and the complexity of its social structure. This part looks mostly at city sizes to judge a society's social organization.
For tens of thousands of years, the transmission and storage of information depended entirely on speech and memory. The first unmistakable evidence for communication through material symbols goes back nearly a hundred thousand years. However, symbols of this kind remained not only rare but simple until about fifty thousand years ago, when they suddenly become common wherever we find humans. The ability to store and transmit information is a fundamental part of the concept of social development.
As far as war making capabilities, we were not very effective before 3000 BCE and our war making capabilities, sky rocketed after 1800 and then took another leap in 1900.
On YouTube there is an interesting conversation called Conversations with History with Ian Morris. Conversation is called Pattern of History. Lecture by Ian Morris sponsored by the Long Now foundation. The first 2 minutes is a short video of a plane.
On my website is how to find this book on Amazon if you care to purchase it. See Morris. Also, this book review and other books I have reviewed are on my website at Book Reviews.
The last two traits did not come into their own until rather later than the first two. Information technology had no effect on civilization until around 3300BCE. War-making capabilities had not real effect until 3000 BCE.
By energy capture, the author means the full range of energy captured by humans. Humans capture energy using food, whether eaten directly or given to animals. Using fuel for cooking, heating, cooling, firing kilns and furnaces or powering machines and includes wind and waterworks as well as wood, coal, oil gas and nuclear power is another form of energy capture. The last form is in raw materials. Raw materials are used in construction, metalwork, pot-making, clothing or any other purpose.
With looking at social organization, the author talks about the long tradition of research in social sciences that has shown the strong relationship between the size of the largest settlements within a society and the complexity of its social structure. This part looks mostly at city sizes to judge a society's social organization.
For tens of thousands of years, the transmission and storage of information depended entirely on speech and memory. The first unmistakable evidence for communication through material symbols goes back nearly a hundred thousand years. However, symbols of this kind remained not only rare but simple until about fifty thousand years ago, when they suddenly become common wherever we find humans. The ability to store and transmit information is a fundamental part of the concept of social development.
As far as war making capabilities, we were not very effective before 3000 BCE and our war making capabilities, sky rocketed after 1800 and then took another leap in 1900.
On YouTube there is an interesting conversation called Conversations with History with Ian Morris. Conversation is called Pattern of History. Lecture by Ian Morris sponsored by the Long Now foundation. The first 2 minutes is a short video of a plane.
On my website is how to find this book on Amazon if you care to purchase it. See Morris. Also, this book review and other books I have reviewed are on my website at Book Reviews.
Monday, February 25, 2013
Let the Eastern Bastards Freeze in the Dark by Mary Janigan
This book is called "Let the Eastern Bastards Freeze in the Dark, The West versus the Rest since Confederation". Mary Janigan has her own web site. The site hosts a time line that is covered by the book.
When I was young, I like the history that Pierre Berton wrote. I grew out of him, but there has not been much in the way of good history books for Canadian History. This is the first Canadian History book I have read for a while that I thoroughly enjoyed.
The book provides an interested perspective on how people in different parts of our country viewed the west and what it meant to them. It is well written and easy and enjoyable to read. It gives a western perspective that being in central Canada, I had not realized before.
This book is largely about the west (Manitoba, Alberta and Saskatchewan) fighting to control their own resources. It took forever as the Federal government wanted to use western resources to fund settlement and railways. It was not until 1930 when King was Prime Minister that western resources as finally turned over to the western provinces.
The book also goes into the rage that was felt in the Maritimes. They felt that they had bought and paid for the west and that they should be compensated for the loss of western resources. Quebec and Ontario got huge amount of land carved out of the land purchases from the Hudson Bay Company, but the Maritimes got nothing.
There are good reviews at Toronto Star, at National Post, at Winnipeg Free Press and at The Chronicle Herald (of Nova Scotia).
On my website is how to find this book on Amazon if you care to purchase it. See Janigan. Also, this book review and other books I have reviewed are on my website at Book Reviews.
When I was young, I like the history that Pierre Berton wrote. I grew out of him, but there has not been much in the way of good history books for Canadian History. This is the first Canadian History book I have read for a while that I thoroughly enjoyed.
The book provides an interested perspective on how people in different parts of our country viewed the west and what it meant to them. It is well written and easy and enjoyable to read. It gives a western perspective that being in central Canada, I had not realized before.
This book is largely about the west (Manitoba, Alberta and Saskatchewan) fighting to control their own resources. It took forever as the Federal government wanted to use western resources to fund settlement and railways. It was not until 1930 when King was Prime Minister that western resources as finally turned over to the western provinces.
The book also goes into the rage that was felt in the Maritimes. They felt that they had bought and paid for the west and that they should be compensated for the loss of western resources. Quebec and Ontario got huge amount of land carved out of the land purchases from the Hudson Bay Company, but the Maritimes got nothing.
