List of selected personal finance, economics and related books

This is a selected partial list of some of the personal finance (and related) books that I read and liked. The list covers many other areas such as the nature of risk, economics, behavioral economics, behavioral neuroscience, globalization, technology's change on economies, and public policy. These all directly or indirectly have a major impact on one's success in the investing environment in which we live. As William J. Bernstein suggests, those not aware of the history of financial bubbles and investing mistakes will not be in a good position to avoid the next one. so a number of good histories of finance are also included. In the long run, many other factors influence how well we do in our personal finances, and financial returns is just part of the discussion. Although some of the older books might seem a bit dated, many of them are classics and their lessons are and will be valid for years to com.

Each book has a brief description from Amazon.com descriptions. Occasionally some extra commentary is added.

The books are sorted by primary topic lists, although there is considerable overlap of the topics in many of the books in the following lists. Some of the topics might at first seem off topic (e.g., behavioral finance, neuroeconomics, globalization, economics, public policy, Socially Responsible Investing (SRI), the environment and energy sources, and risk of rare events). However they impact on your personal finance results in the long term depends on all of these topics and need to be taken into account.

The books are not sorted within each of the primary topic lists - they are generally listed as they occurred to me (not always). These lists should be better organized in the future by topic or sub-topics and will be reorganized from time to time. Some of the books have come out in revised editions, so getting the latest edition might be a good idea.

For novice investors who want just get started learning the basics, books from topic 2. Portfolio design and asset allocation (introductory), would be of primary interest. These include defining terms such as portfolio, asset and asset allocation and go on from there. To simplify things, the following list of a few good introductory books is given below.

Since there are so many good Web sites(and even more that are bad) dealing this type of personal finance material, there is a list of a few of the better ones is added at end of the book list 11. A few selected Investing and Personal Finance related Web sites. However, the primary focus of this Web page list is books - not Web sites.

List of a few good introductory books

A few books that are good elementary introductions (i.e. short with little or no math) to this area are: The Investor's Manifesto by W.J. Bernstein, The Little Book of Common Sense Investing by Bogle, The Elements of Investing by Malkiel and Ellis, The Index Revolution: Why Investors Should Join It Now by Ellis, The New Coffee House Investor by Schultheis, The Bogleheads' Guide to the Three-Fund Portfolio by by Taylor Larimore, The Little Book of Main Street Money by Clements. Bernstein also has a nice little book The Ages of the Investor: A Critical Look at Life-cycle Investing that discusses one's human capital that should be taken into account when investing. A How to Retire with Enough Money: And How to Know What Enough Is by Teresa Ghilarducci is a short but useful book on how to think about retirement funding. How to Make Your Money Last: The Indispensable Retirement Guide by Jane Bryant Quinn is an easy to read but fairly comprehensive guide. The Your Complete Guide to a Successful and Secure Retirement by Larry Swedroe discusses not only the financial aspects of retirement but also the emotional aspects. Jonathan Clements Money Guide 2016 is pretty comprehensive list of most personal finance questions.

The same issues are covered in more, but still introductory, depth are: Common Sense on Mutual Funds by Bogle, and B. Malkiel's A Random Walk Down Wall Street. Good books on bond/bond-fund investing are The Bond Book by Thou, and The Only Guide to a Winning Bond Strategy You'll Ever Need by Swedroe.

In addition, the Bogleheads.org personal finance forum has written two books The Bogleheads' Guide to Retirement Planning and The Bogleheads' Guide to Investing that are also useful. They have a financial wiki with definitions and discussion on many of these topics.

Many of the other great books listed below go into much more detail and explanation for those who want to get into these and related topics in more depth. And, many of those other books can are also good introductary books as well.

Notation

There are many other sources of personal finance information on the Internet and elsewhere, but they will not be addressed here. This is strictly a book list.

A few books that are good introductions to this area are: The Investor's Manifesto, The Little Book of Common Sense Investing, and A Random Walk Down Wall Street.

The primary topics lists

1. Risk and uncertainty in investing -
one needs to understand risk and uncertainty in order to invest intelligently. These books discuss the definition(s) and ways to think about risk from a personal investing standpoint.

2. Portfolio design and asset allocation (introductory) -
how to actually build an investment portfolio of stocks and bonds.

2.1 Portfolio design and asset allocation (more advanced) -
covers more advance topics or treatments of portfolio construction.

3. Bonds (as subset of a portfolio) -
demystifies bonds used as part of an investment portfolio.

4. Value investing -
value investing methodology as in "buy low, sell high".

5. Behavioral finance, neuroeconomics and neuroscience -
how human behavior influences our investing, and other decisions.

5.1 Globalization, economics, bubble history, open source and technology movements, and public policy -
the effects and history of globalization, economics, and public policy.

6. Styles of some successful investment managers -
the philosophies of some successful investment mangagers.

7. Stock Investing -
discusses some of the details of fundamental analysis of stock investing.

8. Fractals, finance and fat-tail event risk -
how the simple Gaussian models commonly used by many in finance are wrong. Although seemingly off topic, it is directly related to portfolio risk.

9. Socially Responsible Investing (SRI) and economies -
discusses how investing for returns as well as our values can be achieved.

10. Retirement planning and income distribution -
describes the second part of investing, distributing income safely during retirement.

10.1 Non-financial aspects of retirement -
discuss other aspects for making a successful retirement.

11. A few selected Investing and Personal Finance related Web sites

1. Risk and uncertainty in investing

Note: many if not most of the other books mentioned in the following lists 2. through 10. also touch on the risk sub topics.

$@ Your Complete Guide to a Successful and Secure Retirement by Larry Swedroe (Author), Kevin Grogan (Author), Wade D. Pfau (Foreword)(Feb 23, 2021) [From Amazon.com] "Fully revised and updated second edition. This is your one-stop, definitive resource as you prepare for a secure and comfortable retirement. Investment and personal finance experts Larry Swedroe and Kevin Grogan present uniquely comprehensive coverage of every important aspect you need to think about as you approach retirement, including: Social Security, Medicare, investment planning strategy, portfolio maintenance, preparing your heirs, retirement issues faced by women, the threat of elder financial abuse, going beyond financials to think about your happiness, and much more. These topics are explained with the help of specialists in each subject. And everything is based on the "science of investing" – evidenced with studies from peer-reviewed journals. Overall, this adds up to a complete retirement guide, packed with the latest and best knowledge. Don't enter your retirement without it."

$@ The Bogleheads' Guide to the Three-Fund Portfolio: How a Simple Portfolio of Three Total Market Index Funds Outperforms Most Investors with Less Risk by Taylor Larimore (Author), John C. Bogle (Foreword) (July 3, 2018) [From Amazon.com] "The Bogleheads’ Guide to The Three-Fund Portfolio describes the most popular portfolio on the Bogleheads forum. This all-indexed portfolio contains over 15,000 worldwide securities, in just three easily-managed funds, that has outperformed the vast majority of both professional and amateur investors. If you are a new investor, or an experienced investor who wants to simplify and improve your portfolio, The Bogleheads’ Guide to The Three-Fund Portfolio is a short, easy-to-read guide to show you how."

$@ The Index Revolution: Why Investors Should Join It Now by Charles D. Ellis (Sept 9, 2016) [From Amazon.com] "The evidence-based approach to a more worthwhile portfolio. The Index Revolution argues that active investing is a loser's game, and that a passive approach is more profitable in today's market. By adjusting your portfolio asset weights to match a performance index, you consistently earn higher rates of returns and come out on top in the long run. This book explains why, and describes how individual investors can take advantage of indexing to make their portfolio stronger and more profitable. By indexing investment operations at a very low cost, and trusting that active professionals have set securities prices as correctly as possible, you will achieve better long-term results than those who look down on passive approaches while following outdated advice that no longer works. "Beating the market" is much harder than it used to be, and investors who continue to approach the market with that mindset populate the rolls of market losers time and time again. This book explains why indexing is the preferred approach in the current investment climate, and destroys the popular perception of passive investing as a weak market strategy. * Structure your portfolio to perform better over the long term, * Trust in the pricing and earn higher rates of return, * Learn why a passive approach is more consistent and worthwhile, * Ignore overblown, outdated advice that is doomed to disappoint. All great investors share a common secret to success: rational decision-making based on objective information. The Index Revolution shows you a more rational approach to the market for a more profitable portfolio."

$@ Falling Short: The Coming Retirement Crisis and What to Do About It by Charles D. Ellis, Alicia H. Munnell, Andrew D. Eschtruth (Dec 12 2014) [From Amazon.com] "The United States faces a serious retirement challenge. Many of today's workers will lack the resources to retire at traditional ages and maintain their standard of living in retirement. Solving the problem is a major challenge in today's environment in which risk and responsibility have shifted from government and employers to individuals. For this reason, Charles D. Ellis, Alicia H. Munnell, and Andrew D. Eschtruth have written this concise guide for anyone concerned about their own - and the nation's - retirement security. Falling Short is grounded in sound research yet written in a highly accessible style. The authors provide a vivid picture of the retirement crisis in America. They offer the necessary context for understanding the nature and size of the retirement income shortfall, which is caused by both increasing income needs-due to longer lifespans and rising health costs-and decreasing support from Social Security and employer-sponsored pension plans. The solutions are to work longer and save more by building on the existing retirement system. To work longer, individuals should plan to stay in the labor force until age 70 if possible. To save more, policymakers should shore up Social Security's long-term finances; make all 401(k) plans fully automatic, with workers allowed to opt out; and ensure that everyone has access to a retirement savings plan. Individuals should also recognize that their house is a source of saving, which they can tap in retirement through downsizing or a reverse mortgage."

$@ Jonathan Clements Money Guide 2016 by Jonathan Clements (Dec 1, 2015) [From Amazon.com] "Expanded and updated for 2016, the award-winning Jonathan Clements Money Guide is the indispensable companion for Americans looking to stay on track financially. Written by The Wall Street Journal's longtime personal-finance columnist, this annual guide tackles retirement, college, home buying, estate planning and more. Here are just some of the new features in this year's Money Guide: * How to build your own financial plan in 18 easy steps, * My story: Clements details how he tackled crucial money issues, * Dos and don'ts for 2016, * What the 2015 Budget Act means for claiming Social Security, * Great debates: A look at seven of the fiercest financial arguments, * Fascinating statistics on how Americans are faring financially, * Tax information for 2015 and 2016, * Up-to-date facts and figures on the economy and markets. Recommendations: 'An excellent new book for people of all ages is the Jonathan Clements Money Guide 2016.'--Kerry Hannon, Forbes.com. 'It's hard to imagine a finer place to begin your search for financial peace of mind."--John C. Bogle, founder, The Vanguard Group. 'Clements is a first-rate financial writer who is a genius at making sophisticated advice accessible to everyone and a delight to read.'--Burton G. Malkiel, author of A Random Walk Down Wall Street. 'Keep Jonathan Clements's Money Guide on your desk or tablet for instant answers to your essential money questions.'--Consuelo Mack, anchor, Consuelo Mack WealthTrack. 'Since the early 1990s, Jonathan Clements's columns taught his readers, profited them, and made them smile. Trouble was, you needed to have read all his Wall Street Journal articles. Until now, that is. His Money Guide wraps this bounty, and then some, into a tidy package, destined to be enjoyed and referred to over and over by readers for decades to come.'--William J. Bernstein, author of The Investor's Manifesto."

$@ How to Make Your Money Last: The Indispensable Retirement Guide by Jane Bryant Quinn (Jan 5, 2016) [From Amazon.com] "With How to Make Your Money Last, you will learn how to turn your retirement savings into a steady paycheck that will last for life. Today, people worry that they’re going to run out of money in their older age. That won’t happen if you use a few tricks for squeezing higher payments from your assets—from your Social Security account (find the hidden values there), pension (monthly income or lump sum?), home equity (sell and invest the proceeds or take a reverse mortgage?), savings (should you buy a lifetime annuity?), and retirement accounts (how to invest and—critically—how much to withdraw from your savings each year?). The right moves will not only raise the amount you have to spend, they’ll stretch out your money over many more years. You will also learn to look at your savings and investments in a new way. If you stick with super-safe choices the money might not last. You need safe money to help pay the bills in your early retirement years. But to ensure that you’ll still have spending money 10 and 20 years from now, you have to invest for growth, today. Quinn shows you how. At a time when people are living longer, yet retiring with a smaller pot of savings than they’d hoped for, this book will become the essential guide."

$@ How to Retire with Enough Money: And How to Know What Enough Is by Teresa Ghilarducci (Dec 15, 2015) [From Amazon.com] "Here is a single-sit read than can change the course of your retirement. Written by Dr. Teresa Ghilarducci, an economics professor, a retirement and savings specialist, and a trustee to two retiree health-care trusts worth over $54 billion, How to Retire with Enough Money cuts through the confusion, misinformation, and bad policy-making that keeps us spending or saving poorly. It begins with acknowledging what a person or household actually needs to have saved—the rule of thumb is eight to ten times your annual salary before retirement—and how much to expect from Social Security. And then it delivers the basic principles that will make the money grow, including a dozen good ideas to get current expenses under control. Why to “get rid of your guy”—those for-fee (or hidden-fee) financial planners that suck up valuable assets. Why it’s always better to pay off a loan or a mortgage. There are no gimmicks, no magical thinking—just an easy-to-follow program that works."

$#@ Irrational Exuberance 3rd edition Revised and expanded by Robert Shiller (2015) [From Amazon.com] "In this revised, updated, and expanded edition of his New York Times bestseller, Nobel Prize-winning economist Robert Shiller, who warned of both the tech and housing bubbles, now cautions that signs of irrational exuberance among investors have only increased since the 2008-9 financial crisis. With high stock and bond prices in the United States, and rising housing prices in many countries, the post-subprime boom may well turn out to be another illustration of Shiller's influential argument that psychologically driven volatility is an inherent characteristic of all asset markets. In other words, Irrational Exuberance is as relevant as ever. But Irrational Exuberance is about something far more important than the current situation in any given market because the book explains the forces that move all markets up and down. It shows how investor euphoria can drive asset prices up to dizzying and unsustainable heights, and how, at other times, investor discouragement can push prices down to very low levels. Previous editions covered the stock and housing markets--and famously predicted their crashes. This new edition expands its coverage to include the bond market, so that the book now addresses all of the major investment markets. This edition also includes updated data throughout, as well as Shiller's 2013 Nobel Prize lecture, which puts the book in broader context. In addition to diagnosing the causes of asset bubbles, Irrational Exuberance recommends urgent policy changes to lessen their likelihood and severity--and suggests ways that individuals can decrease their risk before the next bubble bursts. No one whose future depends on a retirement account, a house, or other investments can afford not to read it. For more information, including new developments and regular data updates, please go to www.irrationalexuberance.com"

$@ Winning the Loser's Game, 6th edition: Timeless Strategies for Successful Investing by Charles D. Ellis (2013) [From Amazon.com] "The classic guide to winning on Wall Street--completely updated and expanded! The go-to guide for anyone seeking long-term gain in the stock market, Winning the Loser's Game was referred to by the great Peter Drucker as 'by far the best book on investment policy and management.' Dr. Charles Ellis, dubbed 'Wall Street's Wisest Man' by Money magazine, has been showing investors for three decades how stock markets really work and what individuals can do to be sure they are long-term winners. Now, in this new edition of his investing classic, Ellis helps you succeed in a market that's becoming more unpredictable by the day. Applying wisdom gained from half a century of advising many of the leading investment managers and securities firms around the world, Ellis explains how individual investors can avoid common traps and get on the road to investment success. With fully updated facts, charts, and figures, this new edition of Winning the Loser's Game is packed with all new material, including: * U.S. government bonds: Why they're no longer a safe bet for long-term investors. * Active management: Fees are higher than ever. Are they worth it? * The investment management industry: They make huge profits--but how well do they serve you? * Behavioral economics: Know yourself--and you'll be a better investor. With Winning the Loser's Game, you have everything you need to set realistic objectives and a powerful investing strategy that will take you well into retirement. ". The previous edition was Winning the Loser's Game (2002).

$ Late Bloomer Millionaires by Steve Schullo and Dan Robertson (Nov 2012) [From Amazon.com] "Building a comfortable and secure retirement is by no means only for the youthful and brilliant. Many have achieved millionaire status later in life after starting late, making investing mistakes, enduring losses--then learning a strategy that makes a difference. These financial newbies regroup in their 50s with a non-competitive, holistic, long-term and low-cost investment strategy that rejects Wall Street's shenanigans and contrasting values. This book shows how two public school teachers on educators' salaries retired early with financial freedom. They discovered and rejected the unbelievable high costs of inappropriate retirement products and unethical advice. The solution is straightforward. Their story addresses the challenging concepts of investing. As you discover proper asset allocation from the author's journey from a consumer's point of view, you can confidently set up your plan and locate competent and ethical assistance to help you stay your course. Late Bloomer Millionaires is vignette and observation, reflection and investigation." The authors were interviewed as part of the 04/23/2013 PBS Frontline documentary "The Retirement Gamble", and later in a Vanguard insights article Financial wisdom from a couple of "late bloomers".

$@ Skating Where the Puck Was: The Correlation Game in a Flat World by William J. Bernstein (2012) [From Amazon.com] "Skating Where the Puck Was: The Correlation Game in a Flat World is the second installment in the Investing for Adults series. This series is not for novices. This booklet explores the notion that, as a general rule, no magic policy rich in high-return/low-correlation alternative asset classes exists that will simultaneously preserve upside reward and protect against downside losses. And as long as I’m lowering your expectations, this booklet is most certainly not a blueprint for the 'perfect portfolio.' You’re an adult, after all, so you know that the future efficient frontier lies well beyond our ken; presumably you already know all about the mechanics, long-term benefits, as well as the uncertainties, of wide diversification and factor tilt using low-cost, efficient vehicles and the risk/reward spectrum between all-fixed-income and all-equity portfolios. Rather, this booklet provides a way of navigating a global investment landscape that grows ever more linked by the month, and a way of thinking about diversification."

$@ The Ages of the Investor: A Critical Look at Life-cycle Investing (Investing for Adults) by William J. Bernstein (2012) [From Amazon.com] "'The Ages of the Investor: A Critical Look at Life-cycle Investing' is intended to be the first installment in the 'Investing for Adults' series. Just as grown-ups do not believe in the Tooth Fairy, the Easter Bunny, or Santa Claus, “Investing adults” know that there is no such creature as the Stock-picking Fairy or the Market-timing Fairy. Further, there is no Risk Fairy who will write you cheap options that will protect your stock holdings against loss. Investing adults are familiar with Gene Fama, Zvi Bodie, Jack Bogle, and Burton Malkiel, and understand that a mean variance optimizer does not blend vegetables. In other words, this series is not for beginners. Future topics will, with luck, include the limits of market efficiency and diversification in increasingly non-segmented global markets".

$@ The Clash of the Cultures: Investment vs. Speculation by John C. Bogle (2012) [From Amazon.com] "How speculation has come to dominate investment—a hard-hitting look from the creator of the first index fund. Over the course of his sixty-year career in the mutual fund industry, Vanguard Group founder John C. Bogle has witnessed a massive shift in the culture of the financial sector. The prudent, value-adding culture of long-term investment has been crowded out by an aggressive, value-destroying culture of short-term speculation. Mr. Bogle has not been merely an eye-witness to these changes, but one of the financial sector’s most active participants. In The Clash of the Cultures, he urges a return to the common sense principles of long-term investing. Provocative and refreshingly candid, this book discusses Mr. Bogle's views on the changing culture in the mutual fund industry, how speculation has invaded our national retirement system, the failure of our institutional money managers to effectively participate in corporate governance, and the need for a federal standard of fiduciary duty."

$@ The Quest for Alpha: The Holy Grail of Investing by Larry E. Swedroe (2011) [From Amazon.com] "The final word on passive vs. active investing. The debate on active investing-stock picking and market timing-versus passive investing-markets are highly efficient and almost impossible to outperform-has raged for decades. Which side is right? In The Quest for Alpha: The Holy Grail of Investing, author Larry E. Swedroe puts an end to the debate, proving once and for all that active investing is likely to prove futile as the associated expenses-costs, fees, and time spent analyzing individual stocks and the overall market-are likely to exceed any benefits gained. The book * Presents research, data, and quotations that reveal it's extremely difficult to outperform the market; * Explains why investors should focus on asset allocation, fund construction, costs, tax efficiency, and the building of a globally diversified portfolio that minimizes, if not eliminates, the taking of idiosyncratic, uncompensated risks; * Other titles by Swedroe: The Only Guide to Alternative Investments You'll Ever Need and The Only Guide You'll Ever Need for the Right Financial Plan. Investors are on a never-ending search for a money manager who will deliver returns above the appropriate risk-adjusted benchmark, aka the "Holy Grail of Investing." The Quest for Alpha demonstrates that it's a loser's game-while it's possible to win, it's so unlikely that you shouldn't try."

$@ The Power of Passive Investing: More Wealth with Less Work by Richard A Ferri (2010) [From Amazon.com] "Time and again, individual investors discover, all too late, that actively picking stocks is a loser's game. The alternative lies with index funds. This passive form of investing allows you to participate in the markets relatively cheaply while prospering all the more because the money saved on investment expenses stays in your pocket. In his latest book, investment expert Richard Ferri shows you how easy and accessible index investing is. Along the way, he highlights how successful you can be by using this passive approach to allocate funds to stocks, bonds, and other prudent asset classes. * Addresses the advantages of index funds over portfolios that are actively managed, * Offers insights on index-based funds that provide exposure to designated broad markets and don't make bets on individual securities."

$@ Are You a Stock or a Bond?: Create Your Own Pension Plan for a Secure Financial Future by Moshe A. Milevsky (2008) [From Amazon.com] "...In an era when traditional corporate pensions are disappearing, Social Security’ s sustainability is in question, healthcare costs are skyrocketing, and society is dumping more and more financial risk squarely onto your shoulders, Moshe Milevsky helps you comprehensively integrate all the opportunities and risks in your life: your career risks, your portfolio risks, your housing risks, and even your personal inflation and longevity risks that could lead you to financial regret and a ruined retirement. Then, he introduces a powerful, new framework for thinking about and managing your financial future that you can use to systematically reduce your vulnerability to each of these risks and, thus, generate long-term financial security. To maximize your investment returns and protect yourself and your family, you must learn to think of yourself as a small company, with assets, liabilities, a balance sheet, an income statement, and real shareholder equity. The composition and choices you make with your financial capital should reflect the nature and security of your career or job, which is your unique “human capital.” So, for example, if You, Inc. is like a “stock,” make sure your retirement savings are tilted toward “bonds.” If your job is more secure and You, Inc. is essentially a “bond,” then make sure your retirement savings are tilted toward “stocks.” Get personal with your investments and make your financial capital serve and protect your human capital. Factoring in your unique “human capital” adds a new dimension to financial planning which is a critical next step for sound and effective investing."

$ The Myth of the Rational Market: A History of Risk, Reward, and Delusion on Wall Street by Justin Fox (2009) [From Amazon.com] "Starred Review. At the core of the current financial crisis has been the widely held assumption that markets behave rationally. Fox, Time magazine editor-at-large, isn't the first to bring scrutiny—or censure—to the conceit, but his analysis is singularly compelling, and the rare business history that reads like a thriller. Fox leads us on a chronological journey of modern economic theory, featuring the cast of scholars who constructed the 20th- and 21st-century financial landscape, from Irving Fisher to such post-WWII figures as Milton Friedman, Harry Markowitz, Franco Modigliani and Merton Miller, Jack Treynor and William Sharpe. Fox offers a behind-the-scenes glimpse at academia's finest, complete with amusing anecdotes about the players and their theories, and illustrates how our economic behaviors and markets have been shaped by a gradually refined theory holding that the stock market prices are both random and perfectly rational. A must-read for anyone interested in the markets, our economy or government, this dense but spellbinding work brings modern finance and economics to life."

$@ When Markets Collide: Investment Strategies for the Age of Global Economic Change by Mohamed El-Erian (2008) [From Amazon.com] "When Markets Collide is a timely alert to the fundamental changes taking place in today's global economic and financial systems--and a call to action for investors who may fall victim to misinterpreting important signals. While some have tended to view asset class mispricings as mere 'noise,' this compelling book shows why they are important signals of opportunities and risks that will shape the market for years to come. One of today's most respected names in finance, Mohamed El-Erian puts recent events in their proper context, giving you the tools that can help you interpret the markets, benefit from global economic change, and navigate the risks."

$@ Capital Ideas Evolving by Peter L. Bernstein (2010) is the updated sequel to Bernstein's classic 1992 work "Capital Ideas" that documented the current best thinking on MPT, CAPM, and other academic research dealing with "Beta". The new book adds new academic insights into additional areas including behavioral economics, rethinking some of the simplifying assumptions of these older models, and other areas dealing with "Alpha". [From Amazon.com] "A lot has happened in the financial markets since 1992, when Peter Bernstein wrote his seminal Capital Ideas. Happily, Peter has taken up his facile pen again to describe these changes, a virtual revolution in the practice of investing that relies heavily on complex mathematics, derivatives, hedging, and hyperactive trading. This fine and eminently readable book is unlikely to be surpassed as the definitive chronicle of a truly historic era."

$@ Against the Gods: The Remarkable Story of Risk by Peter L. Bernstein (1998) [From Amazon.com] "Risk management, which assumes that future risks can be understood, measured and to some extent predicted, is the focus of this solid, thoroughgoing history. Probability theory, pioneered by 17th-century French mathematicians Blaise Pascal and Pierre de Fermat, has made possible the design of great bridges, electric power utilities and insurance policies. The statistical sampling methods invented by dour Swiss scientist Jacob Bernoulli undergird diverse activities such as the testing of new drugs, stock-picking and wine tasting. Bernstein (Capital Ideas) animates his narrative with a colorful cast of risk-analyzers, including gambling addict Girolamo Cardano, 16th-century Italian physician to the Pope; and John Maynard Keynes, whose concerns over economic uncertainty compelled him to recommend an active, interventionist role for government. Bernstein also traces the development of business forecasting, game theory, insurance and derivatives, and surveys recent advances in risk forecasting made possible through chaos theory and by the development of neural networks."

$@ More More Than You Know: Finding Financial Wisdom in Unconventional Places (Updated and Expanded) by Michael Mauboussin (2013) [From Amazon.com] "Since its first publication, Michael J. Mauboussin's popular guide to wise investing has been translated into eight languages and has been named best business book by BusinessWeek and best economics book by Strategy+Business. Now updated to reflect current research and expanded to include new chapters on investment philosophy, psychology, and strategy and science as they pertain to money management, this volume is more than ever the best chance to know more than the average investor. Offering invaluable tools to better understand the concepts of choice and risk, More Than You Know is a unique blend of practical advice and sound theory, sampling from a wide variety of sources and disciplines. Mauboussin builds on the ideas of visionaries, including Warren Buffett and E. O. Wilson, but also finds wisdom in a broad and deep range of fields, such as casino gambling, horse racing, psychology, and evolutionary biology. He analyzes the strategies of poker experts David Sklansky and Puggy Pearson and pinpoints parallels between mate selection in guppies and stock market booms. For this edition, Mauboussin includes fresh thoughts on human cognition, management assessment, game theory, the role of intuition, and the mechanisms driving the market's mood swings, and explains what these topics tell us about smart investing. More Than You Know is written with the professional investor in mind but extends far beyond the world of economics and finance. Mauboussin groups his essays into four parts-Investment Philosophy, Psychology of Investing, Innovation and Competitive Strategy, and Science and Complexity Theory-and he includes substantial references for further reading. A true eye-opener, More Than You Know shows how a multidisciplinary approach that pays close attention to process and the psychology of decision making offers the best chance for long-term financial results."

