Blogcritics Category: Books: Business and Economics

Wall Street Needs Two Queens And A Great Dame

Anne of Carversville — Fri, 7 Nov 2008 08:19:21 EST

It's time to counterbalance the Wall Street boys' testosterone-infused lust for risk-taking with a rational dose of estrogen.
I grabbed my mackintosh last week for a pre-dinner stroll along the Hudson River in lower Manhattan a couple of weeks ago. The go-to event was a drizzly tribute to the QE2, on her swan song dance down the Hudson.This New York harbor walk came the night after a Ferrari-owning trader explained high finance to me, over martinis at New York's Soho...

Book Review: The Forgotten Man - A New History of the Great Depression by Amity Shlaes

Tamara Dwyer — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 20:15:41 EDT

An introduction to "Why Monetary Policy Matters" for those of us who might not have considered this question before the current economic downturn.
Earlier this year, when we were still picking candidates for each presidential party for the 2008 election cycle, I picked up a copy of The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression by Amity Shlaes. The chapters are long, longer than the hour of reading I aspire to each evening, and dense, sometimes full of mathematical comparisons that...

Book Review: Say It Like Obama by Shel Leanne

Jessica Schneider — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 04:52:22 EDT

Obama has reinforced the notion that the speech, in and of itself, can be its own work of art.
Even the deepest McCain supporters cannot deny the talent that Barack Obama has for oration. His articulation, mannerisms, and wording all play a role in a delivery that has placed him beside the likes of Martin Luther King Jr. and JFK. His speeches have been quoted all around the globe, even published in their very own book. He is so good, in...

Book Review: Cradle to Cradle by William McDonough and Michael Braungart

Maggie Ball — Mon, 1 Sep 2008 18:35:31 EDT

We can design our lives and products around the notion of nourishment � from the way we live to how we design and produce goods.
For those to are ecologically minded, a key part of creating any new product is to produce a life cycle assessment (LCA), which is also known as a cradle-to-grave analysis, working from manufacture (‘cradle’) to use and disposal (‘grave’). The LCA investigates all of the environmental impacts of that product and attempts to...

Book Review - The Upside of Down: Catastrophe, Creativity and the Renewal of Civilisation by Thomas Homer-Dixon

Natalie Bennett — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 09:19:03 EDT

You might think that the world doesn't need another why-the-Roman-empire-collapsed theory. You'd be wrong.
You might think that the world doesn't need another why-the-Roman-empire-collapsed theory, when there are already so many to choose from - according to one professor's count 210. Depending on your disposition you might like to cling to vintage Gibbon - moral decline, or prefer the technological theory of Richter - that the Germans invented...

Book Review: The Coming China Wars - Where They Will Be Fought and How They Can Be Won by Peter Navarro

Xujun Eberlein — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 02:21:13 EDT

Telling people in China, or any developing nation, to give up getting rich quickly is like telling Americans to give up 80% of their wealth.
The Coming China Wars: Where They Will Be Fought and How They Can Be Won is probably one of the most advertised China-related books this year. For weeks it nailed the small Adsense box on my Inside-out China blog (apparently Google did a good job of matchmaking), and I got so tired of seeing it all day everyday that I deleted Adsense. The book...

Book Review The Non-Verbal Advantage Secrets and Science of Body Language at Work by Carol Kinsey Goman

NancyGail — Tue, 5 Aug 2008 18:02:33 EDT

A look at how your body can speak without you ever saying a word.
The Non-Verbal Advantage Secrets and Science of Body Language at Work, by Carol Kinsey Goman, examines ways in which people communicate without speaking. Think it's no big deal? Perhaps not, but sometimes knowing how to interpret what isn't being said is just as important as what comes out of someone's mouth.For example, the person who...

Book Review: The Web Design Business Kit - Second Edition By Brendon Sinclair

T. Michael Testi — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 19:35:22 EDT

The Web Design Business Kit will give you everything you need to know to run a successful web design business.
Do you have a Web design business? Do you want to have one? If you answer "yes" to either question, you really need to examine The Web Design Business Kit: Second Edition. Whether currently running a Web design business, or just starting one, there are a lot of questions that need to be addressed if you want to be successful. Things like:...

Book Review: The Trillion Dollar Meltdown by Charles R. Morris

Lou Novacheck — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 12:05:02 EDT

Fasten your seat belts, folks. Rough landing ahead!
The Trillion Dollar Meltdown should be required reading for all people in public office. Further, all those people should be administered a test based on this book that, if not passed, would leave them without that feeding-at-the-public-trough job. This book is not an easy read, but neither is it particularly difficult for anybody with a reasonable...

Book Review: The Best Book on the Market: How to Stop Worrying and Love the Free Economy by Eamonn Butler

Marty Dodge — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 14:13:47 EDT

Just in time for the possible recession: a reminder of why markets work so well.
Just in time for economic worry from politicians and the media, Eamonn Butler has come out with a book to remind us of the value and beauty of the free market. Just as people start to panic and reconsider all those daft meddling ideas that have failed in the past, he is here with a simple little book of illustration to keep things in perspective.A...