There are good reviews at Toronto Star, at National Post, at Winnipeg Free Press and at The Chronicle Herald (of Nova Scotia).
On my website is how to find this book on Amazon if you care to purchase it. See Janigan. Also, this book review and other books I have reviewed are on my website at Book Reviews.
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
Natural History by Smithsonian
This book is an amazing reference book to life on earth. See a video on this book at YouTube. This video seems to bring to life this Natural History book. This is a wonderful book to browse or to read. It may be big, but it is very readable.
This is a DK (Dorling Kindersley) book. If you have not had the pleasure of reading any DK books, you are in for a real treat. Their Science and Nature and History books are second to none, no matter what your age.
The Smithsonian has a YouTube site with with great videos to watch. There is a video showing a tour of this museum on YouTube. This video is just over 12 minutes, but it is just part 1 and part 2 is here.
On my website is how to find this book on Amazon if you care to purchase it. See Smithsonian. Also, this book review and other books I have reviewed are on my website at Book Reviews.
This is a DK (Dorling Kindersley) book. If you have not had the pleasure of reading any DK books, you are in for a real treat. Their Science and Nature and History books are second to none, no matter what your age.
The Smithsonian has a YouTube site with with great videos to watch. There is a video showing a tour of this museum on YouTube. This video is just over 12 minutes, but it is just part 1 and part 2 is here.
On my website is how to find this book on Amazon if you care to purchase it. See Smithsonian. Also, this book review and other books I have reviewed are on my website at Book Reviews.
Friday, December 28, 2012
The Dictator's Learning Curve by William Dobson
This book is called The Dictator's Leaning Curve, Inside the Global Battle for Democracy. This is a very interesting book about the battle for democracy and you will learn things you never would get via news. There is a review at the NY Times.
American Abroad Media Insight has an Interviewof William Dobson. This is a 9 minute video. You can see bits and pieces of speech by William Dobson at Politics and Prose Bookshop in Washington D.C. This is a 15 minute video, but it is not well done and it is a bit choppy. This P&P bookshop has a site.
There is a very good interview on PBS News Hour of William Dobson. This one is 7 minutes long. There is also a discussion with William Dobson at Roosevelt house at Hunter College. The discussion starts 4 minutes into the video and is just over 1 hour long. Interestingly, he says that violent insurgencies against dictators succeed 25% of the time (Syria) and non-violent insurgencies succeed 50% of the time (Egypt).
He talks about Gene Sharp who wrote a book called From Dictatorship to Democracy. You can download a copy from The Albert Einstein Institution. There is an article about this book at Wikipedia and article about Gene Sharp at Wikipedia.
There is a video of Q&A with Gene Sharp YouTube. It is 15 minutes long. The whole video is from the Frontline Club. This is almost 1 and 1/2 hours long. There is an interesting short film on Gene Sharp and revolution near the beginning of this video.
On my website is how to find this book on Amazon if you care to purchase it. See Dobson. Also, this book review and other books I have reviewed are on my website at Book Reviews.
American Abroad Media Insight has an Interviewof William Dobson. This is a 9 minute video. You can see bits and pieces of speech by William Dobson at Politics and Prose Bookshop in Washington D.C. This is a 15 minute video, but it is not well done and it is a bit choppy. This P&P bookshop has a site.
There is a very good interview on PBS News Hour of William Dobson. This one is 7 minutes long. There is also a discussion with William Dobson at Roosevelt house at Hunter College. The discussion starts 4 minutes into the video and is just over 1 hour long. Interestingly, he says that violent insurgencies against dictators succeed 25% of the time (Syria) and non-violent insurgencies succeed 50% of the time (Egypt).
He talks about Gene Sharp who wrote a book called From Dictatorship to Democracy. You can download a copy from The Albert Einstein Institution. There is an article about this book at Wikipedia and article about Gene Sharp at Wikipedia.
There is a video of Q&A with Gene Sharp YouTube. It is 15 minutes long. The whole video is from the Frontline Club. This is almost 1 and 1/2 hours long. There is an interesting short film on Gene Sharp and revolution near the beginning of this video.
On my website is how to find this book on Amazon if you care to purchase it. See Dobson. Also, this book review and other books I have reviewed are on my website at Book Reviews.
Friday, November 30, 2012
The Wisdom of Psychopaths by Kevin Dutton
This book is called The Wisdom of Psychopaths, What Saints, Spies, and Serial Killers Can Teach Us about Success. Basically, we are all psychopaths now, except of course you and me or maybe just me. Kevin Dutton has his own site. On this site you can take a psychopath test.
There is a good article on this book The Toronto Star. One commenter suggests looking at James Fallon on YouTube. It is called "James Fallon: Confessions of a Pro-Social Psychopath". This is an absolutely fascinating video. It is not very long and you should watch it.