$@ Hedgehogging by Barton Biggs (2008) [From Amazon.com] "Rare is the opportunity to chat with a legendary financial figure and hear the unvarnished truth about what really goes on behind the scenes. Hedgehogging represents just such an opportunity, allowing you to step inside the world of Wall Street with Barton Biggs as he discusses investing in general, hedge funds in particular, and how he has learned to find and profit from the best moneymaking opportunities in an eat-what-you-kill, cutthroat investment world."

$ The New Financial Order: Risk in the 21st century by Robert J. Shiller (2004) [From Amazon.com] "In his best-selling Irrational Exuberance, Robert Shiller cautioned that society's obsession with the stock market was fueling the volatility that has since made a roller coaster of the financial system. Less noted was Shiller's admonition that our infatuation with the stock market distracts us from more durable economic prospects. These lie in the hidden potential of real assets, such as income from our livelihoods and homes. But these ''ordinary riches,'' so fundamental to our well-being, are increasingly exposed to the pervasive risks of a rapidly changing global economy. This compelling and important new book presents a fresh vision for hedging risk and securing our economic future. Shiller describes six fundamental ideas for using modern information technology and advanced financial theory to temper basic risks that have been ignored by risk management institutions--risks to the value of our jobs and our homes, to the vitality of our communities, and to the very stability of national economies. Informed by a comprehensive risk information database, this new financial order would include global markets for trading risks and exploiting myriad new financial opportunities, from inequality insurance to intergenerational social security. Just as developments in insuring risks to life, health, and catastrophe have given us a quality of life unimaginable a century ago, so Shiller's plan for securing crucial assets promises to substantially enrich our condition. Once again providing an enormous service, Shiller gives us a powerful means to convert our ordinary riches into a level of economic security, equity, and growth never before seen. And once again, what Robert Shiller says should be read and heeded by anyone with a stake in the economy."

$ A Mathematician Plays The Stock Market by John Allen Paulos (2004) describes how even mathematicians can get it wrong. (However, Taleb, Mauboussin, Mandelbrot, and many others got it right since the market has unexpected fat tail (distribution) events - i.e., market crashes as well as jumps!). [From Amazon.com] "In A Mathematician Plays the Stock Market best-selling author John Allen Paulos demonstrates what the tools of mathematics can tell us about the vagaries of the stock market. Employing his trademark stories, vignettes, paradoxes, and puzzles (and even a film treatment), Paulos addresses every thinking reader's curiosity about the market: Is it efficient? Is it rational? Is there anything to technical analysis, fundamental analysis, and other supposedly time-tested methods of picking stocks? How can one quantify risk? What are the most common scams? What light do fractals, network theory, and common psychological foibles shed on investor behavior? Are there any approaches to investing that truly outperform the major indexes? Can a deeper knowledge of mathematics help beat the odds?All of these questions are explored with the engaging erudition that made Paulos's A Mathematician Reads the Newspaper and Innumeracy favorites with both armchair mathematicians and readers who want to think like them. Paulos also shares the cautionary tale of his own long and disastrous love affair with WorldCom. In the tradition of Burton Malkiel's A Random Walk Down Wall Street and Jeremy Siegel's Stocks for the Long Run, this wry and illuminating book is for anyone, investor or not, who follows the markets-or knows someone who does."

$@ Capital Ideas: The Improbable Origins of Modern Wall Street by Peter L. Bernstein (2005) documents (at that time) the current best thinking on MPT, CAPM, and other academic research on investing. [From Amazon.com] "Capital Ideas traces the origins of modern Wall Street, from the pioneering work of early scholars and the development of new theories in risk, valuation, and investment returns, to the actual implementation of these theories in the real world of investment management. Bernstein brings to life a variety of brilliant academics who have contributed to modern investment theory over the years: Louis Bachelier, Harry Markowitz, William Sharpe, Fischer Black, Myron Scholes, Robert Merton, Franco Modigliani, and Merton Miller. Filled with in-depth insights and timeless advice, Capital Ideas reveals how the unique contributions of these talented individuals profoundly changed the practice of investment management as we know it today."

$@ Fortune's Formula: The Untold Story of the Scientific Betting System That Beat the Casinos and Wall Street by William Poundstone (2006) [From Amazon.com] "Fortune's Formula is a fascinating study of the connections between such seemingly unrelated topics as gambling, information theory, stock investing, and applied mathematics. The story involves the stunning brainpower of men such as MIT professor Claude Shannon, who single-handedly invented information theory, the science behind the Internet and all digital media; Ed Thorpe; and John Kelly of Bell Laboratories, who developed the 'Kelly criterion,' a now-legendary investment strategy for maximizing growth while controlling risk."

2. Portfolio design and asset allocation (introductory)

$@ The Investor's Manifesto: Preparing for Prosperity, Armageddon, and Everything in Between by William J. Bernstein (2010). A must read. This book makes his earlier works The Intelligent Asset Allocator and The Four Pillars of Investing much more accessible. The Preface, Chapter 1 and part of Chapter 2 are may be downloaded from his Web site efficientfrontier.com/ as a PDF www.efficientfrontier.com/files/TIM.pdf. [From Amazon.com] "As recently as a generation or two ago, the lack of financial ability wasn't a handicap for the average person. But in today's world—where most of us have been forced to manage our own investment and retirement portfolios—it has become essential to understand the finer points of our financial life. While the meltdown of 2008–2009 has compounded the complexity of the investment landscape, timeless investment principles can help you navigate even the toughest investment terrain. That's why bestselling author William Bernstein—a grassroots hero to independent investors—has written The Investor's Manifesto. Approaching the problems of investing and saving from the perspective of someone who has had to figure it out for himself, Bernstein knows firsthand how difficult these endeavors can be—especially for those with little professional experience in this arena. Now, with the current market maelstrom as a backdrop, he skillfully describes what it takes to plan for a lifetime of investing, discussing stocks and bonds as well as the relationship between risk and return. Written in a straightforward and accessible style, The Investor's Manifesto:* Explores the theoretical basis of investing and designing portfolios, drawn in large part from financial history; * Offers insights on dealing with the emotions and attitudes that routinely cripple investors; * Discusses how to deal with the investment industry when executing strategies designed for anything from saving for retirement to putting a child through college; * Addresses ways in which individual investors can construct diversified portfolios that can blunt potentially damaging market forces; * Covers the concept of Pascal's Wager—which will enable you to identify and avoid worst-case investing scenarios. If there were ever a time to take control of your financial future, it is now. Potentially generous returns are available to the brave, the disciplined, and the liquid. If you follow the advice found here and keep your head while others lose theirs, then you will have a fighting chance of avoiding the financial pitfalls in front of you and profiting over the long-term."

$ The Only Guide You'll Ever Need for the Right Financial Plan: Managing Your Wealth, Risk, and Investments by Larry E. Swedroe, Kevin Grogan, Tiya Lim (2010) From Amazon.com] "The Only Guide You'll Ever Need for the Right Financial Plan: Managing Your Wealth, Risk,and Investments Asset allocation? Investment planning? Risk management? What role does each play in your financial security? All these elements are critical, but how do they work together to create your overall financial plan? From Larry Swedroe—the author of the bestselling series of 'The Only Guide' investment books—with Kevin Grogan and Tiya Lim comes a step-by-step handbook that shows you how to develop a winning personal investment strategy and reveals what it takes to make that strategy part of your overall financial plan. The Only Guide You'll Ever Need for the Right Financial Plan focuses on the "art" of investing and gives you the information you need to create a strategy that is tailor-made for your particular situation. Designed for savvy investors and professional advisors, this book offers the vital information needed for developing and implementing an overall strategic financial plan. In this essential resource, Swedroe outlines the basics in asset allocation and other investment planning concepts and helps you: Design an investment policy statement and an individual asset allocation plan; Locate assets in the most tax-efficient manner; Maintain your portfolio's risk profile in the most cost-effective and tax-efficient manner; Integrate risk management and estate planning issues into the plan; And much more. The Only Guide You'll Ever Need for the Right Financial Plan offers a handy tool to help you make more informed and prudent decisions that will go a long way to ensure a secure financial future."

$@ The Little Book of Common Sense Investing: The Only Way to Guarantee Your Fair Share of Stock Market Returns by John C. Bogle (2007) makes a nice non-technical case for index investing. Bogle started Vanguard. [From Amazon.com] "Investing is all about common sense. Owning a diversified portfolio of stocks and holding it for the long term is a winner’s game. Trying to beat the stock market is theoretically a zero-sum game (for every winner, there must be a loser), but after the substantial costs of investing are deducted, it becomes a loser’s game. Common sense tells us—and history confirms—that the simplest and most efficient investment strategy is to buy and hold all of the nation’s publicly held businesses at very low cost. The classic index fund that owns this market portfolio is the only investment that guarantees you with your fair share of stock market returns. To learn how to make index investing work for you, there’s no better mentor than legendary mutual fund industry veteran John C. Bogle. Over the course of his long career, Bogle—founder of the Vanguard Group and creator of the world’s first index mutual fund—has relied primarily on index investing to help Vanguard’s clients build substantial wealth. Now, with The Little Book of Common Sense Investing, he wants to help you do the same. Filled with in-depth insights and practical advice, The Little Book of Common Sense Investing will show you how to incorporate this proven investment strategy into your portfolio. It will also change the very way you think about investing. Successful investing is not easy. (It requires discipline and patience.) But it is simple. For it’s all about common sense. ...".

$@ A Random Walk Down Wall Street: The Time-Tested Strategy for Successful Investing (Completely Revised and Updated) by Burton Malkiel (11th edition 2015) is a classic on markets and their behavior for both the novice and more advanced reader. Malkiel is finance professor and was on the Vanguard board of directors for many years. A must read. [From Amazon.com] "In a time of market volatility and economic uncertainty, when high-frequency traders and hedge fund managers seem to tower over the average investor, Burton G. Malkiel's classic and gimmick-free investment guide is now more necessary than ever. Rather than tricks, what you'll find here is a time-tested and thoroughly research-based strategy for your portfolio. Whether you're considering your first 401(k) contribution or contemplating retirement, this fully updated edition of A Random Walk Down Wall Street should be the first book on your reading list. In A Random Walk Down Wall Street you'll learn the basic terminology of "The Street" and how to navigate it with the help of a user-friendly, long-range investment strategy that really works. Drawing on his own varied experience as an economist, financial adviser, and successful investor, Malkiel shows why, despite recent advice to the contrary from so-called experts in the wake of the financial crisis, an individual who buys over time and holds a low-cost, internationally diversified index of securities is still likely to exceed the performance of portfolios carefully picked by professionals using sophisticated analytical techniques. In this new edition, Malkiel has provided valuable new material throughout the book on exchange-traded funds and investment opportunities in emerging markets, and in a brand-new, timely chapter, Malkiel authoritatively assesses the pitfalls and prospects of the latest investing trend, "smart beta." On top of all this, the book's classic life-cycle guide to investing, which tailors strategies to investors of any age, will help you plan confidently for the future. You'll learn how to analyze the potential returns, not only for basic stocks and bonds but for the full range of investment opportunities?from money- market accounts and real estate investment trusts to insurance, home ownership, and tangible assets like gold and collectibles. Individual investors of every level of experience and risk tolerance will find throughout the book the critical facts and step-by-step guidance they need to protect and grow their hard-earned dollars. With the prevailing wisdom changing on an almost daily basis, Malkiel's reassuring and vastly informative volume remains the best investment guide money can buy."

$@ The Elements of Investing by B.G. Malkiel, C.D. Ellis (2009) [From Amazon.com] "A timeless, easy-to-read guide on life-long investment principles that can help any investor succeed. The Elements of Investing has a single-minded goal: to teach the principles of investing in the same pared-to-bone manner that Professor William Strunk Jr. once taught composition to students at Harvard, using his classic little book, The Elements of Style. With great daring, Ellis and Malkiel imagined their own Little Red Schoolhouse course in investing for every investor around the world-and then penned this book. The Elements of Investing hacks away at all the overtrading and over thinking so predominant in the hyperactive thought patterns of the average investor. Malkiel and Ellis offer investors a set of simple but powerful thoughts on how to challenge Mr. Market at his own game, and win by not losing. All the need-to-know rules and investment principles can be found here. * Contains sound investment advice and simple principles of investing from two of the most respected individuals in the investment world * Burton G. Malkiel is the bestselling author of A Random Walk Down Wall Street, and Charles D. Ellis is the bestselling author of Winning the Loser's Game, * Shows how to deal with an investor's own worst enemies: fear and greed. A disciplined approach to investing, complemented by conviction, is all you need to succeed. This timely guide will help you develop these skills and make the most of your time in today's market".

$@ The New Coffeehouse Investor: How to Build Wealth, Ignore Wall Street, and Get on with Your Life by Bill Schultheis (2009) [From Amazon.com] "This little how-to-invest book, which elegantly summarizes our common worries about how to build wealth, was initially published 11 years ago. This updated, revised, and revamped edition stands the test of time—and of updating. Seattle-based Schultheis states his three principles of investing—allocate assets, approximate stock-market average, and save—then proceeds to expand and expound with personal stories and provocative questions. When is enough enough? What’s behind this Wall Street obsession to beat the market? Why do we need to lead a penny-pinching life today for a high retirement style tomorrow? Forget the complicated formulas, the diversity of spreadsheets. Concentrate instead, he advises, on understanding your burn rate, the meaning of diversification, and the value of being on financial autopilot. Like his peers (Suze Orman et al.), the author exposes two myths: “no load” mutual funds and “great companies make great investments.” All in all, solid and comfortable investment counsel that will help balance (and, eventually, grow) your balance sheet. Appended: partial list of index funds; notes; additional reading.".

$ The Little Book of Main Street Money: 21 Simple Truths that Help Real People Make Real Money by Johnathan Clements (2009) [From Amazon.com] "Street Smart Tips for Main Street: 1. Don’t pay an insurance company to shoulder risks you can afford to shoulder yourself. 2. To make it easier to amass enough for retirement, aim to start saving no later than age 30. 3. Make it a point to sock away tax refunds, year-end bonuses, overtime pay, and any other extra money you receive. 4. Mentally divide your portfolio into growth money and safe money – and expect a rough ride from the former and comfort from the latter. 5. The harder you try to beat the market, the more likely you are to fail, thanks to the investment costs involved. 6. By building a portfolio that is unlikely to suffer big short-term losses, you should improve your long-run investment compounding. 7. Unless your health is poor, plan on a retirement that lasts until age 90 – and maybe longer. 8. Resist following the crowd, whether it’s chasing hot performers in bull markets or shunning stocks during market declines. 9. Before purchasing a house, make sure you will stay put for at least five years and preferably longer. 10. If you’re a conservative investor inclined to buy bonds, consider making extra principal payments on your mortgage instead. 21 Simple Truths that Help Real People Make Real Money (see rest of review for the list)".

$ The Only Guide to a Winning Investment Strategy You'll Ever Need: The Way Smart Money Invests Today by Larry E. Swedroe (2005) is a nice description of asset allocation with index funds and pitfalls to avoid. [From Amazon.com] "Investment professional Larry E. Swedroe describes the crucial difference between "active" and "passive" mutual funds, and tells you how you can win the investment game through long-term investments in such indexes as the S&P 500 instead of through the active buying and selling of stocks. A revised and updated edition of an investment classic, The Only Guide to a Winning Investment Strategy You'll Ever Need remains clear, understandable, and effective. This edition contains a new chapter comparing index funds, ETFs, and passive asset class funds, an expanded section on portfolio care and maintenance, the addition of Swedroe's 15 Rules of Prudent Investing, and much more. In clear language, Swedroe shows how the newer index mutual funds out-earn, out-perform, and out-compound the older funds, and how to select a balance "passive" portfolio for the long hail that will repay you many times over. This indispensable book also provides you with valuable information about: - The efficiency of markets today - The five factors that determine expected returns of a balanced equity and fixed income portfolio - Important facts about volatility, return, and risk - Six steps to building a diversified portfolio using Modern Portfolio Theory - Implementing the winning strategy - and more."

$ What Wall Street Doesn't Want You to Know: How You Can Build Real Wealth Investing in Index Funds by Larry E. Swedroe (2004) [From Amazon.com] "Why do so many actively managed funds underperform? Why do passively managed funds provide superior returns, especially after taxes? What are the true interests of fund managers and the financial press? Most important, what strategy is in your best interest? What Wall Street Doesn't Want You to Know answers all these questions and more, giving you the inside information you need to become a successful investor who plays the winner's game-creating wealth-instead of the loser's game Wall Street wants you to play, of trying to pick stocks and time the market. In his revolutionary new guide, investment professional Larry Swedroe explains why active managers have rarely been able to add value to your portfolio over time. He dispenses with traditional Wall Street wisdom and experts and shows you how to invest the way really smart money invests today. What Wall Street Doesn't Want You to Know tells you exactly what Wall Street doesn't want you to know: how to avoid the pitfalls of short-term thinking and to invest so that you can create more wealth-much more wealth-over the long term."

$@ The Four Pillars of Investing: Lessons for Building a Winning Portfolio by William J. Bernstein (2002) is an attempt to make his previous works on asset allocation more accessible. He has a Web site http://efficientfrontier.com/. [From Amazon.com] "William Bernstein's The Four Pillars of Investing gives investors the tools they need to construct top-returning portfolios­­--without the help of a financial adviser. In a relaxed, nonthreatening style, Dr. Bernstein provides a distinctive blend of market history, investing theory, and behavioral finance, one designed to help every investor become more self-sufficient and make better-informed investment decisions. The 4 Pillars of Investing explains how any investor can build a solid foundation for investing by focusing on four essential lessons, each building upon the other. Containing all of the tools needed to achieve investing success, without the help of a financial advisor, it presents: * Practical investing advice based on fascinating history lessons from the market, * Exercises to determine risk tolerance as an investor, * An easy-to-understand explanation of risk and reward in the capital markets."

$@ Wise Investing Made Simple: Larry Swedroe's Tales to Enrich Your Future by Larry Swedroe (2007) discusses in a sports analogy way the common mistakes investors make in investing. Although useful, this book is really meant to accompany other books (by that author and others) to reinforce why they recommend simple index investing as 'winning the loser's game'. [From Amazon.com' ""We remember a good story long after the facts are forgotten. Larry Swedroe tells stories that will change your beliefs-and make yourself a better investor." --Weston J. Wellington, Vice President, Dimensional Fund Advisors. "Larry Swedroe's book, Wise Investing Made Simple: Larry Swedroe's Tales to Enrich Your Future, is the best one he has yet written. In a series of stories tha tare clear and simple yet profound in their meaning, Mr. Swedroe explains how modern financial markets really work and how any investor who comes to understand this will be able to make more informed and better investment decisions. I highly recommend this book for all levels of investors-as well as their advistors." --W. Scott Simon, author of The Prudent Investor Act: A Guide to Understanding..."

$@ Common Sense on Mutual Funds: Fully Updated 10th Anniversary Edition by John C. Bogle (2009) makes the very strong case for index investing and asset allocation. [From Amazon.com] "John C. Bogle shares his extensive insights on investing in mutual funds. Since the first edition of Common Sense on Mutual Funds was published in 1999, much has changed, and no one is more aware of this than mutual fund pioneer John Bogle. Now, in this completely updated Second Edition, Bogle returns to take another critical look at the mutual fund industry and help investors navigate their way through the staggering array of investment alternatives that are available to them. Written in a straightforward and accessible style, this reliable resource examines the fundamentals of mutual fund investing in today's turbulent market environment and offers timeless advice in building an investment portfolio. Along the way, Bogle shows you how simplicity and common sense invariably trump costly complexity, and how a low cost, broadly diversified portfolio is virtually assured of outperforming the vast majority of Wall Street professionals over the long-term. * Written by respected mutual fund industry legend John C. Bogle, * Discusses the timeless fundamentals of investing that apply in any type of market, * Reflects on the structural and regulatory changes in the mutual fund industry, * Other titles by Bogle: The Little Book of Common Sense Investing and Enough. Securing your financial future has never seemed more difficult, but you'll be a better investor for having read the Second Edition of Common Sense on Mutual Funds".

$@ The Informed Investor: A Hype-Free Guide to Constructing a Sound Financial Portfolio by Frank Armstrong III (2002) summarizes the essentials of long-term investing using index-funds in a readable way. He has a Web site http://www.investorsolutions.com/ with monthly commentaries. From Amazon.com] "Most people are scared stiff by investment risk. But what most people don't know is that the biggest risk is simply investor behavior. Irrational and fearful, investors routinely chase after investment rainbows offering high returns with zero risk . . . or sell off stocks in a panic when the market is down . . . or hoard their money in T-bills, which historically have just barely outpaced inflation. The only way to eliminate such self-destructive behavior is to get hard facts on how the stock market really works. Fortunately, anyone can learn -- not just the analysts on Wall Street -- with The Informed Investor. Packed with eye-opening charts and graphs, this powerful book shows how to develop an investment strategy that yields the highest return with the lowest risk. The Informed Investor: * Replaces "voodoo investing " methods with proven real-world strategies and groundbreaking academic research * Provides a thorough education in financial economics * Explains how to allocate assets to achieve specific goals * Simplifies difficult subjects with clear language and straight-shooting advice."

$@ The Bogleheads' Guide to Retirement Planning by Taylor Larimore, Mel Lindauer, Richard Ferri, Laura F. Dogu (Authors), John C. Bogle (Foreword) (2014) [From Amazon.com] "The irreverent guide to investing, Boglehead style The Boglehead's Guide to Investing is a DIY handbook that espouses the sage investment wisdom of John C. Bogle. This witty and wonderful book offers contrarian advice that provides the first step on the road to investment success, illustrating how relying on typical "common sense" promoted by Wall Street is destined to leave you poorer. This updated edition includes new information on backdoor Roth IRAs and ETFs as mainstream buy and hold investments, estate taxes and gifting, plus changes to the laws regarding Traditional and Roth IRAs, and 401k and 403b retirement plans. With warnings and principles both precisely accurate and grandly counterintuitive, the Boglehead authors show how beating the market is a zero-sum game. Investing can be simple, but it's certainly not simplistic. Over the course of twenty years, the followers of John C. Bogle have evolved from a loose association of investors to a major force with the largest and most active non-commercial financial forum on the Internet. The Boglehead's Guide to Investing brings that communication to you with comprehensive guidance to the investment prowess on display at Bogleheads.org. You'll learn how to craft your own investment strategy using the Bogle-proven methods that have worked for thousands of investors, and how to: * Choose a sound financial lifestyle and diversify your portfolio, * Start early, invest regularly, and know what you're buying, * Preserve your buying power, keeping costs and taxes low, * Throw out the "good" advice promoted by Wall Street that leads to investment failure. Financial markets are essentially closed systems in which one's gain garners another's loss. Investors looking for a roadmap to successfully navigating these choppy waters long-term will find expert guidance, sound advice, and a little irreverent humor in The Boglehead's Guide to Investing." --- The Boglheads have a useful Web site http://www.bogleheads.org/ which has a very active blog. The Bogleheads group has set up a corrections/typos/discussions Wiki for this book that is constantly being updated. Some of the authors also wrote The Bogleheads' Guide to Investing (2007).

$@ The Bogleheads' Guide to Investing by Taylor Larimore, Mel Lindauer, and Michael LeBoeuf (2007) [From Amazon.com] "The Bogleheads' Guide to Investing is a slightly irreverent, straightforward guide to investing for everyone. The book offers sound, practical advice, no matter what your age or net worth. Bottomline, become a Boglehead and prosper! Originally just the chat-line ruminations of Boglehead founder Taylor Larimore, and Morningstar forum leading cohorts Mel Lindauer and Michael LeBoeuf, their trusted advice has been brewed and distilled into an easy-to-use, need-to-know, no frills guide to building up your own financial well-being - so you can worry less and profit more from the investments you make. Invest like a Boglehead, and let their grassroots investment wisdom guide you down the path of long-term wealth creation and happiness, without all the worries and fuss of stock pickers and day traders. If you face a financial crisis or problem, or simply want to know what is prudent to do with the money you save, the Bogleheads will have the answers you need to help you gain your financial footing and keep it." --- The Bogleheads is named after John Bogle and is called the "Vanguard Diehards" on the http://morningstar.com/ discussion boards. They have a parallel web site http://www.bogleheads.org/ which is a very active blog. Some of the authors also wrote The Bogleheads' Guide to Retirement Planning (2014).

$ Straight Talk on Investing: What You Need to Know by Jack Brennan (2004) summarizes the essentials of investment decisions in a readable way. [From Amazon.com] "Classic investment guidance for everyone As Chairman and CEO of one of the most respected mutual fund companies in the world, The Vanguard Group, Jack Brennan has made a career out of helping people invest for long-term success. In Straight Talk on Investing, he cuts to the chase and provides readers with sound advice and solid guidance to investing for today and tomorrow, in a bull market or bear market. Starting with a clear explanation of the financial facts of life, Brennan explains that investing is a lot easier than most people think. He shows readers how to develop a financial plan, construct and manage a sensible investment program, and maintain perspective in a sometimes crazy world. Refreshing in its simplicity and honesty, Straight Talk on Investing is a badly needed tonic to the hangover of the bull market of the 1990s. Filled with meaningful guidance for investors from a leading investment luminary, this invaluable resource will help readers make better investment decisions and restore financial faith in themselves, so they can confidently navigate the markets toward their financial goals."

$ You Can Do It!: The Boomer's Guide to a Great Retirement by Jonathan Pond (2007) summarizes the essentials of investing in a readable way. [From Amazon.com] "PBS financial expert Jonathan D. Pond has helped millions of Americans get their personal finances in order. If you're worried about the state of your retirement, he'll show you: * Why not to believe the scary misinformation put forth by the media and the finance industry, * How you can get yourself in shape for retirement, regardless of your salary level or how early you started saving, * Why taking your Social Security distributions at the earliest possible age may not be the best move, * And much more!"

$ Earn More (Sleep Better): The Index Fund Solution by Richard Evans and Burton Malkiel (2000) summarizes the essentials of index-fund investing in a readable way. [From Amazon.com] "MAXIMIZE YOUR RETURNS -- MINIMIZE YOUR RISK Now, more than ever before, average investors are embracing index funds to eliminate the anxiety and expense of trying to predict which individual stocks, bonds, or mutual funds will "beat the index." In The Index Fund Solution, Richard E. Evans and Burton G. Malkiel explore why choosing index funds -- funds that buy and hold all stocks or bonds within a given group of securities -- ensures that you will always do as well as the market average. The Index Fund Solution not only examines why index funds are growing rapidly in popularity but, using easy-to-understand language, also explains how anyone, from longtime investors to novices, can use these thriving funds to create a successful investment strategy. Whether you are saving for a child's education, the purchase of a house, or your retirement nest egg, index funds can be the key to unlocking the potential of dependable, long-term returns."

