Fifty Things That Made The Modern Economy
Reviewer: Sunil Krishnan
The world economy defies comprehension. A continuously-changing system of immense complexity, it offers over ten billion distinct products and services, doubles in size every fifteen years, and links almost every one of the planet's seven billion people. It delivers astonishing luxury to hundreds of millions. It also leaves hundreds of millions behind, puts tremendous strains on the ecosystem, and has an alarming habit of stalling. Nobody is in charge of it. Indeed, no individual understands more than a fraction of what's going on. How can we make sense of this bewildering system on which our lives depend?
The National Debt
A short history
Reviewer: William Allen
While it is central to today's politics, few people fully understand the National Debt and its role in shaping the course of British history. Without it, Britain would not have gained–and lost–two empires, nor won its wars against France and Germany.
From medieval times to the 2008 financial crash and beyond, The National Debt explores the changing fortunes of the Debt, and so of Great Britain.
Reputation
What it is and Why it Matters
Reviewer: Kevin Gardiner
A compelling exploration of how reputation affects every aspect of contemporary life Reputation touches almost everything, guiding our behavior and choices in countless ways.
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How Economic Professors Can Stop Failing Us
The Discipline at a Crossroads
Reviewer: Kevin Gardiner
This book provides an eye-opening expose on economics professors that will surely shock anyone who is not familiar with the topic, and even some of those who are familiar with it. It is critical of the behavior of economics professors, but is not critical of the field of economics itself.
How Global Currencies Work - Past, Present and Future
Reviewer: William A Allen, National Institute of Economic & Social Research
Offering a new history of global finance over the past two centuries, and marshalling extensive new data to test established theories of how global currencies work, Barry Eichengreen, Arnaud Mehl, and Livia Chitu argue for a new view, in which several national monies can share international currency status, and their importance can change rapidly.
Capitalism without Capital
The rise of the intangible economy
Reviewer: Matthew Whittaker
The first comprehensive account of the growing dominance of the intangible economy Early in the twenty-first century, a quiet revolution occurred. For the first time, the major developed economies began to invest more in intangible assets, like design, branding, R&D, or software, than in tangible assets, like machinery, buildings, and computers.
After the Flood
How the Great Recession changed Economic Thought
Reviewer: Bridget Rosewell, Volterra Partners & Atom Bank
The past three decades have been characterized by vast change and crises in global financial markets and not in politically unstable countries but in the heart of the developed world, from the Great Recession in the United States to the banking crises in Japan and the Eurozone. A momentous collection of the best recent scholarship, After the Flood illustrates both the scope of the crises' impact on our understanding of global financial markets and the innovative processes whereby scholars have adapted their research to gain a greater understanding of them.
Big Mind
How collective intelligence can change our world
Reviewer: Catherine Connolly
A new field of collective intelligence has emerged in the last few years, prompted by a wave of digital technologies that make it possible for organizations and societies to think at large scale. This "bigger mind"–human and machine capabilities working together–has the potential to solve the great challenges of our time. So why do smart technologies not automatically lead to smart results? Gathering insights from diverse fields, including philosophy, computer science, and biology, Big Mind reveals how collective intelligence can guide corporations, governments, universities, and societies to make the most of human brains and digital technologies.
The Myth of Independence
How Congress Governs the Federal Reserve
Reviewer: William Allen
Born out of crisis a century ago, the Federal Reserve has become the most powerful macroeconomic policymaker and financial regulator in the world. The Myth of Independence traces the Fed's transformation from a weak, secretive, and decentralized institution in 1913 to a remarkably transparent central bank a century later.
The Weaponization of Trade
The Great Unbalancing of Politics and Economics
Reviewer: Ian Bright
Trade is being weaponized – and this is not good. As politicians on both sides of the Atlantic raise the stakes, trade is increasingly a tool of coercion to achieve strategic influence. This book looks at the risks for us all as trade becomes an instrument of foreign policy, and it shows how politicians could turn things around.