There is a video of Dr. Kevin Dutton being Interview . In this video, Dr. Kevin Dutton discusses "The wisdom of psychopaths" -- how psychopathic traits can lead to success in many professional fields. This is a 20 minute video. Psychopath in the family . This is a 12 minute video.
I found this an absolutely fascinating book. I love such books because they give you a better insight, not only to our fellow man, but better insight to yourself.
On my website is how to find this book on Amazon if you care to purchase it. See Dutton. Also, this book review and other books I have reviewed are on my website at Book Reviews.
There is a good article on this book The Toronto Star. One commenter suggests looking at James Fallon on YouTube. It is called "James Fallon: Confessions of a Pro-Social Psychopath". This is an absolutely fascinating video. It is not very long and you should watch it.
There is a video of Dr. Kevin Dutton being Interview . In this video, Dr. Kevin Dutton discusses "The wisdom of psychopaths" -- how psychopathic traits can lead to success in many professional fields. This is a 20 minute video. Psychopath in the family . This is a 12 minute video.
I found this an absolutely fascinating book. I love such books because they give you a better insight, not only to our fellow man, but better insight to yourself.
On my website is how to find this book on Amazon if you care to purchase it. See Dutton. Also, this book review and other books I have reviewed are on my website at Book Reviews.
Monday, November 19, 2012
Abundance by Peter Diamandis
This book's full title is Abundance, The Future is better than you think. The authors are Peter Diamandis and Steven Kotler. I loved this book. There is so much negativity in much that is available to read on the future. If you want an optimistic view, this is the book to read. Yes, the future may not turn out the way he paints it, but there is reason for great optimism about our future.
He talks about what people are doing now and what people are now working on. The x-prizes have been a great idea as they have achieved what lots of people thought impossible. You need no look any further than the first x-prize which got companies interested in space. On YouTube, see Space Ship One X-prize first and Space Ship One X-prize second flight.
Peter gives a talk on his book on YouTube. Peter Diamandis has his own web site. There is another talk by Peter Diamandis called "Which Way Next? with Guest Peter Diamandis," the Abundance book's author on YouTube. This is a Singularity University's Live Webcast series. This is 54 minute video. His speech last for around 26 minutes and then he asks questions.
Peter Diamandis: Abundance is our future talk on TED. There is a short interview with Peter Diamandis at Technology Review about his prize giving. He is behind the X-Prizes. Read Peter's Laws . This is also called "The creed of the persistent and passionate mind".
One of the things he talks about is the Slingshot water purifier. See YouTube video on this. Coca Cola is teaming up with Deka Research & Development Corporation to bring these machines to where they are needed in South America and Africa. See report on Environment Leader. See coca cola's press release.
One of the great things about this book is his references. For example, he talked about a 2006 TED address by Hans Rosling. So I went to TED.com and search for Hans Rosling 2006 and got the speech Hans made. He later talked about the robot PR2 that he talked about had YouTube video footage. I went on my compute and goggled "YouTube PR2 Robot" and got the YouTube videos on this robot.
The TED.com video of Salman Khan of www.khanacademy.org. This is all about education.
On my website is how to find this book on Amazon if you care to purchase it. See Diamondis. Also, this book review and other books I have reviewed are on my website at Book Reviews.
He talks about what people are doing now and what people are now working on. The x-prizes have been a great idea as they have achieved what lots of people thought impossible. You need no look any further than the first x-prize which got companies interested in space. On YouTube, see Space Ship One X-prize first and Space Ship One X-prize second flight.
Peter gives a talk on his book on YouTube. Peter Diamandis has his own web site. There is another talk by Peter Diamandis called "Which Way Next? with Guest Peter Diamandis," the Abundance book's author on YouTube. This is a Singularity University's Live Webcast series. This is 54 minute video. His speech last for around 26 minutes and then he asks questions.
Peter Diamandis: Abundance is our future talk on TED. There is a short interview with Peter Diamandis at Technology Review about his prize giving. He is behind the X-Prizes. Read Peter's Laws . This is also called "The creed of the persistent and passionate mind".
One of the things he talks about is the Slingshot water purifier. See YouTube video on this. Coca Cola is teaming up with Deka Research & Development Corporation to bring these machines to where they are needed in South America and Africa. See report on Environment Leader. See coca cola's press release.
One of the great things about this book is his references. For example, he talked about a 2006 TED address by Hans Rosling. So I went to TED.com and search for Hans Rosling 2006 and got the speech Hans made. He later talked about the robot PR2 that he talked about had YouTube video footage. I went on my compute and goggled "YouTube PR2 Robot" and got the YouTube videos on this robot.
The TED.com video of Salman Khan of www.khanacademy.org. This is all about education.
On my website is how to find this book on Amazon if you care to purchase it. See Diamondis. Also, this book review and other books I have reviewed are on my website at Book Reviews.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)