2.1 Portfolio design and asset allocation (more advanced)

$#@ Your Complete Guide to Factor-Based Investing: The Way Smart Money Invests Today by by Andrew L Berkin, Larry E Swedroe (Oct 7, 2016) [From Amazon] "There are hundreds of exhibits in the investment "factor zoo." Which ones are actually worth your time, and your money? Andrew L. Berkin and Larry E. Swedroe, co-authors of The Incredible Shrinking Alpha, bring you a thorough yet still jargon-free and accessible guide to applying one of today's most valuable quantitative, evidence-based approaches to outperforming the market: factor investing. Designed for savvy investors and professional advisors alike, Your Complete Guide to Factor-Based Investing: The Way Smart Money Invests Today takes you on a journey through the land of academic research and an extensive review of its 50-year quest to uncover the secret of successful investing. Along the way, Berkin and Swedroe cite and distill more than 100 academic papers on finance and introduce five unique criteria that a factor (at its most basic, a characteristic or set of characteristics common among a broad set of securities) must meet to be considered worthy of your investment. In addition to providing explanatory power to portfolio returns and delivering a premium, Swedroe and Berkin argue a factor should be persistent, pervasive, robust, investable and intuitive. By the end, you'll have learned that, within the entire "factor zoo," only certain exhibits are worth visiting and only a handful of factors are required to invest in the same manner that made Warren Buffett a legend. Your Complete Guide to Factor-Based Investing: The Way Smart Money Invests Today offers an in-depth look at the evidence practitioners use to build portfolios and how you as an investor can benefit from that knowledge, rendering it an essential resource for making the informed and prudent investment decisions necessary to help secure your financial future."

$#@ Rational Expectations: Asset Allocation for Investing Adults (Investing for Adults) (Volume 4) by William J Bernstein (2014) [From Amazon] "Rational Expectations is a clean sheet of paper in the wonky world of quantitatively based asset allocation aimed at small investors. Continuing the theme of the Investing for Adults series, this full-length finance title is not for beginners, but rather assumes a fair degree of quantitative ability and finance knowledge. If you think you can time the market or pick stocks and mutual fund managers, or even if you think that you can formulate an optimally efficient mean-variance asset allocation with a black box, then learn some basic finance and come back in a few years. On the other hand, if you know your way around risk premiums and standard deviations and know who Irving Fisher and Benjamin Graham were, and if you want to sharpen your asset class skills, you’ve come to the right place".

$# Reducing the Risk of Black Swans: Using the Science of Investing to Capture Returns with Less Volatility by Larry Swedroe and Kevin Grogan (2014). [From Amazon] "The latest book from authors Larry Swedroe and Kevin Grogan. From Larry Swedroe, author of the bestselling series of "The Only Guide" investment books, and Kevin Grogan, co-author of "The Only Guide You'll Ever Need for the Right Financial Plan," comes "Reducing the Risk of Black Swans." Designed for professional financial advisors and educated investors alike, Swedroe and Grogan wrote this book especially for those looking to expand their technical knowledge of the evidence-based investing world. "Swans" provides an in-depth look at portfolio construction and offers a roadmap for those interested in refining their portfolio. From CAPM to the three-factor model, Swedroe and Grogan present some of the academic underpinnings that have led to what we now commonly recognize to be modern financial theory. Taking it one step further, they provide specifics on what it takes to build a more efficient portfolio. Based on an overwhelming amount of hard data and research, Swedroe and Grogan make their case for reducing the risk of black swans".

$#@ Expected Returns on Major Asset Classes by Antti Ilmanen (2012) [Kindle Edition]. [From Amazon.com] "Can the art and science of investment management be reduced to a set of patterns that markets generally follow, in apparent violation of the efficient market hypothesis? Can investors reasonably expect to make money from the knowledge of these patterns, even after they have not only been identified but also widely exploited? Although one’s first guess might be that the answers to these questions are no, at least sometimes, the answer is yes." See Expected Returns: An Investor's Guide to Harvesting Market Rewards (2011).

$#@ Expected Returns: An Investor's Guide to Harvesting Market Rewards by Antti Ilmanen (2011) is a very good advanced reference book many asset classes. [From Amazon.com] "Expected Returns is a one-stop reference that gives investors a comprehensive toolkit for harvesting market rewards from a wide range of investments. Written by an experienced portfolio manager, scholar, strategist, investment advisor and hedge fund trader, this book challenges investors to broaden their minds from a too-narrow asset class perspective and excessive focus on historical performance. Coverage includes major asset classes (stocks, bonds, alternatives), investment strategies (value, carry, momentum, volatility) and the effects of underlying risk factors (growth, inflation, illiquidity, tail risks). Judging expected returns requires balancing historical returns with both theoretical considerations and current market conditions. Expected Returns summarizes the state of knowledge on all of these topics, providing extensive empirical evidence, surveys of risk-based and behavioral theories, and practical insights." See Expected Returns on Major Asset Classes (2012)[Kindle Edition].

$# Unveiling The Retirement Myth: Advanced Retirement Planning based on Market History by Jim Otar (2009) is an interesting but somewhat controversial book about retirement planning that includes a lot of good material useful in portfolio withdrawal (distribution) phase planning - as well as the accumulation phase found it most retirement planning books. Definitely worth it to get some of his insights not normally talked about, but in one nice collection of related topics in one resource book. It has nice discussions of secular (long term) markets that contain shorter term cyclical markets, inflation, sequence of returns, asset allocation, expenses, rebalancing strategies, annual vs essential retirement budgets, withdrawal rates and sustainable withdrawal rates, annuities, and many other aspects of retirement investing. Much of the financial planning (both in savings and withdrawal phase) used these days has holes which he is happy to point out (e.g., use of Gaussian distribution based Monte Carlo or using fixed portfolio and fixed inflation returns forecasting has problems using past return history to predict the future). There are good reviews in the Bogleheads forum and in Amazon.com. As one of the Bogleheads reviewers points out, it is definitely a book written by an engineer - although that is actually a big plus (he later got CFP, CMT credentials and is a practicing financial planner in Canada, but addresses USA planning issues well). However, this 525 page book is not bed time reading or for those who want the "answer" in a short article or book (that simply does not exist). The "complete answer" does not exist because of unknown-unknowns, although some bounding can be estimated and this seems to be what he is doing. As in This Time Is Different: Eight Centuries of Financial Folly by Carmen M. Reinhart, Kenneth Rogoff discuss in their outstanding history of many hundreds of bubbles, stuff happens. For do-it-yourselfers, the book covers a lot of details of planning areas usually left out of many other discussions on those areas. For those working with a financial planner, this book is very useful to suggest things to go over with them. Otar suggests that people not interested in the gory details in the book, just read the Introduction and Conclusion of each chapter which seems reasonable. Otar's web site is http://retirementoptimizer.com/ where you can download his trial software or buy the full version.

$#@ The Intelligent Asset Allocator: How to Build Your Portfolio to Maximize Returns and Minimize Risk by William Bernstein (2000) is an excellent detailed technical book on asset allocation and indexing. He has a Web site efficientfrontier.com that has an archive of very insightful commentaries. [From Amazon.com] "'Bernstein has become a guru to a peculiarly ’90s group: well-educated, Internet-powered people intent on investing well?and with minimal ‘help’ from professional Wall Street.' --Robert Barker, BusinessWeek. William Bernstein is one of today’s most unlikely financial heroes. A practicing neurologist, he used his self-taught investment knowledge and research to build a popular investor’s website. Now, in the plain-spoken The Intelligent Asset Allocator, he shows independent investors how to build a diversified portfolio? without the help of a financial advisor. A breath of fresh air for investors tired of overly technical investment tomes, this book will help investors: * Learn the risk/reward characteristics of various investment types, * Understand and apply portfolio theory for an improved risk/reward ratio, * Sharpen their focus, and take control of their investment programs."

$#@ Unconventional Success: A Fundamental Approach to Personal Investment by David Swensen (2005) is a good way to look at asset allocation with indexing with some good insights into uncompensated risk of many popular fixed asset classes. [From Amazon.com] "The bestselling author of Pioneering Portfolio Management, the definitive template for institutional fund management, returns with a book that shows individual investors how to manage their financial assets. In Unconventional Success, investment legend David F. Swensen offers incontrovertible evidence that the for-profit mutual-fund industry consistently fails the average investor. From excessive management fees to the frequent "churning" of portfolios, the relentless pursuit of profits by mutual-fund management companies harms individual clients. Perhaps most destructive of all are the hidden schemes that limit investor choice and reduce returns, including "pay-to-play" product-placement fees, stale-price trading scams, soft-dollar kickbacks, and 12b-1 distribution charges. Even if investors manage to emerge unscathed from an encounter with the profit-seeking mutual-fund industry, individuals face the likelihood of self-inflicted pain. The common practice of selling losers and buying winners (and doing both too often) damages portfolio returns and increases tax liabilities, delivering a one-two punch to investor aspirations. In short: Nearly insurmountable hurdles confront ordinary investors. Swensen's solution? A contrarian investment alternative that promotes well-diversified, equity-oriented, "market-mimicking" portfolios that reward investors who exhibit the courage to stay the course. Swensen suggests implementing his nonconformist proposal with investor-friendly, not-for-profit investment companies such as Vanguard and TIAA-CREF. By avoiding actively managed funds and employing client-oriented mutual-fund managers, investors create the preconditions for investment success. Bottom line? Unconventional Success provides the guidance and financial know-how for improving the personal investor's financial future."

$#@ Pioneering Portfolio Management: An Unconventional Approach to Institutional Investment, Fully Revised and Updated by David Swensen (2009) is a major revision of the 2000 edition. [From Amazon.com] "Many of the ideas could be carried over to some extent in the asset allocation of a personal portfolio.An indispensable roadmap for creating a successful investment program from Yale’s chief investment officer, David F. Swensen. In the years since the now-classic Pioneering Portfolio Management was first published, the global investment landscape has changed dramatically -- but the results of David Swensen's investment strategy for the Yale University endowment have remained as impressive as ever. Year after year, Yale's portfolio has trumped the marketplace by a wide margin, and, with over $20 billion added to the endowment under his twenty-three-year tenure, Swensen has contributed more to Yale's finances than anyone ever has to any university in the country. What may have seemed like one among many success stories in the era before the Internet bubble burst emerges now as a completely unprecedented institutional investment achievement. In this fully revised and updated edition, Swensen, author of the bestselling personal finance guide Unconventional Success, describes the investment process that underpins Yale's endowment. He provides lucid and penetrating insight into the world of institutional funds management, illuminating topics ranging from asset-allocation structures to active fund management. Swensen employs an array of vivid real-world examples, many drawn from his own formidable experience, to address critical concepts such as handling risk, selecting advisors, and weathering market pitfalls. Swensen offers clear and incisive advice, especially when describing a counterintuitive path. Conventional investing too often leads to buying high and selling low. Trust is more important than flash-in-the-pan success. Expertise, fortitude, and the long view produce positive results where gimmicks and trend following do not. The original Pioneering Portfolio Management outlined a commonsense template for structuring a well-diversified equity-oriented portfolio. This new edition provides fund managers and students of the market an up-to-date guide for actively managed investment portfolios."

$#@ Mastering the Art of Asset Allocation - Comprehensive approaches to managing risk and optimizing returns by David Darst (2007). This goes into the nitty gritty of asset allocation for the dedicated investor. [From Amazon.com] "Gain new insights into why asset allocation works and learn advanced investing strategies. You know that asset allocation requires much more than cookie-cutter analysis. You want precise, detailed techniques for analyzing and applying asset allocation principles. The high-level, applications-oriented Mastering the Art of Asset Allocation examines the inner working of numerous asset allocation strategies and covers everything from ways to determine the portfolio value of various asset classes to insights into changing patterns of investment returns and standard deviations in different time periods and market environments."

$#@ Active Index Investing: Maximizing Portfolio Performance and Minimizing Risk Through Global Index Strategies by Steven A. Shoenfeld (2004). It is an excellent compendium of papers on indexing by the major proponents of the field. Shoenfeld was founding editor of http://indexuniverse.com/ (now http://etf.com/). [From Amazon.com] "For over three decades, indexing has become increasingly accepted by both institutional and individual investors. Index benchmarks and investment products that track them have been a driving force in the transformation of investment strategy from art to science. Yet investors’ understanding of the sophistication of this burgeoning field has lagged the growing use of index products. Active Index Investing is the definitive guide to how indexes are constructed, how index-based portfolios are managed, and how the world’s most sophisticated investors use index-based strategies to enhance performance, reduce costs and minimize the risks of investing. Active Index Investing provides a comprehensive overview of (1) the investment theories that are the foundation of index based investing, (2) best practices in benchmark construction, (3) the growing world of index-based investment vehicles, (4) cutting-edge index portfolio management techniques and (5) the myriad ways investors can and do capture the benefits of indexing. Active Index Investing has a unique format that captures the views and perspectives of over 40 of the investment industry’s leading experts and practitioners, while maintaining a holistic view of this complex subject matter. In addition to the Appendix and Glossary within the book, it features an E-ppendix, available at www.IndexUniverse.com"

$# Morningstar Guide to Mutual Funds: Five-Star Strategies for Success by Christine Benz (2005) discusses developing a personal portfolio of stock and bond funds, index funds, minimizing costs, style and risk. The Web site is http://www.morningstar.com/. [From Amazon.com] "This is the national business bestseller now available in paperback! "Morningstar Guide to Mutual Funds", the paperback edition of the "Business Week" and "The Wall Street Journal" business bestseller, provides today's investor with the tools and advice needed to build and maintain a profitable mutual fund portfolio. This book allows readers to take an objective and informed look at their investments and learn what mutual funds are, when and how they should be used, and what the advantages and disadvantages of investing in mutual funds are. Christine Benz (Chicago, IL) is Editor of "Morningstar FundInvestor", a monthly newsletter for investors as well as Coeditor of "Morningstar Funds 500", an annual publication covering 500 top mutual funds. Peter Di Teresa (Chicago, IL) is a senior mutual fund analyst with Morningstar, Inc. Russel Kinnel (Chicago, IL) is Director of mutual fund analysis for Morningstar, Inc."

$# Questions Great Financial Advisors Ask... and Investors Need to Know by Alan Parisse and David Richman (2006) excellent book on how to deal with clients and how to get clients to help themselves by revealing how they feel about money issues which is critical before the advisor can help them. [From Amazon.com] "A financial advisor recounts an interview with a recently retired physician who planned an enjoyable—and costly—retirement. The doctor wanted his entire portfolio in bonds, which was far too conservative to maintain the lifestyle he and his wife had planned. In the advisor’s words: "This fellow was a bit of a know-it-all, and I wasn’t getting through. Finally I asked him, 'Doctor, how will it feel for you when you have to go back to work?' That got his attention, and I was able to lay out a strategy that would allow him to retire and stay retired." In Questions Great Financial Advisors Ask…and Investors Need to Know, coauthors Alan Parisse and David Richman have compiled the questions great advisors ask that lead to the probing and personal conversations necessary to diagnose and understand clients'—and potential clients'—deep-seated feelings about money. That’s how great advisors help clients wring the emotion out of investing and set them on the rational road to achieving their financial goals. Throughout this book are questions, suggestions, and stories from some of the world’s top financial advisors, including a chapter of "great questions to ask" organized by topic."

$# From Wall Street to the Great Wall: How Investors Can Profit from China's Booming Economy by Burton G. Malkiel, Patricia A. Taylor, Jianping Mei, Rui Yang (2007) describes the history and the new role China plays in the global economy with expected 7% to 9% GDP growth/year - more than most of the rest of the world. How China and the rest of theworld invests in China, and how small investors can partake via the various types of investment vehicles available. [From Amazon.com] "From the million-copy-selling author of A Random Walk Down Wall Street, the perfect guide to investing in the next economic giant. It is no secret that China has the world’s fastest-growing economy. The trick is how average investors can tap into the opportunities it affords. Burton G. Malkiel, longtime friend and adviser to ordinary investors through his great book A Random Walk Down Wall Street, now gives them China. In From Wall Street to the Great Wall he explains why and how the Chinese economy is poised for significant gains in the near future. It highlights not only Chinese firms and industries but also multinationals in the United States and elsewhere that are likely to benefit from China’s explosive growth. Following this tour and analysis of investment opportunities in China, including the stock, commodities, real estate, and even art and collectibles markets, the book reviews these options and sets forth a grand strategy, including sample portfolios, for investing in China."

$# A Bull in China: Investing Profitably in the World's Greatest Market by Jim Rogers (2007) describes the Chinese economy and the related players from an investors perspective. He describes both the possibilites as well as the problems. [From Amazon.com] "If the twentieth century was the American century, then the twenty-first century belongs to China. Now the one and only Jim Rogers shows how any investor can get in on the ground floor of 'the greatest economic boom since England’s Industrial Revolution.' In this indispensable new book, one of the world’s most successful investors, Jim Rogers, brings his unerring investment acumen to bear on this huge and unruly land now being opened to the world and exploding in potential. Rogers didn’t just wake up a Sinophile yesterday. He’s been tracking the Chinese economy since he first went to China in 1984 in preparation for his round-the-world motorcycle trip and then again, later, when he saw Shanghai’s newly reopened stock exchange (which looked like an OTB office). In the decades that followed–especially in recent years, with the easing of Communist party financial dictates–the facts speak for themselves: • The Chinese economy’s growth rate has averaged 9 percent since the start of the 1980s. • China’s savings rate is over 35 percent (in America, it’s 2 percent). • 40 percent of China’s output goes to exports (so there’s no crippling foreign debt). • $60 billion a year in direct foreign investment, combined with a trade surplus, has brought Beijing’s foreign currency reserves to over $1 trillion. • China’s fixed assets–ports, bridges, and roads–double every two and a half years. In short, if projections hold, China will surpass the United States as the world’s largest economy in as little as twenty years. But the time to act is now. In A Bull in China, you’ll learn what industries offer the newest and best opportunities, from power, energy, and agriculture to tourism, water, and infrastructure. In his trademark down-to-earth style, Rogers demystifies the state policies that are driving earnings and innovation, takes the intimidation factor out of the A-shares, B-shares, and ADRs of Chinese offerings, and encourages any reader to trust his or her own expertise (if you’re a car mechanic, check out their auto industry). A Bull in China also features fascinating profiles of “Red Chip” companies, such as Yantu Changyu, China’s largest winemaker, which sells a “Healthy Liquor” line mixed with herbal medicines. Plus, if you want to export something to China yourself–or even buy land there–Rogers tells you the steps you need to take. No other book–and no other author–can better help you benefit from the new Chinese revolution. Jim Rogers shows you how to make the “amazing energy, potential, and entrepreneurial spirit of a billion people” work for you."

$#@ The ETF Book: All You Need to Know About Exchange-Traded Funds by Rick Ferri (2007) describes the history and types of Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) available to investors and the advantages and disadvantages of using ETFs compared to open-ended mutual funds. This goes extensively into the workings of ETFs for those who are considering or use ETFs in their portfolio. [From Amazon.com] "Written by veteran financial professional and experienced author Richard Ferri, "The ETF Book" gives you a broad and deep understanding of this important investment vehicle and provides you with the tools needed to successfully integrate exchange-traded funds into any portfolio. Each chapter of 'The ETF Book' offers concise coverage of various issues and is filled with in-depth insights on different types of ETF's as well as practical advice on how to select and manage them."

3. Bonds (as subset of a portfolio)

$@ The Only Guide to a Winning Bond Strategy You'll Ever Need: The Way Smart Money Preserves Wealth Today by Larry Swedroe and Joseph Hempen (2006) is a nice summary of various bond fixed asset classes using individual and bond funds. Thou's book is more complete, but this has more information on constructing a bond portfolio and integrating it with the rest of your equity (stock) portfolio. [From Amazon.com] "Larry Swedroe, the author of The Only Guide to a Winning Investment Strategy You'll Ever Need, has collaborated with Joe H. Hempen to create an up-to-date book on how to invest in today's bond market that covers a range of issues pertinent to any bond investor today including: bond-speak, the risks of fixed income investing, mortgage-backed securities, and municipal bonds. The Only Guide to a Winning Bond Strategy You'll Ever Need is a no-nonsense handbook with all the information necessary to design and construct your fixed income portfolio. In this day and age of shaky stocks and economic unpredictability, The Only Guide to a Winning Bond Strategy You'll Ever Need is a crucial tool for any investor looking to safeguard their money."

$#@ The Bond Book, Third Edition: Everything Investors Need to Know About Treasuries, Municipals, GNMAs, Corporates, Zeros, Bond Funds, Money Market Funds, and More by Annette Thau (2010) is a good reference book on fixed investments. [From Amazon.com] "The financial crisis of 2008 caused major disruptions to every sector of the bond market and left even the savviest investors confused about the safety of their investments. To serve these investors and anyone looking to explore opportunities in fixed-income investing, former bond analyst Annette Thau builds on the features and authority that made the first two editions bestsellers in the thoroughly revised, updated, and expanded third edition of The Bond Book. This is a one-stop resource for both seasoned bond investors looking for the latest information on the fixed-income market and equities investors planning to diversify their holdings. Writing in plain English, Thau presents cutting-edge strategies for making the best bond-investing decisions, while explaining how to assess risks and opportunities. She also includes up-to-date listings of online resources with bond prices and other information. Look to this all-in-one guide for information on such critical topics as: * Buying individual bonds or bond funds; * The ins and outs of open-end funds, closed-end funds, and exchangetraded funds (ETFs); * The new landscape for municipal bonds: the changed rating scales, the near demise of bond insurance, and Build America Bonds (BABs); * The safest bond funds; * Junk bonds (and emerging market bonds); * Buying Treasuries without paying a commission. From how bonds work to how to buy and sell them to what to expect from them, The Bond Book, third edition, is a must-read for individual investors and financial advisers who want to enhance the fixed-income allocation of their portfolios."

$#@ The Only Guide to Alternative Investments You'll Ever Need: The Good, the Flawed, the Bad, and the Ugly by Larry Swedroe and Jared Kizer (2008) [From Amazon.com] "In times of uncertainty, investors look for ways to protect their principal and still earn a good return. Financial advisers Larry Swedroe and Jared Kizer say the best approach is to add carefully chosen alternative investments to traditional stock and bond portfolios. In this, the third book in the popular The Only Guide Youll Ever Need series, the authors detail twenty alternative investments, explaining which to consider seriously and which to avoid entirely. They make specific recommendations about the best ways to access each investment, address tax and liquidity issues, and create an allocation and implementation strategy."

$#@ Explore TIPS: A Practical Guide to Investing in Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities by The Finance Buff (2010) [From Amazon.com] "Learn anything and everything about TIPS -- the inflation indexed bonds. Written for retail investors from the author's real-world experience, Explore TIPS gives you all the details about investing TIPS other books only gloss over. Starting from the very basics, what TIPS are and how they work, the book guides you through * How to invest in TIPS through mutual funds and ETFs * How to buy individual TIPS directly from the U.S. Treasury * How to buy TIPS on the secondary market * TIPS strategies The book also includes many tools the author created for aiding the decision making."

Note: many of the other books mentioned in these lists also touch on these sub topics.

4. Value investing

$@ Tao of Charlie Munger: A Compilation of Quotes from Berkshire Hathaway’s Vice Chairman on Life, Business, and the Pursuit of Wealth With Commentary by David Clark by David Clark (Jan 3, 2017) [From Amazon.com] "Words of wisdom from Charlie Munger—Warren Buffett’s longtime business partner and the visionary Vice Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway—collected and interpreted with an eye towards investing by David Clark, coauthor of the bestselling Buffettology series. Born in Omaha, Nebraska in 1924 Charlie Munger studied mathematics at the University of Michigan, trained as a meteorologist at Cal Tech Pasadena while in the Army, and graduated magna cum laude from Harvard Law School without ever earning an undergraduate degree. Today, Munger is one of America’s most successful investors, the Vice Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, and Warren Buffett’s business partner for almost forty years. Buffett says “Berkshire has been built to Charlie’s blueprint. My role has been that of general contractor.” Munger is an intelligent, opinionated business man whose ideas can teach professional and amateur investors how to be successful in finance and life. Like The Tao of Warren Buffett and The Tao of Te Ching, The Tao of Charlie Munger is a compendium of pithy quotes including, “Knowing what you don’t know is more useful than being brilliant” and “In my whole life, I have known no wise people who didn’t read all the time—none, zero.” This collection, culled from interviews, speeches, and questions and answers at the Berkshire Hathaway and Wesco annual meetings, offers insights into Munger’s amazing financial success and life philosophies. Described by Business Insider as “sharp in his wit and investing wisdom,” Charlie Munger’s investment tips, business philosophy, and rules for living are as unique as his life story; intelligent as he clearly is; and as successful as he has been."

# The Investor's Dilemma: How Mutual Funds Are Betraying Your Trust And What To Do About It by Louis Lowenstein (Author), Neil Barsky (Foreword) (2008) is another good book arguing for for value investing. [From Amazon.com] "Based on cutting-edge research by leading corporate critic Louis Lowenstein, The Investor’s Dilemma: How Mutual Funds Are Betraying Your Trust and What to Do About It reveals how highly overpaid fund sponsors really operate and walks you through the conflicts of interest found throughout the industry. Page by page, you’ll discover the real problems within the world of mutual funds and learn how to overcome them through a value-oriented approach to this market."

$#@ The Intelligent Investor: The Definitive Book on Value Investing. A Book of Practical Counsel (Revised Edition) by Benjamin Graham and Jason Zweig (2003). This edition of Graham's classic book is brought up to date by Zweig's excellent footnotes discussing it in the modern context. [From Amazon.com] "This classic text is annotated to update Graham's timeless wisdom for today's market conditions... The greatest investment advisor of the twentieth century, Benjamin Graham, taught and inspired people worldwide. Graham's philosophy of "value investing" -- which shields investors from substantial error and teaches them to develop long-term strategies -- has made The Intelligent Investor the stock market bible ever since its original publication in 1949. Over the years, market developments have proven the wisdom of Graham's strategies. While preserving the integrity of Graham's original text, this revised edition includes updated commentary by noted financial journalist Jason Zweig, whose perspective incorporates the realities of today's market, draws parallels between Graham's examples and today's financial headlines, and gives readers a more thorough understanding of how to apply Graham's principles. Vital and indispensable, this HarperBusiness Essentials edition of The Intelligent Investor is the most important book you will ever read on how to reach your financial goals."

$ The Little Book of Value Investing by Christopher Browne (2006) goes into what great value investors (Graham, Buffet, Dodge, Tweedy, etc.) do. Browne is with Tweedy Browne funds which like Warren Buffet has interesting yearly commentaries on their http://www.tweedybrown.com/ web site. Buffet’s are on http://www.berkshirehathaway.com/letters/letters.html Web site. [From Amazon.com] "There are many ways to make money in today’s market, but the one strategy that has truly proven itself over the years is value investing. Now, with The Little Book of Value Investing, Christopher Browne shows you how to use this wealth-building strategy to successfully buy bargain stocks around the world."

$#@ Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits and Other Writings by Philip A. Fisher and Kenneth L. Fisher (2003) discusses P. A. Fisher's value investing philosophy. [From Amazon.com] "Widely respected and admired, Philip Fisher is among the most influential investors of all time. His investment philosophies, introduced almost forty years ago, are not only studied and applied by today's financiers and investors, but are also regarded by many as gospel. This book is invaluable reading and has been since it was first published in 1958. The updated paperback retains the investment wisdom of the original edition and includes the perspectives of the author's son Ken Fisher, an investment guru in his own right in an expanded preface and introduction."

5. Behavioral finance, neuroeconomics and neuroscience

$@ The Happiness Curve: Why Life Gets Better After 50 by Jonathan Rauch (May 1, 2018) [From Amazon.com] "This book will change your life by showing you how life changes. Why does happiness get harder in your 40s? Why do you feel in a slump when you’re successful? Where does this malaise come from? And, most importantly, will it ever end? Drawing on cutting-edge research, award-winning journalist Jonathan Rauch answers all these questions. He shows that from our 20s into our 40s, happiness follows a U-shaped trajectory, a “happiness curve,” declining from the optimism of youth into what’s often a long, low slump in middle age, before starting to rise again in our 50s. This isn’t a midlife crisis, though. Rauch reveals that this slump is instead a natural stage of life?and an essential one. By shifting priorities away from competition and toward compassion, it equips you with new tools for wisdom and gratitude to win the third period of life. And Rauch can testify to this personally because it was his own slump, despite acclaim as a journalist and commentator that compelled him to investigate the happiness curve. His own story and the stories of many others from all walks of life?from a steelworker and a limo driver to a telecoms executive and a philanthropist?show how the ordeal of midlife malaise reboots our values and even our brains for a rebirth of gratitude. Full of insights and data and featuring many ways to endure the slump and avoid its perils and traps, The Happiness Curve doesn’t just show you the dark forest of midlife, it helps you find a path through the trees. It also demonstrates how we can?and why we must?do more to help each other through the woods. Midlife is a journey we mustn’t walk alone."

$@ Misbehaving: The Making of Behavioral Economics by Richard H. Thaler (May 11, 2015) [From Amazon.com] "Get ready to change the way you think about economics. Richard H. Thaler has spent his career studying the radical notion that the central agents in the economy are humans?predictable, error-prone individuals. Misbehaving is his arresting, frequently hilarious account of the struggle to bring an academic discipline back down to earth?and change the way we think about economics, ourselves, and our world. Traditional economics assumes rational actors. Early in his research, Thaler realized these Spock-like automatons were nothing like real people. Whether buying a clock radio, selling basketball tickets, or applying for a mortgage, we all succumb to biases and make decisions that deviate from the standards of rationality assumed by economists. In other words, we misbehave. More importantly, our misbehavior has serious consequences. Dismissed at first by economists as an amusing sideshow, the study of human miscalculations and their effects on markets now drives efforts to make better decisions in our lives, our businesses, and our governments. Coupling recent discoveries in human psychology with a practical understanding of incentives and market behavior, Thaler enlightens readers about how to make smarter decisions in an increasingly mystifying world. He reveals how behavioral economic analysis opens up new ways to look at everything from household finance to assigning faculty offices in a new building, to TV game shows, the NFL draft, and businesses like Uber. Laced with antic stories of Thaler’s spirited battles with the bastions of traditional economic thinking, Misbehaving is a singular look into profound human foibles. When economics meets psychology, the implications for individuals, managers, and policy makers are both profound and entertaining."

$@ Adaptive Markets: Financial Evolution at the Speed of Thought by Andrew W. Lo (May 2, 2017) [From Amazon.com] "A new, evolutionary explanation of markets and investor behavior. Half of all Americans have money in the stock market, yet economists can't agree on whether investors and markets are rational and efficient, as modern financial theory assumes, or irrational and inefficient, as behavioral economists believe--and as financial bubbles, crashes, and crises suggest. This is one of the biggest debates in economics and the value or futility of investment management and financial regulation hang on the outcome. In this groundbreaking book, Andrew Lo cuts through this debate with a new framework, the Adaptive Markets Hypothesis, in which rationality and irrationality coexist. Drawing on psychology, evolutionary biology, neuroscience, artificial intelligence, and other fields, Adaptive Markets shows that the theory of market efficiency isn't wrong but merely incomplete. When markets are unstable, investors react instinctively, creating inefficiencies for others to exploit. Lo's new paradigm explains how financial evolution shapes behavior and markets at the speed of thought--a fact revealed by swings between stability and crisis, profit and loss, and innovation and regulation. A fascinating intellectual journey filled with compelling stories, Adaptive Markets starts with the origins of market efficiency and its failures, turns to the foundations of investor behavior, and concludes with practical implications--including how hedge funds have become the Galápagos Islands of finance, what really happened in the 2008 meltdown, and how we might avoid future crises. An ambitious new answer to fundamental questions in economics, Adaptive Markets is essential reading for anyone who wants to know how markets really work."

$@ Finance for Normal People: How Investors and Markets Behave by Meir Statman (May 1 2017) [From Amazon.com] "Finance for Normal People teaches behavioral finance to people like you and me - normal people, neither rational nor irrational. We are consumers, savers, investors, and managers - corporate managers, money managers, financial advisers, and all other financial professionals. The book guides us to know our wants-including hope for riches, protection from poverty, caring for family, sincere social responsibility and high social status. It teaches financial facts and human behavior, including making cognitive and emotional shortcuts and avoiding cognitive and emotional errors such as overconfidence, hindsight, exaggerated fear, and unrealistic hope. And it guides us to banish ignorance, gain knowledge, and increase the ratio of smart to foolish behavior on our way to what we want. These lessons of behavioral finance draw on what we know about us-normal people-including our wants, cognition, and emotions. And they draw on the roles of these factors in saving and spending, portfolio construction, returns we can expect from our investments, and whether we can hope to beat the market. Meir Statman, a founder of behavioral finance, draws on his extensive research and the research of many others to build a unified structure of behavioral finance. Its foundation blocks include normal behavior, behavioral portfolio theory, behavioral life-cycle theory, behavioral asset pricing theory, and behavioral market efficiency."

$@ Mindshift: Break Through Obstacles to Learning and Discover Your Hidden Potential by Barbara Oakley (May 15, 2017) [From Amazon.com] "Mindshift reveals how we can overcome stereotypes and preconceived ideas about what is possible for us to learn and become. At a time when we are constantly being asked to retrain and reinvent ourselves to adapt to new technologies and changing industries, this book shows us how we can uncover and develop talents we didn’t realize we had—no matter what our age or background. We’re often told to “follow our passions.” But in Mindshift, Dr. Barbara Oakley shows us how we can broaden our passions. Drawing on the latest neuroscientific insights, Dr. Oakley shepherds us past simplistic ideas of “aptitude” and “ability,” which provide only a snapshot of who we are now—with little consideration about how we can change. Even seemingly “bad” traits, such as a poor memory, come with hidden advantages—like increased creativity. Profiling people from around the world who have overcome learning limitations of all kinds, Dr. Oakley shows us how we can turn perceived weaknesses, such as impostor syndrome and advancing age, into strengths. People may feel like they’re at a disadvantage if they pursue a new field later in life; yet those who change careers can be fertile cross-pollinators: They bring valuable insights from one discipline to another. Dr. Oakley teaches us strategies for learning that are backed by neuroscience so that we can realize the joy and benefits of a learning lifestyle. Mindshift takes us deep inside the world of how people change and grow. Our biggest stumbling blocks can be our own preconceptions, but with the right mental insights, we can tap into hidden potential and create new opportunities."

$@ A Man for All Markets: From Las Vegas to Wall Street, How I Beat the Dealer and the Market by Edward O. Thorp (Author), Nassim Nicholas Taleb (Foreword) (Jan 2017) [From Amazon.com] "The incredible true story of the card-counting mathematics professor who taught the world how to beat the dealer and, as the first of the great quantitative investors, ushered in a revolution on Wall Street. A child of the Great Depression, legendary mathematician Edward O. Thorp invented card counting, proving the seemingly impossible: that you could beat the dealer at the blackjack table. As a result he launched a gambling renaissance. His remarkable success—and mathematically unassailable method—caused such an uproar that casinos altered the rules of the game to thwart him and the legions he inspired. They barred him from their premises, even put his life in jeopardy. Nonetheless, gambling was forever changed. Thereafter, Thorp shifted his sights to “the biggest casino in the world”: Wall Street. Devising and then deploying mathematical formulas to beat the market, Thorp ushered in the era of quantitative finance we live in today. Along the way, the so-called godfather of the quants played bridge with Warren Buffett, crossed swords with a young Rudy Giuliani, detected the Bernie Madoff scheme, and, to beat the game of roulette, invented, with Claude Shannon, the world’s first wearable computer. Here, for the first time, Thorp tells the story of what he did, how he did it, his passions and motivations, and the curiosity that has always driven him to disregard conventional wisdom and devise game-changing solutions to seemingly insoluble problems. An intellectual thrill ride, replete with practical wisdom that can guide us all in uncertain financial waters, A Man for All Markets is an instant classic—a book that challenges its readers to think logically about a seemingly irrational world."

$@ Phishing for Phools: The Economics of Manipulation and Deception by George A. Akerlof, Robert J. Shiller (2015) [From Amazon.com] "Ever since Adam Smith, the central teaching of economics has been that free markets provide us with material well-being, as if by an invisible hand. In Phishing for Phools, Nobel Prize-winning economists George Akerlof and Robert Shiller deliver a fundamental challenge to this insight, arguing that markets harm as well as help us. As long as there is profit to be made, sellers will systematically exploit our psychological weaknesses and our ignorance through manipulation and deception. Rather than being essentially benign and always creating the greater good, markets are inherently filled with tricks and traps and will "phish" us as "phools." Phishing for Phools therefore strikes a radically new direction in economics, based on the intuitive idea that markets both give and take away. Akerlof and Shiller bring this idea to life through dozens of stories that show how phishing affects everyone, in almost every walk of life. We spend our money up to the limit, and then worry about how to pay the next month's bills. The financial system soars, then crashes. We are attracted, more than we know, by advertising. Our political system is distorted by money. We pay too much for gym memberships, cars, houses, and credit cards. Drug companies ingeniously market pharmaceuticals that do us little good, and sometimes are downright dangerous. Phishing for Phools explores the central role of manipulation and deception in fascinating detail in each of these areas and many more. It thereby explains a paradox: why, at a time when we are better off than ever before in history, all too many of us are leading lives of quiet desperation. At the same time, the book tells stories of individuals who have stood against economic trickery--and how it can be reduced through greater knowledge, reform, and regulation."

$#@ The Organized Mind: Thinking Straight in the Age of Information Overload by Daniel J. Levitin(2015) [From Amazon.com] "“Smart, important, and, as always, exquisitely written.” —Daniel Gilbert, author of Stumbling on Happiness. Readers of Daniel J. Levitin’s two previous New York Times bestsellers have come to know and trust his unique ability to translate cutting edge neuroscience into an informative and entertaining narrative. Now Levitin turns his attention to an issue that affects everyone in the digital age: organization. It’s the reason that some people are more adept than others at managing today’s hyper flow of data. The Organized Mind explains the science behind their success and—with chapters targeted specifically to business readers—shows how all of us can make small but crucial changes to regain mastery over our lives."

$ Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance by Angela Duckworth (May 2016) [From Amazon.com] "In this instant New York Times bestseller, pioneering psychologist Angela Duckworth shows anyone striving to succeed—be it parents, students, educators, athletes, or business people—that the secret to outstanding achievement is not talent but a special blend of passion and persistence she calls “grit.” Drawing on her own powerful story as the daughter of a scientist who frequently noted her lack of “genius,” Duckworth, now a celebrated researcher and professor, describes her early eye-opening stints in teaching, business consulting, and neuroscience, which led to the hypothesis that what really drives success is not “genius” but a unique combination of passion and long-term perseverance. In Grit, she takes readers into the field to visit cadets struggling through their first days at West Point, teachers working in some of the toughest schools, and young finalists in the National Spelling Bee. She also mines fascinating insights from history and shows what can be gleaned from modern experiments in peak performance. Finally, she shares what she’s learned from interviewing dozens of high achievers—from JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon to New Yorker cartoon editor Bob Mankoff to Seattle Seahawks Coach Pete Carroll. Among Grit’s most valuable insights: *Why any effort you make ultimately counts twice toward your goal, *How grit can be learned, regardless of I.Q. or circumstances, *How lifelong interest is triggered, *How much of optimal practice is suffering and how much ecstasy, *Which is better for your child—a warm embrace or high standards, *The magic of the Hard Thing Rule. Winningly personal, insightful, and even life-changing, Grit is a book about what goes through your head when you fall down, and how that—not talent or luck—makes all the difference."

$@ Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman (2013) [From Amazon.com] "Major New York Times bestseller Winner of the National Academy of Sciences Best Book Award in 2012 Selected by the New York Times Book Review as one of the best books of 2011 A Globe and Mail Best Books of the Year 2011 Title. One of The Economist's 2011 Books of the Year. One of The Wall Street Journal's Best Nonfiction Books of the Year 2011 2013 Presidential Medal of Freedom Recipient. In the international bestseller, Thinking, Fast and Slow, Daniel Kahneman, the renowned psychologist and winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics, takes us on a groundbreaking tour of the mind and explains the two systems that drive the way we think. System 1 is fast, intuitive, and emotional; System 2 is slower, more deliberative, and more logical. The impact of overconfidence on corporate strategies, the difficulties of predicting what will make us happy in the future, the profound effect of cognitive biases on everything from playing the stock market to planning our next vacation?each of these can be understood only by knowing how the two systems shape our judgments and decisions. Engaging the reader in a lively conversation about how we think, Kahneman reveals where we can and cannot trust our intuitions and how we can tap into the benefits of slow thinking. He offers practical and enlightening insights into how choices are made in both our business and our personal lives?and how we can use different techniques to guard against the mental glitches that often get us into trouble. Winner of the National Academy of Sciences Best Book Award and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize and selected by The New York Times Book Review as one of the ten best books of 2011, Thinking, Fast and Slow is destined to be a classic."

$ Consciousness and the Brain: Deciphering How the Brain Codes Our Thoughts by Stanislas Dehaene (2014) [From Amazon.com] "A breathtaking look at the new science that can track consciousness deep in the brain. How does our brain generate a conscious thought? And why does so much of our knowledge remain unconscious? Thanks to clever psychological and brain-imaging experiments, scientists are closer to cracking this mystery than ever before. In this lively book, Stanislas Dehaene describes the pioneering work his lab and the labs of other cognitive neuroscientists worldwide have accomplished in defining, testing, and explaining the brain events behind a conscious state. We can now pin down the neurons that fire when a person reports becoming aware of a piece of information and understand the crucial role unconscious computations play in how we make decisions. The emerging theory enables a test of consciousness in animals, babies, and those with severe brain injuries. A joyous exploration of the mind and its thrilling complexities, Consciousness and the Brain will excite anyone interested in cutting-edge science and technology and the vast philosophical, personal, and ethical implications of finally quantifying consciousness."

$ The Age of Insight: The Quest to Understand the Unconscious in Art, Mind, and Brain, from Vienna 1900 to the Present by Eric Kandel (2012) [From Amazon.com] "A brilliant book by Nobel Prize winner Eric R. Kandel, The Age of Insight takes us to Vienna 1900, where leaders in science, medicine, and art began a revolution that changed forever how we think about the human mind—our conscious and unconscious thoughts and emotions—and how mind and brain relate to art. At the turn of the century, Vienna was the cultural capital of Europe. Artists and scientists met in glittering salons, where they freely exchanged ideas that led to revolutionary breakthroughs in psychology, brain science, literature, and art. Kandel takes us into the world of Vienna to trace, in rich and rewarding detail, the ideas and advances made then, and their enduring influence today. The Vienna School of Medicine led the way with its realization that truth lies hidden beneath the surface. That principle infused Viennese culture and strongly influenced the other pioneers of Vienna 1900. Sigmund Freud shocked the world with his insights into how our everyday unconscious aggressive and erotic desires are repressed and disguised in symbols, dreams, and behavior. Arthur Schnitzler revealed women’s unconscious sexuality in his novels through his innovative use of the interior monologue. Gustav Klimt, Oscar Kokoschka, and Egon Schiele created startlingly evocative and honest portraits that expressed unconscious lust, desire, anxiety, and the fear of death. Kandel tells the story of how these pioneers—Freud, Schnitzler, Klimt, Kokoschka, and Schiele—inspired by the Vienna School of Medicine, in turn influenced the founders of the Vienna School of Art History to ask pivotal questions such as What does the viewer bring to a work of art? How does the beholder respond to it? These questions prompted new and ongoing discoveries in psychology and brain biology, leading to revelations about how we see and perceive, how we think and feel, and how we respond to and create works of art. Kandel, one of the leading scientific thinkers of our time, places these five innovators in the context of today’s cutting-edge science and gives us a new understanding of the modernist art of Klimt, Kokoschka, and Schiele, as well as the school of thought of Freud and Schnitzler. Reinvigorating the intellectual enquiry that began in Vienna 1900, The Age of Insight is a wonderfully written, superbly researched, and beautifully illustrated book that also provides a foundation for future work in neuroscience and the humanities. It is an extraordinary book from an international leader in neuroscience and intellectual history."

$ The Improbability Principle: Why Coincidences, Miracles, and Rare Events Happen Every Day by David J. Hand (2014) [From Amazon.com] "In The Improbability Principle, the renowned statistician David J. Hand argues that extraordinarily rare events are anything but. In fact, they're commonplace. Not only that, we should all expect to experience a miracle roughly once every month. But Hand is no believer in superstitions, prophecies, or the paranormal. His definition of "miracle" is thoroughly rational. No mystical or supernatural explanation is necessary to understand why someone is lucky enough to win the lottery twice, or is destined to be hit by lightning three times and still survive. All we need, Hand argues, is a firm grounding in a powerful set of laws: the laws of inevitability, of truly large numbers, of selection, of the probability lever, and of near enough. Together, these constitute Hand's groundbreaking Improbability Principle. And together, they explain why we should not be so surprised to bump into a friend in a foreign country, or to come across the same unfamiliar word four times in one day. Hand wrestles with seemingly less explicable questions as well: what the Bible and Shakespeare have in common, why financial crashes are par for the course, and why lightning does strike the same place (and the same person) twice. Along the way, he teaches us how to use the Improbability Principle in our own lives?including how to cash in at a casino and how to recognize when a medicine is truly effective. An irresistible adventure into the laws behind "chance" moments and a trusty guide for understanding the world and universe we live in, The Improbability Principle will transform how you think about serendipity and luck, whether it's in the world of business and finance or you're merely sitting in your backyard, tossing a ball into the air and wondering where it will land."

$ The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business by Charles Duhigg (2014) [From Amazon.com] "In The Power of Habit, Pulitzer Prize–winning business reporter Charles Duhigg takes us to the thrilling edge of scientific discoveries that explain why habits exist and how they can be changed. Distilling vast amounts of information into engrossing narratives that take us from the boardrooms of Procter & Gamble to sidelines of the NFL to the front lines of the civil rights movement, Duhigg presents a whole new understanding of human nature and its potential. At its core, The Power of Habit contains an exhilarating argument: The key to exercising regularly, losing weight, being more productive, and achieving success is understanding how habits work. As Duhigg shows, by harnessing this new science, we can transform our businesses, our communities, and our lives."

$ Connected: The Surprising Power of Our Social Networks and How They Shape Our Lives -- How Your Friends' Friends' Friends Affect Everything You Feel, Think, and Do by Nicholas A. Christakis, James H. Fowler (2011) [From Amazon.com] "Harvard professor and health care policy specialist Christakis (Death Foretold: Prophecy and Prognosis in Medical Care) became interested in social connectivity when observing that the mortality rate of spouses spike after a partner passes away. Christakis sought out a collaboration with Fowler, a health systems and political scientist, and together they compare topology (the hows of a given structure) across different social networks to better explain how participation and positioning enhances the effectiveness of an individual, and why the "whole" of a network is "greater than the sum of its parts." Five basic rules describe the relationship between individuals and their networks-including mutual adaptation, the influence of friends and friends' friends, the network's "life of its own"-but the results do more than promote the good of the group: they also spread contagions; create "epidemics" of obesity, smoking and substance abuse; disseminate fads and markets; alter voting patterns; and more. A thorough but popular take on a complex phenomenon, this volume offers an entertaining guide to the mechanics and importance of human networking. 13 b/w illustrations, 8-page color insert."

$@ The Signal and the Noise: Why So Many Predictions Fail — but Some Don't by Nate Silver (2012) [From Amazon.com] "Nate Silver built an innovative system for predicting baseball performance, predicted the 2008 election within a hair’s breadth, and became a national sensation as a blogger—all by the time he was thirty. The New York Times now publishes FiveThirtyEight.com, where Silver is one of the nation’s most influential political forecasters. Drawing on his own groundbreaking work, Silver examines the world of prediction, investigating how we can distinguish a true signal from a universe of noisy data. Most predictions fail, often at great cost to society, because most of us have a poor understanding of probability and uncertainty. Both experts and laypeople mistake more confident predictions for more accurate ones. But overconfidence is often the reason for failure. If our appreciation of uncertainty improves, our predictions can get better too. This is the “prediction paradox”: The more humility we have about our ability to make predictions, the more successful we can be in planning for the future. In keeping with his own aim to seek truth from data, Silver visits the most successful forecasters in a range of areas, from hurricanes to baseball, from the poker table to the stock market, from Capitol Hill to the NBA. He explains and evaluates how these forecasters think and what bonds they share. What lies behind their success? Are they good—or just lucky? What patterns have they unraveled? And are their forecasts really right? He explores unanticipated commonalities and exposes unexpected juxtapositions. And sometimes, it is not so much how good a prediction is in an absolute sense that matters but how good it is relative to the competition. In other cases, prediction is still a very rudimentary—and dangerous—science. Silver observes that the most accurate forecasters tend to have a superior command of probability, and they tend to be both humble and hardworking. They distinguish the predictable from the unpredictable, and they notice a thousand little details that lead them closer to the truth. Because of their appreciation of probability, they can distinguish the signal from the noise. With everything from the health of the global economy to our ability to fight terrorism dependent on the quality of our predictions, Nate Silver’s insights are an essential read."

$@ The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion by Jonathan Haidt (2012) [From Amazon.com] "Why can’t our political leaders work together as threats loom and problems mount? Why do people so readily assume the worst about the motives of their fellow citizens? In The Righteous Mind, social psychologist Jonathan Haidt explores the origins of our divisions and points the way forward to mutual understanding. His starting point is moral intuition—the nearly instantaneous perceptions we all have about other people and the things they do. These intuitions feel like self-evident truths, making us righteously certain that those who see things differently are wrong. Haidt shows us how these intuitions differ across cultures, including the cultures of the political left and right. He blends his own research findings with those of anthropologists, historians, and other psychologists to draw a map of the moral domain, and he explains why conservatives can navigate that map more skillfully than can liberals. He then examines the origins of morality, overturning the view that evolution made us fundamentally selfish creatures. But rather than arguing that we are innately altruistic, he makes a more subtle claim—that we are fundamentally groupish. It is our groupishness, he explains, that leads to our greatest joys, our religious divisions, and our political affiliations. In a stunning final chapter on ideology and civility, Haidt shows what each side is right about, and why we need the insights of liberals, conservatives, and libertarians to flourish as a nation."

$ The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains by Nicholas Carr (2010) [From Amazon.com] "Carr—author of The Big Switch (2007) and the much-discussed Atlantic Monthly story “Is Google Making Us Stupid?”—is an astute critic of the information technology revolution. Here he looks to neurological science to gauge the organic impact of computers, citing fascinating experiments that contrast the neural pathways built by reading books versus those forged by surfing the hypnotic Internet, where portals lead us on from one text, image, or video to another while we’re being bombarded by messages, alerts, and feeds. This glimmering realm of interruption and distraction impedes the sort of comprehension and retention “deep reading” engenders, Carr explains. And not only are we reconfiguring our brains, we are also forging a “new intellectual ethic,” an arresting observation Carr expands on while discussing Google’s gargantuan book digitization project. What are the consequences of new habits of mind that abandon sustained immersion and concentration for darting about, snagging bits of information? What is gained and what is lost? Carr’s fresh, lucid, and engaging assessment of our infatuation with the Web is provocative and revelatory." Also see the Atlantic 2008 article Is Google Making Us Stupid?.

$ Priceless: The Myth of Fair Value (and How to Take Advantage of It) by William Poundstone (2009) [From Amazon.com] "Poundstone (Gaming the Vote) dives into the latest psychological findings to investigate how and why prices are allocated. Beginning with the controversial lawsuit in which a jury awarded $2.9 million in damages to a woman who had spilled a scalding cup of McDonald's coffee on herself, the author presents a readable history of how we are subtly manipulated into paying more (or less) for goods and services—and the research that attempts to explain our baffling and irrational susceptibility to pricing. The idea of anchoring and adjustment—setting an arbitrary number to subconsciously drive higher or lower estimates—is just one of many research areas explained at length. While Poundstone's case studies are vivid, the abundance of theories and experiments might prove overwhelming for the casual reader. Nevertheless, the scope of the analysis—its attention to economic abstractions as well as real-world consequences—braids together theory and practice to leave an indelible impression on the reader. Grocery shopping will never seem so simple again when one realizes how much work goes into assigning a price to a box of cereal."

$@ Think Twice: Harnessing the Power of Counterintuition by Michael J. Mauboussin (2009) [From Amazon.com] "Leaders in all fields-business, medicine, law, government-make crucial decisions every day. The harsh truth is that they mismanage many of those choices, even though they have the right intentions. These blunders take a huge toll on leaders, their organizations, and the people they serve. Why is it so hard to make sound decisions? We fall victim to simplified mental routines that prevent us from coping with the complex realities inherent in important judgment calls. Yet these cognitive errors are preventable. In Think Twice, Michael Mauboussin shows you how to recognize-and avoid-common mental missteps, including: -Misunderstanding cause-and-effect linkages -Aggregating micro-level behavior to predict macro-level behavior -Not considering enough alternative possibilities in making a decision -Relying too much on experts. Sharing vivid stories from business and beyond, Mauboussin offers powerful rules for avoiding each error. And he explains how to know when it's time to think twice-to question your reasoning and adopt decision-making strategies that are far more effective, even if they seem counterintuitive. Master the art of thinking twice, and you'll start spotting dangerous mental errors-in your own decisions and in those of others. Equipped with this awareness, you'll soon begin making sounder judgment calls that benefit (rather than hurt) your organization."

$ How We Decide by Jonah Lehrer (2009) [From Amazon.com] "Since Plato, philosophers have described the decision-making process as either rational or emotional: we carefully deliberate, or we blink and go with our gut. But as scientists break open the mind's black box with the latest tools of neuroscience, they are discovering that this is not how the mind works. Our best decisions are a finely tuned blend of both feeling and reason and the precise mix depends on the situation. When buying a house, for example, it's best to let our unconscious mull over the many variables. But when we're picking a stock, intuition often leads us astray. The trick is to determine when to use the different parts of the brain, and to do this, we need to think harder (and smarter) about how we think. Jonah Lehrer arms us with the tools we need, drawing on cutting-edge research as well as the real-world experiences of a wide range of deciders from airplane pilots and hedge fund investors to serial killers and poker players. Lehrer shows how people are taking advantage of the new science to make better television shows, win more football games, and improve military intelligence. His goal is to answer two questions that are of interest to just about anyone, from CEOs to firefighters: How does the human mind make decisions? And how can we make those decisions better?"

$ Iconoclast: A Neuroscientist Reveals How to Think Differently by Gregory Berns (2009) [From Amazon.com] "Psychiatry professor Berns (Satisfaction: The Science of Finding True Fulfillment) describes an iconoclast as "a person who does something that others say can't be done." Though keeping his promise to reveal the "biological basis" for the ability to think outside the box, Berns keeps technical explanation to a minimum, instead using themes like perception, fear and networking to profile a number of famous free-thinkers. While the ordinary person perceives the world based on his past experience and "what other people say," the iconoclast is both willing and able to risk seeing things differently; in the case of glass sculptor Dale Chihuly, his creative breakthrough (departing from symmetry in his ice-sculptures) came after a car crash blinded him in one eye, literally changing his view of the world. The will to take risks is also paramount; Cardinals baseball coach Branch Rickey and his controversial hire Jackie Robinson, the first black man in the Majors, provide models of imagination and fearlessness. Berns also looks at iconoclasts like Steve Jobs, Martin Luther King Jr., Henry Ford, the Dixie Chicks, Warren Buffett and Picasso, relating in lucid terms the mindsets that set them apart.".

$@ Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness by Richard H. Thaler, Cass R. Sunstein (2008) [From Amazon.com] "Every day, we make decisions on topics ranging from personal investments to schools for our children to the meals we eat to the causes we champion. Unfortunately, we often choose poorly. The reason, the authors explain in this important exploration of choice architecture, is that, being human, we all are susceptible to various biases that can lead us to blunder. Our mistakes make us poorer and less healthy; we often make bad decisions involving education, personal finance, health care, mortgages and credit cards, the family, and even the planet itself. Thaler and Sunstein invite us to enter an alternative world, one that takes our humanness as a given. They show that by knowing how people think, we can design choice environments that make it easier for people to choose what is best for themselves, their families, and their society. Using colorful examples from the most important aspects of life, Thaler and Sunstein demonstrate how thoughtful “choice architecture” can be established to nudge us in beneficial directions without restricting freedom of choice. Nudge offers a unique new take—from neither the left nor the right—on many hot-button issues, for individuals and governments alike. This is one of the most engaging and provocative books to come along in many years."

$#@ Mr. Market Miscalculates: The Bubble Years and Beyond by James Grant (2008) [From Amazon.com] Collected from speeches and editorials by Grant, the editor of Grant's Interest Rate Observer, these essays are remarkable for their prescience: two years before subprime mortgages collapsed, the author described them as not one borrower left behind and when other analysts were worried about the effect of a Fed interest rate increase, he foresaw that the risk to house prices lies not with interest rates but with lending standards. Other chapters attack bubbles in stocks and the dollar with erudition and wit (Economics, mistaking itself for physics, is wont to turn up its nose at history, but the past has much to teach; as dress on Wall Street has become more casual, so have the monetary arrangements... the gold standard and swallowtail coats have given way to Greenspan and open-neck shirts). It's hard to imagine reading any other investment newsletter even a week after publication. Grant's is the exception; it paints on a larger canvas and is infused with the author's generous spirit and rich sense of humor."

$ The Mind of the Market: Compassionate Apes, Competitive Humans, and Other Tales from Evolutionary Economics by Michael Shermer (2007) [From Amazon.com] "Shermer (The Science of Good and Evil), columnist for Scientific American and publisher of Skeptic magazine, provides an in-depth examination of evolutionary economics. Using fascinating examples—from monkeys that balk at unfair distribution of rewards after completing a task to humans who feel cheated when offered $10 of free money if a partner is given $90—Shermer explores the evolutionary roots of our sense of fairness and justice, and shows how this rationale extends to the market. Drawing upon his expertise as a scientist and the works of noted economists, Shermer argues convincingly that human beings are not exclusively self-centered, the market itself is moral, and modern economies are founded on our virtuous nature. He explores how we mind our money, the value of virtue, why money can't buy happiness and whether we are really free to make choices. Though dense in places, this book offers much insight into human behavior and rationales regarding money and fairness and will be of interest to serious readers of science or business." .

$@ Why Smart People Make Dumb Money Mistakes by Gary Belsky and Thomas Gilovich (2000) is a good entry-level book on behavioral finance. People are wired in non-intuitive ways that cause us to make decisions that are out of whack with what they rationally "should" do. Knowing what those flaws are, may help in consciously trying to avoid them when investing. [From Amazon.com] "Why do so many otherwise smart people make foolish financial choices? Why do investors sell stocks just before they skyrocket -- and cling to others as they plummer? Why do shoppers overspend when using credit cards rather than cash? What do our habits of tipping or buying lottery tickets indicate about our relationship with money? In this fascinating investigation of the ways we spend, invest, save, borrow, and waste money, Gary Belsky and Thomas Gilovich reveal the psychological causes -- the patterns of thinking and decision making -- of irrational behavior. Most important, they focus on the decisions we make every day and, using entertaining examples, provide invaluable tips on avoiding the financial faux pas that can cost thousands of dollars each year."

$#@ Your Money and Your Brain: How the New Science of Neuroeconomics Can Help Make You Rich by Jason Zweig (2007) is a fascinating different financial type of book about investing and risk based on a huge amount of research done on neuroeconomics. Another, subtitle might be to know thyself (or at least what traps we still fall into as mammals recently removed from the necessity of using primative survival skills, and what we might possibly do something about). [From Amazon.com] "What happens inside our brains when we think about money? Quite a lot, actually, and some of it isn't good for our financial health. In 'Your Money and Your Brain,' Jason Zweig explains why smart people make stupid financial decisions -- and what they can do to avoid these mistakes. Zweig, a veteran financial journalist, draws on the latest research in neuroeconomics, a fascinating new discipline that combines psychology, neuroscience, and economics to better understand financial decision making. He shows why we often misunderstand risk and why we tend to be overconfident about our investment decisions. "Your Money and Your Brain" offers some radical new insights into investing and shows investors how to take control of the battlefield between reason and emotion."Your Money and Your Brain" is as entertaining as it is enlightening. In the course of his research, Zweig visited leading neuroscience laboratories and subjected himself to numerous experiments. He blends anecdotes from these experiences with stories about investing mistakes, including confessions of stupidity from some highly successful people. Then he draws lessons and offers original practical steps that investors can take to make wiser decisions.Anyone who has ever looked back on a financial decision and said, 'How could I have been so stupid?' will benefit from reading this book."

$ Going Broke: Why Americans Can't Hold On To Their Money by Stuart Vyse (2008) [From Amazon.com] "Over the last three decades, debt, bankruptcy, and home foreclosures have risen to epidemic levels. To make matters worse, the personal savings rate is at its lowest point since the Great Depression. Why, in the richest nation on earth, can't Americans hold on to our money? Winner of the prestigious William James Book Award for Believing in Magic and an authority on irrational behavior, Stuart Vyse offers a unique psychological perspective on the financial behavior of the many Americans today who find they cannot make ends meet, illuminating the causes of our wildly self-destructive spending habits. But unlike other authors, he doesn't entirely blame the victim. Bringing together fascinating studies of consumer behavior, he argues that the mountain of debt burying so many of us is the inevitable byproduct of America's turbo-charged economy and, in particular, of social and technological trends that undermine our self-control. Going Broke illuminates everything from the rise of the credit card, to the increase in state lotteries and casino gambling, to the expansion of new shopping opportunities provided by toll-free numbers, home shopping networks, big-box stores, and the Internet, revealing how vast changes in American society over the last 30 years have greatly complicated our relationship with money. Vyse concludes both with personal advice for the individual who wants to achieve greater financial stability and with pointed recommendations for economic and social change that will help promote the financial health of all Americans. Engagingly written, with startling insights into modern consumerism and with poignant human-interest stories of people facing financial failure, Going Broke offers a provocative new perspective on American economic behavior that is likely to stir controversy and serious debate."

$@ The Myth of Multitasking: How "Doing It All" Gets Nothing Done by Dave Crenshaw (2008) Although not strictly a behaviorial economics book, it deals with an interesting side issue of multi-tasking and how people fool themselves into thinking they are doing more than they really are. He shows that when we think we are really doing parallel processing, we are really doing what he calls "switchtasking" both active and passive. Active switchtasking has a mental time cost that takes away from the time actually used to get things done. [From Amazon.com] "In a compelling business fable, The Myth of Multitasking confronts a popular idea that has come to define our hectic, work-a-day world. This simple yet powerful book shows clearly why multitasking is, in fact, a lie that wastes time and costs money. Far from being efficient, multitasking actually damages productivity and relationships at work and at home."

Note: many of the other books mentioned in these lists also touch on these behavioral finance/economics sub topics.

5.1 Effects of globalization, economics, bubble history, open source and technology movements, and public policy

$ Principles for Dealing with the Changing World Order: Why Nations Succeed and Fail by Ray Dalio (Nov 30, 2022)[From Amazon.com] "“A provocative read...There are few tomes that coherently map such broad economic histories as well as Mr. Dalio’s. Perhaps more unusually, Mr. Dalio has managed to identify metrics from that history that can be applied to understand today.” —Andrew Ross Sorkin, The New York Times. From legendary investor Ray Dalio, author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Principles, who has spent half a century studying global economies and markets, Principles for Dealing with the Changing World Order examines history’s most turbulent economic and political periods to reveal why the times ahead will likely be radically different from those we’ve experienced in our lifetimes—and to offer practical advice on how to navigate them well. A few years ago, Ray Dalio noticed a confluence of political and economic conditions he hadn’t encountered before. They included huge debts and zero or near-zero interest rates that led to massive printing of money in the world’s three major reserve currencies; big political and social conflicts within countries, especially the US, due to the largest wealth, political, and values disparities in more than 100 years; and the rising of a world power (China) to challenge the existing world power (US) and the existing world order. The last time that this confluence occurred was between 1930 and 1945. This realization sent Dalio on a search for the repeating patterns and cause/effect relationships underlying all major changes in wealth and power over the last 500 years.In this remarkable and timely addition to his Principles series, Dalio brings readers along for his study of the major empires—including the Dutch, the British, and the American—putting into perspective the “Big Cycle” that has driven the successes and failures of all the world’s major countries throughout history. He reveals the timeless and universal forces behind these shifts and uses them to look into the future, offering practical principles for positioning oneself for what’s ahead."

$ Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right by Arlie Russell Hochschild (Sept 6, 2016) [From Amazon.com] "In Strangers in Their Own Land, the renowned sociologist Arlie Hochschild embarks on a thought-provoking journey from her liberal hometown of Berkeley, California, deep into Louisiana bayou country—a stronghold of the conservative right. As she gets to know people who strongly oppose many of the ideas she famously champions, Hochschild nevertheless finds common ground and quickly warms to the people she meets—among them a Tea Party activist whose town has been swallowed by a sinkhole caused by a drilling accident—people whose concerns are actually ones that all Americans share: the desire for community, the embrace of family, and hopes for their children. Strangers in Their Own Land goes beyond the commonplace liberal idea that these are people who have been duped into voting against their own interests. Instead, Hochschild finds lives ripped apart by stagnant wages, a loss of home, an elusive American dream—and political choices and views that make sense in the context of their lives. Hochschild draws on her expert knowledge of the sociology of emotion to help us understand what it feels like to live in “red” America. Along the way she finds answers to one of the crucial questions of contemporary American politics: why do the people who would seem to benefit most from “liberal” government intervention abhor the very idea?"

$ Raising the Floor: How a Universal Basic Income Can Renew Our Economy and Rebuild the American Dream by Andy Stern (June, 2016) [From Amazon.com] "Advances in technology are creating the next economy and enabling us to make things/do things/connect with others in smarter, cheaper, faster, more effective ways. But the price of this progress has been a decoupling of the engine of prosperity from jobs that have been the means by which people have ascended to (and stayed in) the middle class. Andy Stern, the former president of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) spent four years traveling the country and asking economists, futurists, labor leaders, CEOs, investment bankers, entrepreneurs, and political leaders to help picture the U.S. economy 25 to 30 years from now. He vividly reports on people who are analyzing and creating this new economy—such as investment banker Steve Berkenfeld; David Cote, the CEO of Honeywell International; Andy Grove of Intel; Carl Camden, the CEO of Kelly Services; and Geoffrey Canada of the Harlem Children’s Zone. Through these stories, we come to a stark and deeper understanding of the toll technological progress will continue to take on jobs and income and its inevitable effect on tens of millions of people. But there is hope for our economy and future. The foundation of economic prosperity for all Americans, Stern believes, is a universal basic income. The idea of a universal basic income for all Americans is controversial but American attitudes are shifting. Stern has been a game changer throughout his career, and his next goal is to create a movement that will force the political establishment to take action against something that many on both the right and the left believe is inevitable. Stern’s plan is bold, idealistic, and challenging—and its time has come."

$@ The Sharing Economy: The End of Employment and the Rise of Crowd-Based Capitalism by Arun Sundararajan (May 13, 2016) [From Amazon.com] "Sharing isn't new. Giving someone a ride, having a guest in your spare room, running errands for someone, participating in a supper club -- these are not revolutionary concepts. What is new, in the "sharing economy," is that you are not helping a friend for free; you are providing these services to a stranger for money. In this book, Arun Sundararajan, an expert on the sharing economy, explains the transition to what he describes as "crowd-based capitalism" -- a new way of organizing economic activity that may supplant the traditional corporate-centered model. As peer-to-peer commercial exchange blurs the lines between the personal and the professional, how will the economy, government regulation, what it means to have a job, and our social fabric be affected? Drawing on extensive research and numerous real-world examples -- including Airbnb, Lyft, Uber, Etsy, TaskRabbit, France's BlaBlaCar, China's Didi Kuaidi, and India's Ola, Sundararajan explains the basics of crowd-based capitalism. He describes the intriguing mix of "gift" and "market" in its transactions, demystifies emerging blockchain technologies, and clarifies the dizzying array of emerging on-demand platforms. He considers how this new paradigm changes economic growth and the future of work. Will we live in a world of empowered entrepreneurs who enjoy professional flexibility and independence? Or will we become disenfranchised digital laborers scurrying between platforms in search of the next wedge of piecework? Sundararajan highlights the important policy choices and suggests possible new directions for self-regulatory organizations, labor law, and funding our social safety net."

$@ Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari (Feb 2015) [From Amazon.com] "From a renowned historian comes a groundbreaking narrative of humanity’s creation and evolution—a #1 international bestseller—that explores the ways in which biology and history have defined us and enhanced our understanding of what it means to be “human.” One hundred thousand years ago, at least six different species of humans inhabited Earth. Yet today there is only one—homo sapiens. What happened to the others? And what may happen to us? Most books about the history of humanity pursue either a historical or a biological approach, but Dr. Yuval Noah Harari breaks the mold with this highly original book that begins about 70,000 years ago with the appearance of modern cognition. From examining the role evolving humans have played in the global ecosystem to charting the rise of empires, Sapiens integrates history and science to reconsider accepted narratives, connect past developments with contemporary concerns, and examine specific events within the context of larger ideas. Dr. Harari also compels us to look ahead, because over the last few decades humans have begun to bend laws of natural selection that have governed life for the past four billion years. We are acquiring the ability to design not only the world around us, but also ourselves. Where is this leading us, and what do we want to become? Featuring 27 photographs, 6 maps, and 25 illustrations/diagrams, this provocative and insightful work is sure to spark debate and is essential reading for aficionados of Jared Diamond, James Gleick, Matt Ridley, Robert Wright, and Sharon Moalem."

$#@ The Rise and Fall of American Growth: The U.S. Standard of Living since the Civil War by Robert J. Gordon (Jan, 2016) [From Amazon.com] "In the century after the Civil War, an economic revolution improved the American standard of living in ways previously unimaginable. Electric lighting, indoor plumbing, home appliances, motor vehicles, air travel, air conditioning, and television transformed households and workplaces. With medical advances, life expectancy between 1870 and 1970 grew from forty-five to seventy-two years. Weaving together a vivid narrative, historical anecdotes, and economic analysis, The Rise and Fall of American Growth provides an in-depth account of this momentous era. But has that era of unprecedented growth come to an end? Gordon challenges the view that economic growth can or will continue unabated, and he demonstrates that the life-altering scale of innovations between 1870 and 1970 can't be repeated. He contends that the nation's productivity growth, which has already slowed to a crawl, will be further held back by the vexing headwinds of rising inequality, stagnating education, an aging population, and the rising debt of college students and the federal government. Gordon warns that the younger generation may be the first in American history that fails to exceed their parents' standard of living, and that rather than depend on the great advances of the past, we must find new solutions to overcome the challenges facing us. A critical voice in the debates over economic stagnation, The Rise and Fall of American Growth is at once a tribute to a century of radical change and a harbinger of tougher times to come."

$@ The Human Superorganism: How the Microbiome Is Revolutionizing the Pursuit of a Healthy Life by Rodney Dietert (July 2016) [From Amazon.com] "The origin of asthma, autism, Alzheimer's, allergies, cancer, heart disease, obesity, and even some kinds of depression is now clear. Award-winning researcher on the microbiome, professor Rodney Dietert presents a new paradigm in human biology that has emerged in the midst of the ongoing global epidemic of noncommunicable diseases. The Human Superorganism makes a sweeping, paradigm-shifting argument. It demolishes two fundamental beliefs that have blinkered all medical thinking until very recently: 1) Humans are better off as pure organisms free of foreign microbes; and 2) the human genome is the key to future medical advances. The microorganisms that we have sought to eliminate have been there for centuries supporting our ancestors. They comprise as much as 90 percent of the cells in and on our bodies—a staggering percentage! More than a thousand species of them live inside us, on our skin, and on our very eyelashes. Yet we have now significantly reduced their power and in doing so have sparked an epidemic of noncommunicable diseases—which now account for 63 percent of all human deaths. Ultimately, this book is not just about microbes; it is about a different way to view humans. The story that Dietert tells of where the new biology comes from, how it works, and the ways in which it affects your life is fascinating, authoritative, and revolutionary. Dietert identifies foods that best serve you, the superorganism; not new fad foods but ancient foods that have made sense for millennia. He explains protective measures against unsafe chemicals and drugs. He offers an empowering self-care guide and the blueprint for a revolution in public health. We are not what we have been taught. Each of us is a superorganism. The best path to a healthy life is through recognizing that profound truth."

$@ The Gene: An Intimate History by Siddhartha Mukerjee (May 2016) [From Amazon.com] "From the Pulitzer Prize-winning, bestselling author of The Emperor of All Maladies—a magnificent history of the gene and a response to the defining question of the future: What becomes of being human when we learn to “read” and “write” our own genetic information? Siddhartha Mukherjee has a written a biography of the gene as deft, brilliant, and illuminating as his extraordinarily successful biography of cancer. Weaving science, social history, and personal narrative to tell us the story of one of the most important conceptual breakthroughs of modern times, Mukherjee animates the quest to understand human heredity and its surprising influence on our lives, personalities, identities, fates, and choices. Throughout the narrative, the story of Mukherjee’s own family—with its tragic and bewildering history of mental illness—cuts like a bright, red line, reminding us of the many questions that hang over our ability to translate the science of genetics from the laboratory to the real world. In superb prose and with an instinct for the dramatic scene, he describes the centuries of research and experimentation—from Aristotle and Pythagoras to Mendel and Darwin, from Boveri and Morgan to Crick, Watson and Franklin, all the way through the revolutionary twenty-first century innovators who mapped the human genome. As The New Yorker said of The Emperor of All Maladies, “It’s hard to think of many books for a general audience that have rendered any area of modern science and technology with such intelligence, accessibility, and compassion…An extraordinary achievement.” Riveting, revelatory, and magisterial history of a scientific idea coming to life, and an essential preparation for the moral complexity introduced by our ability to create or “write” the human genome, The Gene is a must-read for everyone concerned about the definition and future of humanity. This is the most crucial science of our time, intimately explained by a master."

$@ Naked Economics: Undressing the Dismal Science (Fully Revised and Updated) by Charles Wheelan (Author), Burton G. Malkiel (Foreword) (2010) [From Amazon.com] "Finally! A book about economics that won’t put you to sleep. In fact, you won’t be able to put this bestseller down. In our challenging economic climate, this perennial favorite of students and general readers is more than a good read, it’s a necessary investment—with a blessedly sure rate of return. Demystifying buzzwords, laying bare the truths behind oft-quoted numbers, and answering the questions you were always too embarrassed to ask, the breezy Naked Economics gives readers the tools they need to engage with pleasure and confidence in the deeply relevant, not so dismal science. This revised and updated edition adds commentary on hot topics, including the current economic crisis, globalization, the economics of information, the intersection of economics and politics, and the history—and future—of the Federal Reserve."

$@ Why Things Bite Back: Technology and the Revenge of Unintended Consequences by Edward Tenner (1997) [From Amazon.com] "In this perceptive and provocative look at everything from computer software that requires faster processors and more support staff to antibiotics that breed resistant strains of bacteria, Edward Tenner offers a virtual encyclopedia of what he calls "revenge effects"--the unintended consequences of the mechanical, chemical, biological, and medical forms of ingenuity that have been hallmarks of the progressive, improvement-obsessed modern age. Tenner shows why our confidence in technological solutions may be misplaced, and explores ways in which we can better survive in a world where despite technology's advances--and often because of them--"reality is always gaining on us." For anyone hoping to understand the ways in which society and technology interact, Why Things Bite Back is indispensable reading. "A bracing critique of technological determinism in both its utopian and dystopian forms...No one who wants to think clearly about our high-tech future can afford to ignore this book."--Jackson Lears, Wilson Quarterly."

$#@ Capital in the Twenty-First Century by Thomas Piketty, Arthur Goldhammer (Translator)(2014) [From Amazon.com] "What are the grand dynamics that drive the accumulation and distribution of capital? Questions about the long-term evolution of inequality, the concentration of wealth, and the prospects for economic growth lie at the heart of political economy. But satisfactory answers have been hard to find for lack of adequate data and clear guiding theories. In Capital in the Twenty-First Century, Thomas Piketty analyzes a unique collection of data from twenty countries, ranging as far back as the eighteenth century, to uncover key economic and social patterns. His findings will transform debate and set the agenda for the next generation of thought about wealth and inequality. Piketty shows that modern economic growth and the diffusion of knowledge have allowed us to avoid inequalities on the apocalyptic scale predicted by Karl Marx. But we have not modified the deep structures of capital and inequality as much as we thought in the optimistic decades following World War II. The main driver of inequality?the tendency of returns on capital to exceed the rate of economic growth?today threatens to generate extreme inequalities that stir discontent and undermine democratic values. But economic trends are not acts of God. Political action has curbed dangerous inequalities in the past, Piketty says, and may do so again. A work of extraordinary ambition, originality, and rigor, Capital in the Twenty-First Century reorients our understanding of economic history and confronts us with sobering lessons for today."

$@ The Second Machine Age: Work, Progress, and Prosperity in a Time of Brilliant Technologies by Erik Brynjolfsson, Andrew McAfee (2014) [From Amazon.com] "In recent years, Google’s autonomous cars have logged thousands of miles on American highways and IBM’s Watson trounced the best human Jeopardy! players. Digital technologies—with hardware, software, and networks at their core—will in the near future diagnose diseases more accurately than doctors can, apply enormous data sets to transform retailing, and accomplish many tasks once considered uniquely human. In The Second Machine Age MIT’s Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee—two thinkers at the forefront of their field—reveal the forces driving the reinvention of our lives and our economy. As the full impact of digital technologies is felt, we will realize immense bounty in the form of dazzling personal technology, advanced infrastructure, and near-boundless access to the cultural items that enrich our lives. Amid this bounty will also be wrenching change. Professions of all kinds—from lawyers to truck drivers—will be forever upended. Companies will be forced to transform or die. Recent economic indicators reflect this shift: fewer people are working, and wages are falling even as productivity and profits soar. Drawing on years of research and up-to-the-minute trends, Brynjolfsson and McAfee identify the best strategies for survival and offer a new path to prosperity. These include revamping education so that it prepares people for the next economy instead of the last one, designing new collaborations that pair brute processing power with human ingenuity, and embracing policies that make sense in a radically transformed landscape. A fundamentally optimistic book, The Second Machine Age will alter how we think about issues of technological, societal, and economic progress."

$@ Average Is Over: Powering America Beyond the Age of the Great Stagnation by Tyler Cowen (2013) [From Amazon.com] "Widely acclaimed as one of the world’s most influential economists, Tyler Cowen returns with his groundbreaking follow-up to the New York Times bestseller The Great Stagnation. The widening gap between rich and poor means dealing with one big, uncomfortable truth: If you’re not at the top, you’re at the bottom. The global labor market is changing radically thanks to growth at the high end—and the low. About three quarters of the jobs created in the United States since the great recession pay only a bit more than minimum wage. Still, the United States has more millionaires and billionaires than any country ever, and we continue to mint them. In this eye-opening book, renowned economist and bestselling author Tyler Cowen explains that phenomenon: High earners are taking ever more advantage of machine intelligence in data analysis and achieving ever-better results. Meanwhile, low earners who haven’t committed to learning, to making the most of new technologies, have poor prospects. Nearly every business sector relies less and less on manual labor, and this fact is forever changing the world of work and wages. A steady, secure life somewhere in the middle—average—is over. With The Great Stagnation, Cowen explained why median wages stagnated over the last four decades; in Average Is Over he reveals the essential nature of the new economy, identifies the best path forward for workers and entrepreneurs, and provides readers with actionable advice to make the most of the new economic landscape. It is a challenging and sober must-read but ultimately exciting, good news. In debates about our nation’s economic future, it will be impossible to ignore".

$@ Masters of the Word: How Media Shaped History by William J. Bernstein (2013) [From Amazon.com] "William J. Bernstein’s A Splendid Exchange: How Trade Shaped the World, an Economist and Financial Times Best Book of the Year, placed him firmly among the top flight of historians like Jared Diamond and Bill Bryson, capable of distilling major trends and reams of information into insightful, globe-spanning popular narrative. Bernstein explains how new communication technologies and in particular our access to them, impacted human society. Writing was born thousands of years ago in Mesopotamia. Spreading to Sumer, and then Egypt, this revolutionary tool allowed rulers to extend their control far and wide, giving rise to the world’s first empires. When Phoenician traders took their alphabet to Greece, literacy’s first boom led to the birth of drama and democracy. In Rome, it helped spell the downfall of the Republic. Later, medieval scriptoria and vernacular bibles gave rise to religious dissent, and with the combination of cheaper paper and Gutenberg’s printing press, the fuse of Reformation was lit. The Industrial Revolution brought the telegraph and the steam driven printing press, allowing information to move faster than ever before and to reach an even larger audience. But along with radio and television, these new technologies were more easily exploited by the powerful, as seen in Germany, the Soviet Union, even Rwanda, where radio incited genocide. With the rise of carbon duplicates (Russian samizdat), photocopying (the Pentagon Papers), the internet, social media and cell phones (the recent Arab Spring) more people have access to communications, making the world more connected than ever before. In Masters of the Word, Bernstein masterfully guides the reader through the vast history of communications, illustrating each step with colorful stories and anecdotes. This is a captivating, enlightening book, one that will change the way you look at technology, history, and power. ".

$@ Who Owns the Future? by Jaron Lanier (2012) [From Amazon.com] "An Amazon Best Book of the Month, May 2013: Jaron Lanier's last book, You Are Not a Gadget, was an influential criticism of Web 2.0's crowd-sourced backbone. In Who Owns the Future?, Lanier is interested in how network technologies affect our culture, economy, and collective soul. Lanier is talking about pretty heady stuff--the monopolistic power of big tech companies (dubbed "Siren Servers"), the flattening of the middle class, the obscuring of humanity--but he has a gift for explaining sophisticated concepts with clarity. In fact, what separates Lanier from a lot of techno-futurists is his emphasis on the maintaining humanism and accessibility in technology. In the most ambitious part of the book, Lanier expresses what he believes to be the ideal version of the networked future--one that is built on two-way connections instead of one-way relationships, allowing content, media, and other innovations to be more easily attributed (including a system of micro-payments that lead back to its creator). Is the two-way networked vision of the internet proposed in Who Owns the Future quixotic? Even Lanier seems unsure, but his goal here is to establish a foundation for which we should strive. At one point, Lanier jokingly asks sci-fi author William Gibson to write something that doesn't depict technology as so menacing. Gibson replies, "Jaron, I tried. But it's coming out dark." Lanier is able to conjure a future that's much brighter, and hopefully in his imagination, we are moving closer to that. --Kevin Nguyen".

$ You Are Not a Gadget: A Manifesto by Jaron Lanier (2010) [From Amazon.com] "Amazon Best Books of the Month, January 2010: For the most part, Web 2.0--Internet technologies that encourage interactivity, customization, and participation--is hailed as an emerging Golden Age of information sharing and collaborative achievement, the strength of democratized wisdom. Jaron Lanier isn't buying it. In You Are Not a Gadget, the longtime tech guru/visionary/dreadlocked genius (and progenitor of virtual reality) argues the opposite: that unfettered--and anonymous--ability to comment results in cynical mob behavior, the shouting-down of reasoned argument, and the devaluation of individual accomplishment. Lanier traces the roots of today's Web 2.0 philosophies and architectures (e.g. he posits that Web anonymity is the result of '60s paranoia), persuasively documents their shortcomings, and provides alternate paths to "locked-in" paradigms. Though its strongly-stated opinions run against the bias of popular assumptions, You Are Not a Gadget is a manifesto, not a screed; Lanier seeks a useful, respectful dialogue about how we can shape technology to fit culture's needs, rather than the way technology currently shapes us.".

$@ Race Against the Machine: How the Digital Revolution is Accelerating Innovation, Driving Productivity, and Irreversibly Transforming Employment and the Economy by Erik Brynjolfsson, Andrew McAfee (2012) [From Amazon.com] "Why has median income stopped rising in the US? Why is the share of population that is working falling so rapidly? Why are our economy and society are becoming more unequal? A popular explanation right now is that the root cause underlying these symptoms is technological stagnation-- a slowdown in the kinds of ideas and inventions that bring progress and prosperity. In Race Against the Machine, MIT's Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee present a very different explanation. Drawing on research by their team at the Center for Digital Business, they show that there's been no stagnation in technology -- in fact, the digital revolution is accelerating. Recent advances are the stuff of science fiction: computers now drive cars in traffic, translate between human languages effectively, and beat the best human Jeopardy! players. As these examples show, digital technologies are rapidly encroaching on skills that used to belong to humans alone. This phenomenon is both broad and deep, and has profound economic implications. Many of these implications are positive; digital innovation increases productivity, reduces prices (sometimes to zero), and grows the overall economic pie. But digital innovation has also changed how the economic pie is distributed, and here the news is not good for the median worker. As technology races ahead, it can leave many people behind. Workers whose skills have been mastered by computers have less to offer the job market, and see their wages and prospects shrink. Entrepreneurial business models, new organizational structures and different institutions are needed to ensure that the average worker is not left behind by cutting-edge machines. In Race Against the Machine Brynjolfsson and McAfee bring together a range of statistics, examples, and arguments to show that technological progress is accelerating, and that this trend has deep consequences for skills, wages, and jobs. The book makes the case that employment prospects are grim for many today not because there's been technology has stagnated, but instead because we humans and our organizations aren't keeping up."

$ Borrow: The American way of debt by Lous Hyman (2012) This book covers financial history, behaviorial economics and risk, and could be put in any of these categorie. [From Amazon.com] "In this lively history of consumer debt in America, economic historian Louis Hyman demonstrates that today’s problems are not as new as we think. Borrow examines how the rise of consumer borrowing—virtually unknown before the twentieth century—has altered our culture and economy. Starting in the years before the Great Depression, increased access to money raised living standards but also introduced unforeseen risks. As lending grew more and more profitable, it displaced funds available for business borrowing, setting our economy on an unsustainable course. Told through the vivid stories of individuals and institutions affected by these changes, Borrow charts the collision of commerce and culture in twentieth-century America, giving an historical perspective on what is new—and what is not—in today’s economic turmoil.".

$@ Grand Pursuit: The Story of Economic Genius by Sylvia Nassar (2011) [From Amazon.com] "In a sweeping narrative, the author of the megabestseller A Beautiful Mind takes us on a journey through modern history with the men and women who changed the lives of every single person on the planet. It’s the epic story of the making of modern economics, and of how economics rescued mankind from squalor and deprivation by placing its material fate in its own hands rather than in Fate. Nasar’s account begins with Charles Dickens and Henry Mayhew observing and publishing the condition of the poor majority in mid-nineteenth-century London, the richest and most glittering place in the world. This was a new pursuit. She describes the often heroic efforts of Marx, Engels, Alfred Marshall, Beatrice and Sydney Webb, and the American Irving Fisher to put those insights into action—with revolutionary consequences for the world. From the great John Maynard Keynes to Schumpeter, Hayek, Keynes’s disciple Joan Robinson, the influential American economists Paul Samuelson and Milton Freedman, and India’s Nobel Prize winner Amartya Sen, she shows how the insights of these activist thinkers transformed the world—from one city, London, to the developed nations in Europe and America, and now to the entire planet. In Nasar’s dramatic narrative of these discoverers we witness men and women responding to personal crises, world wars, revolutions, economic upheavals, and each other’s ideas to turn back Malthus and transform the dismal science into a triumph over mankind’s hitherto age-old destiny of misery and early death. This idea, unimaginable less than 200 years ago, is a story of trial and error, but ultimately transcendent, as it is rendered here in a stunning and moving narrative."

$@ Keynes Hayek: The Clash that Defined Modern Economics by Nicholas Wapshott (2011) [From Amazon.com] "Can government fix a broken economy? Two great economists disagreed eighty years ago, and their debate dominates politics to this day. As the stock market crash of 1929 plunged the world into turmoil, two men emerged with competing claims on how to restore balance to economies gone awry. John Maynard Keynes, the mercurial Cambridge economist, believed that government had a duty to spend when others would not. He met his opposite in a little-known Austrian economics professor, Freidrich Hayek, who considered attempts to intervene both pointless and potentially dangerous. The battle lines thus drawn, Keynesian economics would dominate for decades and coincide with an era of unprecedented prosperity, but conservative economists and political leaders would eventually embrace and execute Hayek's contrary vision."

$@ The Darwin Economy: Liberty, Competition, and the Common Good by Robert H. Frank(2011) [From Amazon.com] "Who was the greater economist--Adam Smith or Charles Darwin? The question seems absurd. Darwin, after all, was a naturalist, not an economist. But Robert Frank, New York Times economics columnist and best-selling author of The Economic Naturalist, predicts that within the next century Darwin will unseat Smith as the intellectual founder of economics. The reason, Frank argues, is that Darwin's understanding of competition describes economic reality far more accurately than Smith's. And the consequences of this fact are profound. Indeed, the failure to recognize that we live in Darwin's world rather than Smith's is putting us all at risk by preventing us from seeing that competition alone will not solve our problems. ..."

$ The Quants: How a New Breed of Math Whizzes Conquered Wall Street and Nearly Destroyed It by Scott Patterson (2011) [From Amazon.com] "In a fast-moving narrative, Wall Street Journal reporter Patterson explores the coterie of mathematicians behind the Wall Street crash of 2008. The story's stars are "an unusual breed of investors" called quants, who "used brain-twisting math and super-powered computers to pluck billions in fleeting dollars out of the market." Following the first quant, Beat the Market author Ed Thorp, from his graduate school days in 1955, and introducing others like Peter Muller and Ken Griffin as they established funds at major investment firms, Patterson spins a fascinating story of riches amassed for a few and, inevitably, lost for many: a collapsing hedge fund, "imploding under the weight of toxic subprime assets," took down the system "like a massive avalanche started by a single loose boulder." Though his narrative is interesting and easy to follow, Patterson's explanations of investment terms are not for novices; a glossary would have helped. As he puts the excesses and failures of Wall Street into perspective, however, Patterson also offers evidence that Wall Street hasn't learned its lesson: as of spring 2009, "several banks reported stronger earnings numbers... in part due to clever accounting tricks... and other potentially dangerous quant gadgets being forged in the dark smithies of Wall Street."

$@ The Great Stagnation: How America Ate All the Low-Hanging Fruit of Modern History, Got Sick, and Will (Eventually) Feel Better by Tyler Cowen (2011) [From Amazon.com] "Tyler Cowen's The Great Stagnation, the eSpecial heard round the world that ignited a firestorm of debate and redefined the nature of our economic malaise, is now-at last-a book. America has been through the biggest financial crisis since the great Depression, unemployment numbers are frightening, media wages have been flat since the 1970s, and it is common to expect that things will get worse before they get better. Certainly, the multidecade stagnation is not yet over. How will we get out of this mess? One political party tries to increase government spending even when we have no good plan for paying for ballooning programs like Medicare and Social Security. The other party seems to think tax cuts will raise revenue and has a record of creating bigger fiscal disasters that the first. Where does this madness come from? As Cowen argues, our economy has enjoyed low-hanging fruit since the seventeenth century: free land, immigrant labor, and powerful new technologies. But during the last forty years, the low-hanging fruit started disappearing, and we started pretending it was still there. We have failed to recognize that we are at a technological plateau. The fruit trees are barer than we want to believe. That's it. That is what has gone wrong and that is why our politics is crazy. Cowen reveals the underlying causes of our past prosperity and how we will generate it again. This is a passionate call for a new respect of scientific innovations that benefit not only the powerful elites, but humanity as a whole."

$@ The Next Convergence: The Future of Economic Growth in a Multispeed World by Michael Spence (2011) [From Amazon.com] "With the British Industrial Revolution, part of the world’s population started to experience extraordinary economic growth—leading to enormous gaps in wealth and living standards between the industrialized West and the rest of the world. This pattern of divergence reversed after World War II, and now we are midway through a century of high and accelerating growth in the developing world and a new convergence with the advanced countries—a trend that is set to reshape the world. Michael Spence, winner of the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences, explains what happened to cause this dramatic shift in the prospects of the five billion people who live in developing countries. The growth rates are extraordinary, and continuing them presents unprecedented challenges in governance, international coordination, and ecological sustainability. The implications for those living in the advanced countries are great but little understood. Spence clearly and boldly describes what’s at stake for all of us as he looks ahead to how the global economy will develop over the next fifty years. The Next Convergence is certain to spark a heated debate how best to move forward in the post-crisis period and reset the balance between national and international economic interests, and short-term fixes and long-term sustainability."

$ Why the West Rules--for Now: The Patterns of History, and What They Reveal About the Future by Ian Morris (2011) [From Amazon.com] "Sometime around 1750, English entrepreneurs unleashed the astounding energies of steam and coal, and the world was forever changed. The emergence of factories, railroads, and gunboats propelled the West's rise to power in the nineteenth century, and the development of computers and nuclear weapons in the twentieth century secured its global supremacy. Now, at the beginning of the twenty-first century, many worry that the emerging economic power of China and India spells the end of the West as a superpower. In order to understand this possibility, we need to look back in time. Why has the West dominated the globe for the past two hundred years, and will its power last? Describing the patterns of human history, the archaeologist and historian Ian Morris offers surprising new answers to both questions. It is not, he reveals, differences of race or culture, or even the strivings of great individuals, that explain Western dominance. It is the effects of geography on the everyday efforts of ordinary people as they deal with crises of resources, disease, migration, and climate. As geography and human ingenuity continue to interact, the world will change in astonishing ways, transforming Western rule in the process. Deeply researched and brilliantly argued, Why the West Rules--for Now spans fifty thousand years of history and offers fresh insights on nearly every page. The book brings together the latest findings across disciplines--from ancient history to neuroscience--not only to explain why the West came to rule the world but also to predict what the future will bring in the next hundred years."

$@ 13 Bankers: The Wall Street Takeover and the Next Financial Meltdown by Simon Johnson, James Kwak (2010) [From Amazon.com] "Though this blistering book identifies many causes of the recent financial crisis, from housing policy to minimum capital requirements for banks, the authors lay ultimate blame on a dominant deregulatory ideology and Wall Street's corresponding political influence. Johnson, professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management, and Kwak, a former consultant for McKinsey, follow American finance's rocky road from the debate between Jefferson and Hamilton over the first Bank of the United States through frequent friction between Big Finance and democracy to the Obama administration's responses to the crises. The authors take a highly critical stance toward recent palliative measures, arguing that nationalization of the banks would have been preferable to the bailouts, which have allowed the banks to further consolidate power and resources. Given the swelling size of the six megabanks, the authors make a persuasive case that the financial system cannot be secure until those banks that are too big to fail are somehow broken up. This intelligent, nuanced book might be too technical for general-interest readers, but it synthesizes a significant amount of research while advancing a coherent and compelling point of view."

$@ The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine by Michael Lewis (2010) [From Amazon.com] "Although Lewis is perhaps best known for his sports-related nonfiction (including The Blind Side), his first book was the autobiographical Liar's Poker, in which he chronicled his disillusionment as a young gun on Wall Street in the greed is good 1980s. He returns to his financial roots to excavate the crisis of 2007–2008, employing his trademark technique of casting a microcosmic lens on the personal histories of several Wall Street outsiders who were betting against the grain—to shed light on the macrocosmic tale of greed and fear. Although Lewis reads the book's introduction, narration duties are assumed by Jesse Boggs, a veteran narrator of business titles (including Lewis's own 2008 book Panic!). Boggs's rich baritone is well suited to the task and trips lightly through a maze of financial jargon (CDOs, derivatives, mid-prime lending) and a dizzying cast of characters. Lewis returns on the final disc for a 10-minute interview about the crisis's aftermath, including a savvy assessment of the wisdom of the financial bailout and where-are-they-now updates on the book's various heroes and villains."

$ The Moral Underground: How Ordinary Americans Subvert an Unfair Economy by Lisa Dodson (2009) [From Amazon.com] "In this fascinating exploration of economic civil disobedience, Dodson (Don't Call Us Out by Name) introduces readers to teachers, supervisors, health-care professionals and managers who bend the rules—and even break the law—to support those in need. Dodson shares stories of individuals like Linda, a health-care supervisor who has, against hospital policy, driven an employee to court on work time and allows her low-wage employees to manipulate the schedule so they can attend to child-care needs. The author interviews Cora, a restaurant manager, who came up with a double talk system, in which she keeps two sets of time sheets so that workers can attend to family issues and who says, helping women meet their kids or do what they have to do is more important than her chain restaurant's rules. Dodson's study is gripping and her argument is persuasive: we should not have to put compassionate Americans in a position where they have to choose between following rules and helping those who are trying to help themselves."

$@ Too Big to Fail: The Inside Story of How Wall Street and Washington Fought to Save the Financial System---and Themselves by Andrew Ross Sorkin (2009) [From Amazon.com] "The author has done remarkable research and has composed it into a highly readable account of the 2008 Financial Panic. What surprised me was the extent to which the likes Paulson, Geithner, people at Goldman Sachs knew in early Spring that the dominoes had lined up and yet in a sense couldn't stop them from toppling. Conventional wisdom until now has been that Paulson & Bernanke were unprepared & totally blindsided by the sudden loss of confidence in September. Sorkin writes this was untrue, he has furnished a memo written by Neel Kashkari in early APRIL outlining a last-ditch "Break the glass" plan that later came out to be.....TARP!. He also gives you an hour-by-hour account of that fateful week in Sept by telling the story of all the players. What would amaze you, is the sheer number of merger combinations that were attempted but didn't succeed. Like JP Morgan buying Morgan Stanley for $1 a share, or Goldman merging with Citi, Paulson trying to entice Lewis to buy Lehman. Its fascinating as to how little time Geithner & Co. had to draw up a plan to rescue AIG. It will leave you somewhat sympathetic to their decision to pay its counterparties 100 cents on the dollar. Which seems like a big mistake when considered in retrospect. As you might expect, AIG top management & FP division come across as clueless & insanely irresponsible. Sorkin's tone throughout the book is objective and nuanced. He doesn't flatter anyone in particular. He lays out sufficient details and lets you form an impression of each of the players."

$@ Googled: The End of the World As We Know It by Ken Auletta (2009) [From Amazon.com] "There are companies that create waves and those that ride or are drowned by them. As only he can, bestselling author Ken Auletta takes readers for a ride on the Google wave, telling the story of how it formed and crashed into traditional media businesses-from newspapers to books, to television, to movies, to telephones, to advertising, to Microsoft. With unprecedented access to Google's founders and executives, as well as to those in media who are struggling to keep their heads above water, Auletta reveals how the industry is being disrupted and redefined. Using Google as a stand-in for the digital revolution, Auletta takes readers inside Google's closed-door meetings and paints portraits of Google's notoriously private founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, as well as those who work with-and against-them. In his narrative, Auletta provides the fullest account ever told of Google's rise, shares the "secret sauce" of Google's success, and shows why the worlds of "new" and "old" media often communicate as if residents of different planets. Google engineers start from an assumption that the old ways of doing things can be improved and made more efficient, an approach that has yielded remarkable results- Google will generate about $20 billion in advertising revenues this year, or more than the combined prime-time ad revenues of CBS, NBC, ABC, and FOX. And with its ownership of YouTube and its mobile phone and other initiatives, Google CEO Eric Schmidt tells Auletta his company is poised to become the world's first $100 billion media company. Yet there are many obstacles that threaten Google's future, and opposition from media companies and government regulators may be the least of these. Google faces internal threats, from its burgeoning size to losing focus to hubris. In coming years, Google's faith in mathematical formulas and in slide rule logic will be tested, just as it has been on Wall Street. Distilling the knowledge accrued from a career of covering the media, Auletta will offer insights into what we know, and don't know, about what the future holds for the imperiled industry".

$@ Free: The Future of a Radical Price by Chris Anderson (2009) [from Amazon.com] "Starred Review. In the digital marketplace, the most effective price is no price at all, argues Anderson (The Long Tail). He illustrates how savvy businesses are raking it in with indirect routes from product to revenue with such models as cross-subsidies (giving away a DVR to sell cable service) and freemiums (offering Flickr for free while selling the superior FlickrPro to serious users). New media models have allowed successes like Obama's campaign billboards on Xbox Live, Webkinz dolls and Radiohead's name-your-own-price experiment with its latest album. A generational and global shift is at play—those below 30 won't pay for information, knowing it will be available somewhere for free, and in China, piracy accounts for about 95% of music consumption—to the delight of artists and labels, who profit off free publicity through concerts and merchandising. Anderson provides a thorough overview of the history of pricing and commerce, the mental transaction costs that differentiate zero and any other price into two entirely different markets, the psychology of digital piracy and the open-source war between Microsoft and Linux. As in Anderson's previous book, the thought-provoking material is matched by a delivery that is nothing short of scintillating." You can download the abridged 'Free' audio book at www.hyperionbooks.com/free.

$ The Tyranny of Dead Ideas: Letting Go of the Old Ways of Thinking to Unleash a New Prosperity by Matt Miller (2009). [From Amazon.com] "If Fortune columnist Miller's eerily prophetic book had come out earlier, it could have served as a wakeup call for Wall Street leaders and Washington, D.C. lawmakers before the failure of several venerable financial institutions required government bailouts. The author's prescient observations make a persuasive case for how an American attitude of entitlement and outdated beliefs about government, education, taxes, business, corporate excess and health care threaten our national well-being and our position as a world leader. The author denounces such cherished and longstanding beliefs as Your Company Should Take Care of You, and The Kids Will Earn More than We Do, and examines their historical provenances—for example, he traces the adoption of pensions to the early 20th century, when employers like Proctor and Gamble and G.E. acted as feudal lords offering benefits to recruit and retain employees—strategies that are now strangling these same corporations at the expense of global competitiveness. Rather than a petulant indictment of our political and economic myopia, this book offers a fair-handed critique." Interestingly, the book is reviewed positively from the left and right (US Chamber of Commerce). See www.mattmilleronline.com/tyranny.php for more on the book as well as the Introduction on-line.

$ The World Is Curved: Hidden Dangers to the Global Economy by David M. Smick (2008) [From Amazon.com] "With this illuminating book, Smick revisits Thomas Friedman's description of the "flat" world produced by globalization, arguing instead that the uncertainty produced by globalized financial markets has created a world that is curved, where events and their consequences are unpredictable. Smick begins with a puzzle: why did the subprime mortgage crisis, an event that directly impacted a relatively small piece of the global market, have such a catastrophic impact on the world market as a whole? From there, the author turns to topics as complex and varied as the potential 21st Century Chinese financial bubble and the policy dilemmas currently facing the Fed. Throughout the book, the author returns to the argument that political trends are increasingly at odds with the forces driving the globalized world economy. Smick brings expertise and lucidity to many difficult subjects, and while his book's appeal will likely be limited to those with some background in the field, it will undoubtedly stir interest and debate amongst investors, policymakers and strategists alike." Smick is also editor of The International Economy magazine at www.international-economy.com where many articles written since 2002 were influential in his views in this book.

$ The Predator State: How Conservatives Abandoned the Free Market and Why Liberals Should Too by James K. Galbraith (2008) [From Amazon.com] "The cult of the free market has dominated economic policy-talk since the Reagan revolution of nearly thirty years ago. Tax cuts and small government, monetarism, balanced budgets, deregulation, and free trade are the core elements of this dogma, a dogma so successful that even many liberals accept it. But a funny thing happened on the bridge to the twenty-first century. While liberals continue to bow before the free-market altar, conservatives in the style of George W. Bush have abandoned it altogether. That is why principled conservatives -- the Reagan true believers -- long ago abandoned Bush. Enter James K. Galbraith, the iconoclastic economist. In this riveting book, Galbraith first dissects the stale remains of Reaganism and shows how Bush and company had no choice except to dump them into the trash. He then explores the true nature of the Bush regime: a 'corporate republic,' bringing the methods and mentality of big business to public life; a coalition of lobbies, doing the bidding of clients in the oil, mining, military, pharmaceutical, agribusiness, insurance, and media industries; and a predator state, intent not on reducing government but rather on diverting public cash into private hands. In plain English, the Republican Party has been hijacked by political leaders who long since stopped caring if reality conformed to their message. Galbraith follows with an impertinent question: if conservatives no longer take free markets seriously, why should liberals? Why keep liberal thought in the straitjacket of pay-as-you-go, of assigning inflation control to the Federal Reserve, of attempting to 'make markets work'? Why not build a new economic policy based on what is really happening in this country? The real economy is not a free-market economy. It is a complex combination of private and public institutions, including Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, higher education, the housing finance system, and a vast federal research establishment. The real problems and challenges -- inequality, climate change, the infrastructure deficit, the subprime crisis, and the future of the dollar -- are problems that cannot be solved by incantations about the market. They will be solved only with planning, with standards and other policies that transcend and even transform markets. A timely, provocative work whose message will endure beyond this election season, The Predator State will appeal to the broad audience of thoughtful Americans who wish to understand the forces at work in our economy and culture and who seek to live in a nation that is both prosperous and progressive."

$@ The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World by Niall Ferguson (2008) discusses the history of money and finance from 1,000 B.C. through the bubbles and crises of today with insights into some of the mechanisms and human psychologies that drive them. [From Amazon.com] "Watch the PBS program based on The Ascent of Money. Niall Ferguson follows the money to tell the human story behind the evolution of finance, from its origins in ancient Mesopotamia to the latest upheavals on what he calls Planet Finance. Bread, cash, dosh, dough, loot, lucre, moolah, readies, the wherewithal: Call it what you like, it matters. To Christians, love of it is the root of all evil. To generals, it’s the sinews of war. To revolutionaries, it’s the chains of labor. But in The Ascent of Money, Niall Ferguson shows that finance is in fact the foundation of human progress. What’s more, he reveals financial history as the essential backstory behind all history. Through Ferguson’s expert lens familiar historical landmarks appear in a new and sharper financial focus. Suddenly, the civilization of the Renaissance looks very different: a boom in the market for art and architecture made possible when Italian bankers adopted Arabic mathematics. The rise of the Dutch republic is reinterpreted as the triumph of the world’s first modern bond market over insolvent Habsburg absolutism. And the origins of the French Revolution are traced back to a stock market bubble caused by a convicted Scot murderer. With the clarity and verve for which he is known, Ferguson elucidates key financial institutions and concepts by showing where they came from. What is money? What do banks do? What’s the difference between a stock and a bond? Why buy insurance or real estate? And what exactly does a hedge fund do? This is history for the present. Ferguson travels to post-Katrina New Orleans to ask why the free market can’t provide adequate protection against catastrophe. He delves into the origins of the subprime mortgage crisis. Perhaps most important, The Ascent of Money documents how a new financial revolution is propelling the world’s biggest countries, India and China, from poverty to wealth in the space of a single generation—an economic transformation unprecedented in human history. Yet the central lesson of the financial history is that sooner or later every bubble bursts—sooner or later the bearish sellers outnumber the bullish buyers, sooner or later greed flips into fear. And that’s why, whether you’re scraping by or rolling in it, there’s never been a better time to understand the ascent of money."

$@ Hot, Flat, and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution - and How It Can Renew America by Thomas L. Friedman (2008) [From Amazon.com] "Thomas L. Friedman’s phenomenal number-one bestseller The World Is Flat has helped millions of readers to see the world in a new way. In his brilliant, essential new book, Friedman takes a fresh and provocative look at two of the biggest challenges we face today: America’s surprising loss of focus and national purpose since 9/11; and the global environmental crisis, which is affecting everything from food to fuel to forests. In this groundbreaking account of where we stand now, he shows us how the solutions to these two big problems are linked--how we can restore the world and revive America at the same time. Friedman explains how global warming, rapidly growing populations, and the astonishing expansion of the world’s middle class through globalization have produced a planet that is “hot, flat, and crowded.” Already the earth is being affected in ways that threaten to make it dangerously unstable. In just a few years, it will be too late to fix things--unless the United States steps up now and takes the lead in a worldwide effort to replace our wasteful, inefficient energy practices with a strategy for clean energy, energy efficiency, and conservation that Friedman calls Code Green. ..."

$@ The Post-American World by Fareed Zakaria (2008) [From Amazon.com] "When a book proclaims that it is not about the decline of America but the rise of everyone else, readers might expect another diatribe about our dismal post-9/11 world. They are in for a pleasant surprise as Newsweek editor and popular pundit Zakaria (The Future of Freedom) delivers a stimulating, largely optimistic forecast of where the 21st century is heading. We are living in a peaceful era, he maintains; world violence peaked around 1990 and has plummeted to a record low. Burgeoning prosperity has spread to the developing world, raising standards of living in Brazil, India, China and Indonesia. Twenty years ago China discarded Soviet economics but not its politics, leading to a wildly effective, top-down, scorched-earth boom. Its political antithesis, India, also prospers while remaining a chaotic, inefficient democracy, as Indian elected officials are (generally) loathe to use the brutally efficient tactics that are the staple of Chinese governance. Paradoxically, India's greatest asset is its relative stability in the region; its officials take an unruly population for granted, while dissent produces paranoia in Chinese leaders. Zakaria predicts that despite its record of recent blunders at home and abroad, America will stay strong, buoyed by a stellar educational system and the influx of young immigrants, who give the U.S. a more youthful demographic than Europe and much of Asia whose workers support an increasing population of unproductive elderly. A lucid, thought-provoking appraisal of world affairs, this book will engage readers on both sides of the political spectrum."

$@ A Splendid Exchange: How Trade Shaped the World by William J. Bernstein (2008) [From Amazon.com] "Adam Smith wrote that man has an intrinsic “propensity to truck, barter, and exchange one thing for another.” But how did trade evolve to the point where we don’t think twice about biting into an apple from the other side of the world? In this sweeping narrative history of world trade, William J. Bernstein tells the extraordinary story of global commerce from its prehistoric origins to the myriad controversies surrounding it today. He transports readers from ancient sailing ships that brought the silk trade from China to Rome in the second century to the rise and fall of the Portuguese monopoly in spices in the sixteenth; from the American trade battles of the early twentieth century to the modern era of televisions from Taiwan, lettuce from Mexico, and T-shirts from China. Lively, authoritative, and astonishing in scope, A Splendid Exchange is a riveting narrative that views trade and globalization not in political terms, but rather as an evolutionary process as old as war and religion--a historical constant--that will continue to foster the growth of intellectual capital, shrink the world, and propel the trajectory of the human species. "

$@ The Birth of Plenty: How the Prosperity of the Modern World was Created by William J. Bernstein (2004) [From Amazon.com] "'A tour de force...prepare to be amazed.' --John C. Bogle, Founder and Former CEO, The Vanguard Group. Why didn't the Florentines invent the steam engines and flying machines that Da Vinci sketched? What kept the master metallurgists of ancient Rome from discovering electricity? The Birth of Plenty takes a fascinating new look at the key conditions that had to be in place before world economic growth--and the technological progress underlying it--could occur, why those pathways are still absent in many parts of today's world, and what must be done before true, universal prosperity can become a reality. The Birth of Plenty doesn't mean to suggest that nothing of note existed before 1820. What The Birth of Plenty suggests that, from the dawn of recorded history through 1820, the "mass of man" experienced essentially zero growth, either in economic standing or living standards. It was only in the third decade of the nineteenth century that the much of the world's standard of living began to inexorably and irreversibly improve, and the modern world was born. But what changed, and why then? Noted financial expert and neurologist William Bernstein isolates the four conditions which, when occurring simultaneously, constitute an all-inclusive formula for human progress: * Property rights--Creators must have proper incentives to create, * Scientific rationalism--Innovators must be allowed to innovate without fear of retribution, * Capital markets--Entrepreneurs must be given access to capital to pursue their visions, * Transportation/communication--Society must provide mechanisms for effective communication of ideas and transport of finished products. Beyond just shining a light on how quickly progress occurs once the building blocks are in place, however, The Birth of Plenty examines how their absence constitutes nothing less than a prescription for continued human struggle and pain. Why do so many parts of the world remain behind, while others learn to adapt, adopt, and move forward? What must long-troubled nations do to pull themselves from the never-ending spiral of defeatism? The Birth of Plenty addresses these timely and vital questions head-on, empirically and without apology, and provides answers that are both thought-provoking and troubling. The Birth of Plenty frames the modern world's prosperity--or, in far too many cases, continuing lack of prosperity--in terms that are ingenious yet simple, complex yet easily understood. Entertaining and provocative, it will forever change the way you view the human pursuit of happiness, and bring the conflicts of both the world's superpowers and developing nations into a fascinating and informative new light."

$@ Empire of Wealth: The Epic History of American Economic Power by John Steele Gordon (2005) [From Amazon.com] Throughout time, from ancient Rome to modern Britain, the great empires built and maintained their domination through force of arms and political power. But not the United States. America has dominated the world in a new, peaceful, and pervasive way - through the continued creation of staggering wealth. In this authoritative, engrossing history, (financial historian) John Steele Gordon captures as never before the true source of our nation's global influence: wealth and the capacity to create more of it. This P.S. edition features an extra 16 pages of insights into the book, including author interviews, recommended reading, and more."

$@ The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism by Naomi Klein (2007) [From Amazon.com] "The bestselling author of No Logo shows how the global free market has exploited crises and shock for three decades, from Chile to Iraq. In her groundbreaking reporting over the past few years, Naomi Klein introduced the term disaster capitalism. Whether covering Baghdad after the U.S. occupation, Sri Lanka in the wake of the tsunami, or New Orleans post-Katrina, she witnessed something remarkably similar. People still reeling from catastrophe were being hit again, this time with economic shock treatment, losing their land and homes to rapid-fire corporate makeovers. The Shock Doctrine retells the story of the most dominant ideology of our time, Milton Friedman s free market economic revolution. In contrast to the popular myth of this movement s peaceful global victory, Klein shows how it has exploited moments of shock and extreme violence in order to implement its economic policies in so many parts of the world from Latin America and Eastern Europe to South Africa, Russia, and Iraq. At the core of disaster capitalism is the use of cataclysmic events to advance radical privatization combined with the privatization of the disaster response itself. Klein argues that by capitalizing on crises, created by nature or war, the disaster capitalism complex now exists as a booming new economy, and is the violent culmination of a radical economic project that has been incubating for fifty years."

$@ Hubbert's Peak: The Impending World Oil Shortage by Kenneth S. Deffeyes (2001) (pre-fracking revolution) he makes the unequivocal case for our having reached peak oil extraction (first predicted by Hubbert) and the subsequent problems and possible decline of economic dependence on non-renewable oil. There are many other books since then on the economic consequences and some solutions to peak oil (see http://www.hubbertpeak.com/). [From Amazon.com] "Geophysicist M. King Hubbert predicted in 1956 that U.S. oil production would reach its highest level in the early 1970s. Though roundly criticized by oil experts and economists, Hubbert's prediction came true in 1970. In this revised and updated edition reflecting the latest information on the world supply of oil, Kenneth Deffeyes uses Hubbert's methods to find that world oil production will peak in this decade--and there isn't anything we can do to stop it. While long-term solutions exist in the form of conservation and alternative energy sources, they probably cannot--and almost certainly will not--be enacted in time to evade a short-term catastrophe."

$@ Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed by Jared Diamond (2005) discusses various examples of human economic and social collapse and even extinction of civilizations over many thousands of years. [from Amazon] "He explores patterns of population growth, overfarming, overgrazing and overhunting, often abetted by drought, cold, rigid social mores and warfare, that lead inexorably to vicious circles of deforestation, erosion and starvation prompted by the disappearance of plant and animal food sources. Extending his treatment to contemporary environmental trouble spots, from Montana to China to Australia, he finds today's global, technologically advanced civilization very far from solving the problems that plagued primitive, isolated communities in the remote past."

$@ Making Globalization Work by Joseph E. Stiglitz (2006) [From Amazon.com] "Building on the international bestseller Globalization and Its Discontents, Joseph E. Stiglitz offers here an agenda of inventive solutions to our most pressing economic, social, and environmental challenges, with each proposal guided by the fundamental insight that economic globalization continues to outpace both the political structures and the moral sensitivity required to ensure a just and sustainable world. As economic interdependence continues to gather the peoples of the world into a single community, it brings with it the need to think and act globally. This trenchant, intellectually powerful, and inspiring book is an invaluable step in that process."

$ The Pro-Growth Progressive: An Economic Strategy for Shared Prosperity by Gene Sperling (2005) [From Amazon.com] "After two consecutive elections in which Democratic candidates failed to turn clear economic advantages into electoral victory, a debate is raging over what the Democrats should donow. The narrow, red state-blue state argument between chest-beating populists and soulless centrists offers the answer to neither the country's economic future nor the political future of the Democrats. In The Pro-Growth Progressive, President Clinton's longest-serving national economic advisor, Gene Sperling, argues that the best economic strategy for our nation -- and the best strategy for progressives whether they be Democrat, Republican, or Independent -- is to pursue policies that are both progressive and pro-growth, that promote progressive values of upward mobility, fair starts, and economic dignity as well as embrace markets and innovation. Sperling describes how both parties offer the American public impoverished choices: Democrats in the-sky-is-falling party too often pretend that the way to promote progressive values and expand the American middle class is to slow the pace of the global economy, stop all outsourcing, and intervene in the market. Republicans of the don't-worry-be-happy party hold fast to the bankrupt vision that the best thing for economic growth is the smallest government possible, and have made the conservative deficit hawks of the 1990s an endangered species. But The Pro-Growth Progressive is neither an all-out assault on the Bush agenda nor a partisan call for Democrats to move further left. Both conservatives and progressives have to accept hard truths about the limitations of their approaches. Drawing on his years of policy experience, Sperling lays out a third way on the issues that are dominating the news and Bush's second term: social security, ownership, globalization, and deficit reduction. He explains the policy alternatives that respect the power of free markets while giving government a role in ensuring that the markets benefit all working families. Focused and timely, The Pro-Growth Progressive offers a realistic vision of free enterprise and economic growth in which government can improve education, reduce poverty, and restore the country to fiscal sanity."

$ Supercapitalism: The Transformation of Business, Democracy, and Everyday Life by Robert Reich (2007) [From Amazon.com]"From Publishers Weekly. In this compelling and important analysis of the triumph of capitalism and the decline of democracy, former labor secretary Reich urges us to rebalance the roles of business and government. Power, he writes, has shifted away from us in our capacities as citizens and toward us as consumers and investors. While praising the spread of global capitalism, he laments that supercapitalism has brought with it alienation from politics and community. The solution: to separate capitalism from democracy, and guard the border between them. Plainspoken and forceful, if somewhat repetitious, the book urges new and strengthened laws and regulations to restore authority to the citizens in us. Reich's proposals are anything but knee-jerk liberal: he calls for abolishing the corporate income tax and labels the corporate social responsibility movement distracting and even counterproductive. As in 2004's Reason, Reich exhibits perhaps too much confidence in Americans' ability to think and act in their own best interests. But he refuses to shift blame for corporations' dominance to the usual suspects, instead pointing a finger at consumers like you and me who want better deals, and from investors like us who want better returns, he writes. Provocatively argued, this book could help begin a necessary national conversation. (Sept. 6) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved." His interview on NPR may be heard at http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=14321590. His web site is http://www.robertreich.org/

$ Oil on the Brain: Adventures from the Pump to the Pipeline by by Lisa Margonelli (2007) [From Amazon.com] "From Publishers Weekly. In the last few years, just about everyone has had "oil on the brain" at some point, as record gas prices and a disastrous war have called our dependency into question. But though the U.S. burns 10,000 gallons of gasoline a second, few of us know how oil is created and drilled, how gas stations compete or what actually goes on in a refinery—let alone what happens in the mysterious Strategic Petroleum Reserve, where the U.S. government stores roughly 700 million barrels of oil in underground salt caverns on the Gulf Coast of Texas. Margonelli answers these questions and more, before examining some of the key patches in the oil industry's geopolitical quilt: source countries like Chad, where promises of real local growth fall hopelessly short, or China, which, "by 2025, perhaps, will import as much crude oil as the U.S. does now." Writing in a witty, first-person voice, Margonelli criticizes corruption in places like Nigeria, while expressing her 'love of hydrocarbons' for the unlikeliness of their formation and the ingenuity required to extricate them. This is an original, open-minded look at a subject about which everyone has an opinion".

$ Big Coal: The Dirty Secret Behind America's Energy Future by Jeff Goodell (2007) [From Amazon.com] "From Publishers Weekly. After a generation out of the spotlight, coal has reasserted its centrality: the United States 'burn[s] more than a billion tons' per year, and since 9/11 and the Iraq war, independence from foreign oil has become positively patriotic. Rolling Stone contributing editor Goodell's last book, the bestselling Our Story, was about a mine accident, which clearly made a deep impression on him. Our reliance on coal—the unspoken foundation of our "information" economy—has, Goodell says, led to an "empire of denial" that blocks us from the investments necessary to find alternative energy sources that could eventually save us from fossil fuel. Goodell's description of the mining-related deaths, the widespread health consequences of burning coal and the impact on our planet's increasingly fragile ecosystem make for compelling reading, but such commonplace facts are not what lift this book out of the ordinary. That distinction belongs to Goodell's fieldwork, which takes him to Atlanta, West Virginia, Wyoming, China and beyond—though he also has a fine grasp of the less tangible niceties of the industry. Goodell understands how mines, corporate boardrooms, commodity markets and legislative chambers interrelate to induce a national inertia. Goodell has a talent for pithy argument—and the book fairly crackles with informed conviction".

$@ Manias, Panics, and Crashes: A History of Financial Crises by Charles P. Kindleberger, Robert Aliber, Robert Solow (2005) [From Amazon.com] "Manias, Panics, and Crashes, Fifth Edition is an engaging and entertaining account of the way that mismanagement of money and credit has led to financial explosions over the centuries. Covering such topics as the history and anatomy of crises, speculative manias, and the lender of last resort, this book puts the turbulence of the financial world in perspective. The updated fifth edition expands upon each chapter, and includes two new chapters focusing on significant financial crises of the last fifteen years."

$ POP! Why Bubbles are Great For the Economy by Daniel Gross (2007) [From Amazon.com] "Bubbles—from hot stocks in the 1920s to hot stocks in the 1990s—are much-lamented features of contemporary economic life. Time and again, American investors, seduced by the lures of quick money, new technologies, and excessive optimism, have shown a tendency to get carried away. Time and again, they have appeared foolish when the bubble burst. The history of finance is filled with tragic tales of shattered dreams, bankruptcies, and bitter recriminations. But what if the I-told-you-so lectures about bubbles tell only half the story? What if bubbles accomplish something that can only be seen in retrospect? What if the frenzy of irrational economic enthusiasm lays the groundwork for sober-minded opportunities, growth, and innovation? Could it be that bubbles wind up being a competitive advantage for the bubble-prone U.S. economy? In this entertaining and fast-paced book—you'll laugh as much as you cry—Daniel Gross convincingly argues that every bubble has a golden lining. From the 19th-century mania for the telegraph to the current craze in alternative energy, from railroads to real estate, Gross takes us on a whirlwind tour of reckless investors and pie-in-the-sky promoters, detailing the mania they created—but also the lasting good they left behind. In one of the great ironies of history, Gross shows how the bubbles once generally seen as disastrous have actually helped build the commercial infrastructures that have jump-started American growth. If there is a secret to the perennial resilience and exuberance of the American economy, Gross may just have found it in our peculiar capacity to blow financial bubbles—and successfully clean up the mess."

$ Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything by Don Tapscott and Anthony Williams (2010) [From Amazon.com] "Translated into more than twenty languages and named one of the best business books of the year by reviewers around the world, Wikinomics has become essential reading for business people everywhere. It explains how mass collaboration is happening not just at Web sites like Wikipedia and YouTube, but at traditional companies that have embraced technology to breathe new life into their enterprises. This national bestseller reveals the nuances that drive wikinomics, and share fascinating stories of how masses of people (both paid and volunteer) are now creating TV news stories, sequencing the human gnome, remixing their favorite music, designing software, finding cures for diseases, editing school texts, inventing new cosmetics, and even building motorcycles."

$ Open Business Models: How to thrive in the New Innovation Landscape by Henry Chesbrough (2006) [From Amazon.com] "In his landmark book Open Innovation, Henry Chesbrough demonstrated that because useful knowledge is no longer concentrated in a few large organizations, business leaders must adopt a new, “open” model of innovation. Using this model, companies look outside their boundaries for ideas and intellectual property (IP) they can bring in, as well as license their unutilized home-grown IP to other organizations. In Open Business Models, Chesbrough takes readers to the next step—explaining how to make money in an open innovation landscape. He provides a diagnostic instrument enabling you to assess your company’s current business model, and explains how to overcome common barriers to creating a more open model. He also offers compelling examples of companies that have developed such models—including Procter & Gamble, IBM, and Air Products. In addition, Chesbrough introduces a new set of players—“innovation intermediaries”—who facilitate companies’ access to external technologies. He explores the impact of stronger IP protection on intermediate markets for innovation, and profiles firms (such as Intellectual Ventures and Qualcomm) that center their business model on innovation and IP. This vital resource provides a much-needed road map to connect innovation with IP management, so companies can create and capture value from ideas and technologies—wherever in the world they are found.".

$ The Battle for Social Security: From FDR's Vision to Bush's Gamble by Nancy Altman (2005) tells the story of the creation and modification of Social Security over the years and the current political issues. She also proposes a a reasonable cost-effective solution to strengthening it without destroying it through private accounts. [From Amazon.com] "This book illuminates the politics and policy of the current struggle over Social Security in light of the program's compelling history and ingenious structure. After a brief introduction describing the dramatic response of the Social Security Administration to the 9/11 terrorist attack, the book recounts Social Security's lively history. Although President Bush has tried to convince Americans that Social Security is designed for the last century and unworkable for an aging population, readers will see that the President's assault is just another battle in a longstanding ideological war. Prescott Bush, the current Presidentâ??s grandfather, remarked of FDR, "The only man I truly hated lies buried in Hyde Park." The book traces the continuous thread leading from Prescott Bush and his contemporaries to George W. Bush and others who want to undo Social Security. The book concludes with policy recommendations which eliminate Social Security's deficit in a manner consistent with the program's philosophy and structure."

$ Optimizing Luck: What the Passion to Succeed in Space Can Teach Business Leaders on Earth by Thomas Meylan, Terry Teays (2007) [From Amazon.com]"Whether you're running a modern business or a spacecraft mission, the keys to success are the same: expect the unexpected, be prepared for any possible disruption to plan and create a culture that turns even the biggest challenge into an opportunity for competitive success. Optimizing Luck tells the story of one 20-year NASA project that, by any measure, illustrates just such a business model for capitalizing on every potential advantage that comes your way. Charged with running science operations for NASA, Meylan and Teays played an integral part in one of the most successful and longest-lasting astronomy satellite projects in NASA's history. Here, these scientists-turned-managers share how passionate dedication to quality, customer service and the ideal of success helped a team of ordinary workers achieve sustained growth, market penetration, customer satisfaction and production efficiency to become the employer of choice within the industry. From hiring and delegation to communication and rewards, Optimizing Luck lays out best practices for developing luck-optimizing competencies across the entire workforce. For leaders and managers in any business, this in-depth profile offers powerful lessons on what it takes to succeed, regardless of changing circumstances, competitive interference, breakdowns in process and more-than-occasional human failings."

$@ Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell (2008) [From Amazon.com]"Now that he's gotten us talking about the viral life of ideas and the power of gut reactions, Malcolm Gladwell poses a more provocative question in Outliers: why do some people succeed, living remarkably productive and impactful lives, while so many more never reach their potential? Challenging our cherished belief of the 'self-made man,' he makes the democratic assertion that superstars don't arise out of nowhere, propelled by genius and talent: 'they are invariably the beneficiaries of hidden advantages and extraordinary opportunities and cultural legacies that allow them to learn and work hard and make sense of the world in ways others cannot.'"

$ A Second Opinion: Rescuing America's Health Care by Arnold Relman, M.D. (2007) describes the history of the current mess that the U.S. health care system is because of the shift of patient driven to an increasingly unsustainable profit-driven commercialization of health insurers, pharmaceutical industry, and doctor owned private hospitals. Dr. Relman, brings extensive experience from medical school practice, Nat. Acad. Sci. Institute of Medicine, editor of JAMA, and more. He proposes a plan for universal coverage serving patients over profit. [From Amazon.com] "The U.S. healthcare system is failing. It is run like a business, increasingly focused on generating income for insurers and providers rather than providing care for patients. It is supported by investors and private markets seeking to grow revenue and resist regulation, thus contributing to higher costs and lessened public accountability. Meanwhile, forty-six million Americans are without insurance. Health care expenditures are rising at a rate of 7 percent a year, three times the rate of inflation. Dr. Arnold Relman is one of the most respected physicians and healthcare advocates in our country. This book, based on sixty years' experience in medicine, is a clarion call not just to politicians and patients but to the medical profession to evolve a new structure for healthcare, based on voluntary private contracts between individuals and not-for-profit, multi-specialty groups of physicians. Physicians would be paid mainly by salaries and would submit no bills for their services. All health care facilities would be not-for-profit. The savings from reduced administrative overhead and the elimination of billing fraud would be enormous. Healthcare may be our greatest national problem, but the provocative, sensible arguments in this book will provide a catalyst for change."

$ The Secret History of the War On Cancer by Devra Davis (2007) [From Amazon.com] "From the National Book Award finalist, author of When Smoke Ran Like Water, a searing, haunting and deeply personal account of the War on Cancer. The War on Cancer set out to find, treat, and cure a disease. Left untouched were many of the things known to cause cancer, including tobacco, the workplace, radiation, or the global environment. Proof of how the world in which we live and work affects whether we get cancer was either overlooked or suppressed. This has been no accident. The War on Cancer was run by leaders of industries that made cancer-causing products, and sometimes also profited from drugs and technologies for finding and treating the disease. Filled with compelling personalities and never-before-revealed information, The Secret History of the War on Cancer shows how we began fighting the wrong war, with the wrong weapons, against the wrong enemies--a legacy that persists to this day. This is the gripping story of a major public health effort diverted and distorted for private gain. A portion of the profits from this book will go to support research on cancer prevention. Devra Davis, Ph.D., M.P.H., is the Director of the Center for Environmental Oncology at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute and Professor of Epidemiology, Graduate School of Public Health. She was appointed by President Clinton to the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board in 1994 and also served as Scholar in Residence at the National Academy of Science."

$ The Wealth of Networks: How Social Production Transforms Markets and Freedom by Yochai Benkler (2007) [From Amazon.com] "In this thick academic book, Yale law professor Benkler offers a comprehensive catalog of flashpoints in the conflict between old and new information creators. In Benkler's view, the new "networked information economy" allows individuals and groups to be more productive than profit-seeking ventures. New types of collaboration, such as Wikipedia or SETI@Home, "offer defined improvements in autonomy, democratic discourse, cultural creation, and justice"-as long as government regulation aimed at protecting old-school information monoliths (such as the Digital Millennium Copyright Act) doesn't succeed. Non-market innovation is a good thing in itself and doesn't even have to threaten entrenched interests, Benkler argues; rather, "social production" can use resources that the industrial information economy leaves behind. Where Benkler excels is in bringing together disparate strands of the new information economy, from the democratization of the newsmedia via blogs to the online effort publicizing weaknesses in Diebold voting machines. Though Benkler doesn't really present any new ideas here, and sometimes draws simplistic distinctions, his defense of the Internet's power to enrich people's lives is often stirring." He gave a recent talk at TED summarizing many of these ideas ( http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/247). In addition, you can download the book for free at his web site (http://benkler.org/).

$@ The Real Price of Everything: Rediscovering the Six Classics of Economics by Michael Lewis (Ed) (2007) [From Amazon.com] "In his New York Times bestsellers Liar’s Poker and Moneyball, Michael Lewis gave us an unprecedented look at what goes on behind the scenes on Wall Street. Now he takes us back across the centuries to explore the four classics that created and defined not just Wall Street, but the entire economic system we live under today. Brought together with Lewis’s illuminating editorial commentary, they form an essential reference for any student of economics—in fact, for anyone who wants to understand the market forces and government policies that have shaped our world, and will continue to shape our future. Includes: 1776: The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith; 1798: An Essay on the Principle of Population by Thomas Malthus; 1817: Principles of Political Economy and Taxation by David Ricardo; 1899: The Theory of the Leisure Class: An Economic Study of Institutions by Thorstein Veblen; 1936: The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money by John Maynard Keynes."

$ Statecraft: And How to Restore America's Standing in the World by Dennis Ross (2007) [From Amazon.com] "How did it come to pass that, not so long after 9/11 brought the free world to our side, U.S. foreign policy is in a shambles? In this thought-provoking book, the renowned peace negotiator Dennis Ross argues that the Bush administration's problems stem from its inability to use the tools of statecraft--diplomatic, economic, and military--to advance our interests. Statecraft is as old as politics: Plato wrote about it, Machiavelli practiced it. After the demise of Communism, some predicted that statecraft would wither away. But Ross explains that in the globalized world--with its fluid borders, terrorist networks, and violent unrest--statecraft is necessary simply to keep the peace. In illuminating chapters, he outlines how statecraft helped shape a new world order after 1989. He shows how the failure of statecraft in Iraq and the Middle East has undercut the United States internationally, and makes clear that only statecraft can check the rise of China and the danger of a nuclear Iran. He draws on his expertise to reveal the art of successful negotiation. And he shows how the next president could resolve today's problems and define a realistic, ambitious foreign policy. Statecraft is essential reading for anyone interested in foreign policy--or concerned about America's place in the world."

Note: many of the other books mentioned in these lists also touch on these sub topics.

6. Styles of some successful investment managers

$ Adventure Capitalist: The Ultimate Road Trip by Jim Rogers (2003) is another fascinating story of his 1999 investing trip around the world by with a BMW and special trailer. Again he analyzes markets as he goes and has many thoughts on commodities, China, and many other global factors. [From Amazon.com] "The bestselling author of Investment Biker is back from the ultimate road trip: a three-year drive around the world that would ultimately set the Guinness record for the longest continuous car journey. In Adventure Capitalist, legendary investor Jim Rogers, dubbed “the Indiana Jones of finance” by Time magazine, proves that the best way to profit from the global situation is to see the world mile by mile. “While I have never patronized a prostitute,” he writes, “I know that one can learn more about a country from speaking to the madam of a brothel or a black marketeer than from meeting a foreign minister.” Behind the wheel of a sunburst-yellow, custom-built convertible Mercedes, Rogers and his fiancée, Paige Parker, began their “Millennium Adventure” on January 1, 1999, from Iceland. They traveled through 116 countries, including many where most have rarely ventured, such as Saudi Arabia, Myanmar, Angola, Sudan, Congo, Colombia, and East Timor. They drove through war zones, deserts, jungles, epidemics, and blizzards. They had many narrow escapes. They camped with nomads and camels in the western Sahara. They ate silkworms, iguanas, snakes, termites, guinea pigs, porcupines, crocodiles, and grasshoppers. Best of all, they saw the real world from the ground up—the only vantage point from which it can be truly understood—economically, politically, and socially. Here are just a few of the author’s conclusions: • The new commodity bull market has started. • The twenty-first century will belong to China. • There is a dramatic shortage of women developing in Asia. • Pakistan is on the verge of disintegrating. • India, like many other large nations, will break into several countries. • The Euro is doomed to fail. • There are fortunes to be made in Angola. • Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) are a scam. • Bolivia is a comer after decades of instability, thanks to gigantic amounts of natural gas. Adventure Capitalist is the most opinionated, sprawling, adventurous journey you’re likely to take within the pages of a book—the perfect read for armchair adventurers, global investors, car enthusiasts, and anyone interested in seeing the world and understanding it as it really is."

$ Investment Biker: Around the World with Jim Rogers by Jim Rogers (2003) [from Amazon.com] "Legendary investor Jim Rogers gives us his view of the world on a twenty-two-month, fifty-two-country motorcycle odyssey in his bestselling business/adventure book, Investment Biker, which has already sold more than 200,000 copies. Before you invest another dollar anywhere in the world (including the United States), read this book by the man Time magazine calls “the Indiana Jones of finance.” Jim Rogers became a Wall Street legend when he co-founded the Quantum Fund. Investment Biker is the fascinating story of Rogers’s global motorcycle journey/investing trip, with hardheaded advice on the current state and future direction of international economies that will guide and inspire investors interested in foreign markets."

$ Passport to Profits: Why the Next Investment Windfalls Will Be Found Abroad and How to Grab Your Share by Mark Mobius and Stephen Fenichell (2000) [From Amazon.com "With nerves of steel and a cool head, mutual-fund manager Mark Mobius travels the globe in search of good, undiscovered companies in risky, emerging markets. In Passport to Profits, he takes you on a enlightening international tour, from Estonia to Russia to Nigeria. He shows you how he's established a winning long-term record at Franklin Templeton funds, up an average 20 percent a year between 1987 and 1997. "I'd toured rubber plantations in Thailand and road-tested bikes over the pothole-ridden roads of rural China. I'd choked on roasted camel's meat, sheep's eyeball, guinea pig and dined (surprisingly well) on scorpions on toast," Mobius writes, "all to find undervalued companies before other investors do. I think you could safely say that I'm driven." Like his mentor, the famed Sir John Templeton, Mobius believes in buying stock at the peak of pessimism and believes that the economic turmoil overseas in the late 1990s may signal an opportunity. The author lays out more than 80 rules for investing in developing nations and provides plenty of examples of how he picked winners like Shanghai Dazhong Taxi Co., Ltd. and was burned by Cukurova, a Turkish utility, and other losers. Passport to Profits is a valuable and easy-to-read tour for investors interested in the world's up-and-coming economies.--Dan Ring"

$ A Zebra In Lion Country: Ralph Wanger's Investment Survival Guide by Ralph Wanger and Everett Mattlin (1997) [From Amazon.com] "Ralph Wanger explains the principles of investing in small, rapidly growing companies whose stocks represent good value. Anyone who invested $10,000 in his Acorn Fund at its inception in 1970 would have $618,000 at the end of 1996. But whether you are investing in mutual funds or buying individual stocks on your own - or doing both - A Zebra in Lion Country offers an investment philosophy that will carry you through the rough spells and bring you greater wealth over the long term. Famed for his witty, insightful reports to shareholders, Wanger displays his irreverent savvy in this guide to locating small company "value" stocks that will yield well-above-average returns. As the title suggests, investors are like zebras in lion country: They must settle for half-eaten grass in the middle of the herd, or seek fresh grass at the outer edge, where hungry lions lurk. Wanger shows every investor how to achieve the right balance of safety and risk, and imagination and discipline, to survive and prosper in the investment jungle. Destined to become a classic in the field of investing, A Zebra in Lion Country is as entertaining as it is instructive."

$ The Bond King: Investment Secrets from PIMCO's Bill Gross by Timothy Middleton and Peter L. Bernstein (2006) [From Amazon.com] "Fixed-income management is a fascinatingly complex investment approach and one that has become essential to our economy. For those who understand how to actively manage fixed-income portfolios, it is a proven way of growing wealth. And no one better utilizes this strategy than PIMCO founder Bill Gross. Under Bill Gross’s astute leadership, PIMCO’s Total Return Fund has outperformed every other fund in its class, leaving Gross to manage the largest amount of fixed-income money on the planet. It is no wonder that Gross has achieved near-mythic status among investors, with bond experts hanging on his every word to predict which way the credit markets will go, earning him the title of "Bond King." The Bond King chronicles Gross’s life and career, from his interest in becoming a Navy pilot, to his affinity for gambling–which bears more than a passing similarity to investing. From there, the book covers his founding of the Pacific Investment ManagementCompany (PIMCO), a leading institutional money manager with over $356 billion in assets under management. In clear-cut language, The Bond King reveals the proven techniques of Gross’s Total Return Method which has resulted in the largest actively managed fund in the United States. Filled with concept-clarifying examples, The Bond King explains: * The ways a bond investor can actively manage a portfolio of fixed-income securities, * Why predicting secular (long-term) domestic and global changes is key to Gross’s stunning track record, * How the writings of "three wise men" forged his market knowledge, * Why capital preservation, aside from increasing total return, is the first and ultimate goal of bond investors, * Why foreign bonds offer outstanding opportunities to Total Return investors, * Why Gross regards Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (TIPS) as the single best idea for bonds in the next five years. Whether you are an individual or institutional investor, The Bond King demonstrates how to successfully build and trade a bond portfolio the Bill Gross way.".

$ The Only Three Questions That Count: Investing by Knowing What Others Don't by Kenneth L. Fisher, Jennifer Chou, Lara Hoffmans (2007) discusses Fisher's unorthodox investment philosophy, although mixed with his opinionated political outlook. [From Amazon.com] "The Only Three Questions That Count is the first book to show you how to think about investing for yourself and develop innovative ways to understand and profit from the markets. The only way to consistently beat the markets is by knowing something others don't know. This book will show you how to do just that by using three simple questions. You'll see why CNBC's Mad Money host and money manager James J. Cramer says, "I believe that reading his book may be the single best thing you could do this year to make yourself a better investor. In The Only Three Questions That Count, Ken Fisher challenges the conventional wisdoms of investing, overturns glib theories with hard facts, and blows up complacent beliefs about money and the markets. Ultimately, he says, the key to successful investing is daring to challenge yourself and whatever you believe to be true. Packed with more than 100 visuals, usable tools, and a glossary, The Only Three Questions That Count is an entertaining and educational experience in the markets unlike any other, giving you an opportunity to reap the huge rewards that only the markets can offer."

$ The Big Con: The True Story of How Washington Got Hoodwinked and Hijacked by Crackpot Economics by Jonathan Chait (2007) [From Amazon.com] "The author, a senior editor at the New Republic, is best known for declaring I hate President George W. Bush in 2003. This book traces the roots of his dislike back 30 years, when supply-side economics took over the Republican Party and made cutting taxes the GOP answer to all political and economic questions. American politics has been hijacked by a tiny coterie of right-wing economic extremists, Chait declares, some of them ideological zealots, others merely greedy, a few of them possibly insane. To which he adds, the Republicans' success at defeating the democratic process explains why it has been able to enact its agenda despite a lack of popular support. The rhetoric is inflammatory, but the case is laid out with clarity. Chait claims that traditional Republicans, religious people and social, fiscal and foreign policy conservatives have been cheated as much as liberals, and that unparalleled corruption and ruthless cynicism in Washington and the timidity of nonpartisan media allow the minority to rule. His analysis should appeal to anyone interested in politics, though many may find the style too irritating to endure."

Note: many of the other books mentioned in these lists also touch on these sub topics.

7. Stock Investing

$#@ The Little Book of Market Wizards - Lessons from the Greatest Traders by Jack D. Schwager (2014) [From Amazon.com] "This is an accessible look at the art of investing and how to adopt the practices of top professionals. What differentiates the highly successful market practitioners - the Market Wizards - from ordinary traders? What traits do they share? What lessons can the average trader learn from those who achieved superior returns for decades while still maintaining strict risk control? Jack Schwager has spent the past 25 years interviewing the market legends in search of the answers - a quest chronicled in four prior Market Wizards volumes totaling nearly 2,000 pages. In The Little Book of Market Wizards , Jack Schwager seeks to distill what he considers the essential lessons he learned in conducting nearly four dozen interviews with some of the world's best traders. The book delves into the mindset and processes of highly successful traders, providing insights that all traders should find helpful in improving their trading skills and results. Each chapter focuses on a specific theme essential to market success. It describes how all market participants can benefit by incorporating the related traits, behaviors, and philosophies of the Market Wizards in their own trading. Filled with compelling anecdotes that bring the trading messages to life, and direct quotes from the market greats that resonate with the wisdom born of experience and skill Stepping clearly outside the narrow confines of most investment books, The Little Book of Market Wizards focuses on the value of understanding one's self within the context of successful investing."

$#@ Stocks for the Long Run 5/E: The Definitive Guide to Financial Market Returns & Long-Term Investment Strategies by Jeremy Seigel (5th ed, Dec. 2013) [From Amazon.com] "The stock-investing classic--UPDATED TO HELP YOU WIN IN TODAY'S CHAOTIC GLOBAL ECONOMY. Much has changed since the last edition of Stocks for the Long Run. The financial crisis, the deepest bear market since the Great Depression, and the continued growth of the emerging markets are just some of the contingencies directly affecting every portfolio in the world. To help you navigate markets and make the best investment decisions, Jeremy Siegel has updated his bestselling guide to stock market investing. This new edition of Stocks for the Long Run answers all the important questions of today: How did the crisis alter the fi nancial markets and the future of stock returns? What are the sources of long-term economic growth? How does the Fed really impact investing decisions? Should you hedge against currency instability? Stocks for the Long Run, Fifth Edition, includes brand-new coverage of: THE FINANCIAL CRISIS Siegel provides an expert’s analysis of the most important factors behind the crisis; the state of current stability/instability of the financial system and where the stock market fits in; and the viability of value investing as a long-term strategy. CHINA AND INDIA The economies of these nations are more than one-third larger than they were before the 2008 financial crisis; you'll get the information you need to earn long-term profits in this new environment. GLOBAL MARKETS Learn all there is to know about the nature, size, and role of diversification in today’s global economy; Siegel extends his projections of the global economy until the end of this century. MARKET VALUATION Can stocks still provide 6 to 7 percent per year after inflation? This edition forecasts future stock returns and shows how to determine whether the market is overvalued or not. Essential reading for every investor and advisor who wants to fully understand the forces that move today's markets, Stocks for the Long Run provides the most complete summary available of historical trends that will help you develop a sound and profitable long-term portfolio."

$# The Future for Investors: Why the Tried and the True Triumph Over the Bold and the New by Jeremy J. Siegel (2005) discusses shifts in markets and hedging strategies using stocks. [From Amazon.com] "The new paradigm for investing and building wealth in the twenty-first century. The Future for Investors reveals new strategies that take advantage of the dramatic changes and opportunities that will appear in world markets. Jeremy Siegel, one of the world’s top investing experts, has taken a long, hard, and in-depth look at the market and the stocks that investors should acquire to build long-term wealth. His surprising finding is that the new technologies, expanding industries, and fast-growing countries that stockholders relentlessly seek in the market often lead to poor returns. In fact, growth itself can be an investment trap, luring investors into overpriced stocks and overly competitive industries. The Future for Investors shatters conventional wisdom and provides a framework for picking stocks that will be long-term winners. While technological innovation spurs economic growth, it has not been kind to investors. Instead, companies that have marketed tried-and-true products for decades in slow-growth or even declining industries have superior returns to firms that develop “the bold and the new.” Industry sectors many regard as dinosaurs—railroads and oil companies, for example—have actually beat the market. Professor Siegel presents these strategies within the context of the coming shift in global economic power and the demographic age wave that will sweep the United States, Europe, and Japan. Contrary to the popular belief that these economic and demographic trends doom investors to poor returns, Professor Siegel explains the True New Economy and how to take advantage of the coming surge in invention, discovery, and economic growth. The faster the world changes, the more important it is for investors to heed the lessons of the past and find the tried-and-true companies that can help you beat the market and prosper in the years ahead."

$# The Five Rules for Successful Stock Investing by Pat Dorsey (2004) is an overview of stock fundamental analysis covering reading financial statements, finding great companies, analyzing different sectors emphasizing the analysis of economic moats. [From Amazon.com] "By resisting both the popular tendency to use gimmicks that oversimplify securities analysis and the academic tendency to use jargon that obfuscates common sense, Pat Dorsey has written a substantial and useful book. His methodology is sound, his examples clear, and his approach timeless." --Christopher C. Davis Portfolio Manager and Chairman, Davis Advisors. Over the years, people from around the world have turned to Morningstar for strong, independent, and reliable advice. The Five Rules for Successful Stock Investing provides the kind of savvy financial guidance only a company like Morningstar could offer. Based on the philosophy that "investing should be fun, but not a game," this comprehensive guide will put even the most cautious investors back on the right track by helping them pick the right stocks, find great companies, and understand the driving forces behind different industries--without paying too much for their investments. Written by Morningstar's Director of Stock Analysis, Pat Dorsey, The Five Rules for Successful Stock Investing includes unparalleled stock research and investment strategies covering a wide range of stock-related topics. Investors will profit from such tips as: * How to dig into a financial statement and find hidden gold . . . and deception, * How to find great companies that will create shareholder wealth, * How to analyze every corner of the market, from banks to health care. Informative and highly accessible, The Five Rules for Successful Stock Investing should be required reading for anyone looking for the right investment opportunities in today's ever-changing market."

$#@ Investments by Zvi Bodie, Alex Kane, and Alan Marcus (revised 2006) [from Amazon.com] "Bodie, Kane, and Marcus’ Investments is the leading textbook for the graduate/MBA investments market. It is recognized as the best blend of practical and theoretical coverage, while maintaining an appropriate rigor and clear writing style. Its unifying theme is that security markets are nearly efficient, meaning that most securities are usually priced appropriately given their risk and return attributes. The text places greater emphasis on asset allocation, and offers a much broader and deeper treatment of futures, options, and other derivative security markets than most investment texts."

8. Fractals, finance and fat-tail event risk

$@ The Physics of Wall Street by James Owen Weatherall (2014) [From Amazon.com] "“Weatherall probes an epochal shift in financial strategizing with lucidity, explaining how it occurred and what it means for modern finance.”—Peter Galison, author of Einstein’s Clocks, Poincare’s Maps. After the economic meltdown of 2008, many pundits placed the blame on “complex financial instruments” and the physicists and mathematicians who dreamed them up. But how is it that physicists came to drive Wall Street? And were their ideas really the cause of the collapse? In The Physics of Wall Street, the physicist James Weatherall answers both of these questions. He tells the story of how physicists first moved to finance, bringing science to bear on some of the thorniest problems in economics, from bubbles to options pricing. The problem isn’t simply that economic models have limitations and can break down under certain conditions, but that at the time of the meltdown those models were in the hands of people who either didn’t understand their purpose or didn’t care. It was a catastrophic misuse of science. However, Weatherall argues that the solution is not to give up on the models but to make them better. Both persuasive and accessible, The Physics of Wall Street is riveting history that will change how we think about our economic future."

$#@ Bak's Sand Pile: Strategies for a Catastrophic World by Ted G. Lewis(2011). [From Amazon.com] "Did the terrorist attacks on the United States in 2001, the massive power blackout of 2003, Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and the Gulf oil spill of 2010 'just happen'-or were these shattering events foreseeable? Do such calamities in fact follow a predictable pattern? Can we plan for the unforeseen by thinking about the unthinkable? Ted Lewis explains the pattern of catastrophes and their underlying cause. In a provocative tour of a volatile world, he guides the reader through mega-fires, fragile power grids, mismanaged telecommunication systems, global terrorist movements, migrating viruses, volatile markets and Internet storms. Modern societies want to avert catastrophes, but the drive to make things faster, cheaper, and more efficient leads to self-organized criticality-the condition of systems on the verge of disaster. This is a double-edged sword. Everything from biological evolution to political revolution is driven by some collapse, calamity or crisis. To avoid annihilation but allow for progress, we must change the ways in which we understand the patterns and manage systems. Bak's Sand Pile explains how".

$@ The Fractalist: Memoire of a Scientific Maverick by Benoit B. Mandelbrot (2013). [From Amazon.com] "A fascinating memoir from the man who revitalized visual geometry, and whose ideas about fractals have changed how we look at both the natural world and the financial world. Benoit Mandelbrot, the creator of fractal geometry, has significantly improved our understanding of, among other things, financial variability and erratic physical phenomena. In The Fractalist, Mandelbrot recounts the high points of his life with exuberance and an eloquent fluency, deepening our understanding of the evolution of his extraordinary mind. We begin with his early years: born in Warsaw in 1924 to a Lithuanian Jewish family, Mandelbrot moved with his family to Paris in the 1930s, where he was mentored by an eminent mathematician uncle. During World War II, as he stayed barely one step ahead of the Nazis until France was liberated, he studied geometry on his own and dreamed of using it to solve fresh, real-world problems. We observe his unusually broad education in Europe, and later at Caltech, Princeton, and MIT. We learn about his thirty-five-year affiliation with IBM’s Thomas J. Watson Research Center and his association with Harvard and Yale. An outsider to mainstream scientific research, he managed to do what others had thought impossible: develop a new geometry that combines revelatory beauty with a radical way of unfolding formerly hidden laws governing utter roughness, turbulence, and chaos. Here is a remarkable story of both the man’s life and his unparalleled contributions to science, mathematics, and the arts."

$#@ Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder by Nassim Nicholas Taleb (2012) [From Amazon.com] "Nassim Nicholas Taleb, the bestselling author of The Black Swan and one of the foremost thinkers of our time, reveals how to thrive in an uncertain world. Just as human bones get stronger when subjected to stress and tension, and rumors or riots intensify when someone tries to repress them, many things in life benefit from stress, disorder, volatility, and turmoil. What Taleb has identified and calls “antifragile” is that category of things that not only gain from chaos but need it in order to survive and flourish. In The Black Swan, Taleb showed us that highly improbable and unpredictable events underlie almost everything about our world. In Antifragile, Taleb stands uncertainty on its head, making it desirable, even necessary, and proposes that things be built in an antifragile manner. The antifragile is beyond the resilient or robust. The resilient resists shocks and stays the same; the antifragile gets better and better. Furthermore, the antifragile is immune to prediction errors and protected from adverse events. Why is the city-state better than the nation-state, why is debt bad for you, and why is what we call “efficient” not efficient at all? Why do government responses and social policies protect the strong and hurt the weak? Why should you write your resignation letter before even starting on the job? How did the sinking of the Titanic save lives? The book spans innovation by trial and error, life decisions, politics, urban planning, war, personal finance, economic systems, and medicine. And throughout, in addition to the street wisdom of Fat Tony of Brooklyn, the voices and recipes of ancient wisdom, from Roman, Greek, Semitic, and medieval sources, are loud and clear. Antifragile is a blueprint for living in a Black Swan world. Erudite, witty, and iconoclastic, Taleb’s message is revolutionary: The antifragile, and only the antifragile, will make it."

$#@ The (Mis) Behavior of Markets: A Fractal View of Risk, Ruin And Reward by Benoit Mandelbrot and Richard Hudson (2006) is an excellent discussion of how markets are really not Gaussian. This can be read along with Taleb's books. It is more an analysis of market behavior, not about investing per-se. (See Wikipedia entry on Mandelbrot). [From Amazon.com] "Mathematical superstar and inventor of fractal geometry, Benoit Mandelbrot, has spent the past forty years studying the underlying mathematics of space and natural patterns. What many of his followers don't realize is that he has also been watching patterns of market change. In The (Mis)Behavior of Markets, Mandelbrot joins with science journalist and former Wall Street Journal editor Richard L. Hudson to reveal what a fractal view of the world of finance looks like. The result is a revolutionary reevaluation of the standard tools and models of modern financial theory. Markets, we learn, are far riskier than we have wanted to believe. From the gyrations of IBM's stock price and the Dow, to cotton trading, and the dollar-Euro exchange rate--Mandelbrot shows that the world of finance can be understood in more accurate, and volatile, terms than the tired theories of yesteryear.The ability to simplify the complex has made Mandelbrot one of the century's most influential mathematicians. With The (Mis)Behavior of Markets, he puts the tools of higher mathematics into the hands of every person involved with markets, from financial analysts to economists to 401(k) holders. Markets will never be seen as "safe bets" again." He also published a collection of original papers in a 1997 book Fractals and Scaling In Finance.

$#@ The Black Swan: Second Edition: The Impact of the Highly Improbable: With a new section: "On Robustness and Fragility" by Nassim Nicholas Taleb (2010). [From Amazon.com] "Four hundred years ago, Francis Bacon warned that our minds are wired to deceive us. "Beware the fallacies into which undisciplined thinkers most easily fall--they are the real distorting prisms of human nature." Chief among them: "Assuming more order than exists in chaotic nature." Now consider the typical stock market report: "Today investors bid shares down out of concern over Iranian oil production." Sigh. We're still doing it. Our brains are wired for narrative, not statistical uncertainty. And so we tell ourselves simple stories to explain complex thing we don't--and, most importantly, can't--know. The truth is that we have no idea why stock markets go up or down on any given day, and whatever reason we give is sure to be grossly simplified, if not flat out wrong. Nassim Nicholas Taleb first made this argument in Fooled by Randomness, an engaging look at the history and reasons for our predilection for self-deception when it comes to statistics. Now, in The Black Swan: the Impact of the Highly Improbable, he focuses on that most dismal of sciences, predicting the future. Forecasting is not just at the heart of Wall Street, but it’s something each of us does every time we make an insurance payment or strap on a seat belt. The problem, Nassim explains, is that we place too much weight on the odds that past events will repeat (diligently trying to follow the path of the "millionaire next door," when unrepeatable chance is a better explanation). Instead, the really important events are rare and unpredictable. He calls them Black Swans, which is a reference to a 17th century philosophical thought experiment. In Europe all anyone had ever seen were white swans; indeed, "all swans are white" had long been used as the standard example of a scientific truth. So what was the chance of seeing a black one? Impossible to calculate, or at least they were until 1697, when explorers found Cygnus atratus in Australia. Nassim argues that most of the really big events in our world are rare and unpredictable, and thus trying to extract generalizable stories to explain them may be emotionally satisfying, but it's practically useless. September 11th is one such example, and stock market crashes are another. Or, as he puts it, "History does not crawl, it jumps." Our assumptions grow out of the bell-curve predictability of what he calls "Mediocristan," while our world is really shaped by the wild powerlaw swings of "Extremistan." In full disclosure, I'm a long admirer of Taleb's work and a few of my comments on drafts found their way into the book. I, too, look at the world through the powerlaw lens, and I too find that it reveals how many of our assumptions are wrong. But Taleb takes this to a new level with a delightful romp through history, economics, and the frailties of human nature."

$#@ Fooled by Randomness by Nassim Taleb (2005) is more directly concerned about finance than The Black Swan, but is no less thought-provoking than Mandelbrot's mis-behavior book. Taleb explores how we confuse luck with skill, and the importance of trying to figure out which is which. [From Amazon.com] "Fooled by Randomness is a standalone book in Nassim Nicholas Taleb’s landmark Incerto series, an investigation of opacity, luck, uncertainty, probability, human error, risk, and decision-making in a world we don’t understand. The other books in the series are The Black Swan, Antifragile, and The Bed of Procrustes. “[Taleb is] Wall Street’s principal dissident. . . . [Fooled By Randomness] is to conventional Wall Street wisdom approximately what Martin Luther’s ninety-nine theses were to the Catholic Church.” –Malcolm Gladwell, The New Yorker. Finally in paperback, the word-of-mouth sensation that will change the way you think about the markets and the world.This book is about luck: more precisely how we perceive luck in our personal and professional experiences. Set against the backdrop of the most conspicuous forum in which luck is mistaken for skill–the world of business–Fooled by Randomness is an irreverent, iconoclastic, eye-opening, and endlessly entertaining exploration of one of the least understood forces in all of our lives."

$#@ I Am a Strange Loop by Douglas R. Hofstadter (2008) [From Amazon.com] "Can thought arise out of matter? Can self, soul, consciousness, “I” arise out of mere matter? If it cannot, then how can you or I be here? I Am a Strange Loop argues that the key to understanding selves and consciousness is the “strange loop”—a special kind of abstract feedback loop inhabiting our brains. The most central and complex symbol in your brain is the one called “I.” The “I” is the nexus in our brain, one of many symbols seeming to have free will and to have gained the paradoxical ability to push particles around, rather than the reverse. How can a mysterious abstraction be real—or is our “I” merely a convenient fiction? Does an “I” exert genuine power over the particles in our brain, or is it helplessly pushed around by the laws of physics? These are the mysteries tackled in I Am a Strange Loop, Douglas Hofstadter’s first book-length journey into philosophy since Gödel, Escher, Bach. Compulsively readable and endlessly thought-provoking, this is a moving and profound inquiry into the nature of mind."

$# Critical Mass: How One Thing Leads to Another by Philip Ball (2006) [From Amazon.com] "Are there "natural laws" that govern the ways in which humans behave and organize themselves, just as there are physical laws that govern the motions of atoms and planets? Unlikely as it may seem, such laws now seem to be emerging from attempts to bring the tools and concepts of physics into the social sciences. These new discoveries are part of an old tradition. In the seventeenth century the philosopher Thomas Hobbes, dismayed by the impending civil war in England, decided that he would work out what kind of government was needed for a stable society. His solution sparked a new way of thinking about human behavior in looking for the "scientific" rules of society. Adam Smith, Immanuel Kant, Auguste Comte, and John Stuart Mill pursued this idea from different political perspectives. But these philosophers lacked the tools that modern physics can now bring to bear on the matter. Philip Ball shows how, by using these tools, we can understand many aspects of mass human behavior. Once we recognize that we do not make most of our decisions in isolation but are affected by what others decide, we can start to discern a surprising and perhaps even disturbing predictability in our laws, institutions, and customs. Lively and compelling, Critical Mass is the first book to bring these new ideas together and to show how they fit within the broader historical context of a rational search for better ways to live."

$ Super Crunchers: Why Thinking-by-Numbers Is the New Way to Be Smart by Ian Ayers (2007). [From Amazon.com] "Why would a casino try and stop you from losing? How can a mathematical formula find your future spouse? Would you know if a statistical analysis blackballed you from a job you wanted? Today, number crunching affects your life in ways you might never imagine. In this lively and groundbreaking new book, economist Ian Ayres shows how today's best and brightest organizations are analyzing massive databases at lightening speed to provide greater insights into human behavior. They are the Super Crunchers. From internet sites like Google and Amazon that know your tastes better than you do, to a physician's diagnosis and your child's education, to boardrooms and government agencies, this new breed of decision makers are calling the shots. And they are delivering staggeringly accurate results. How can a football coach evaluate a player without ever seeing him play? Want to know whether the price of an airline ticket will go up or down before you buy? How can a formula outpredict wine experts in determining the best vintages? Super crunchers have the answers. In this brave new world of equation versus expertise, Ayres shows us the benefits and risks, who loses and who wins, and how super crunching can be used to help, not manipulate us. Gone are the days of solely relying on intuition to make decisions. No businessperson, consumer, or student who wants to stay ahead of the curve should make another keystroke without reading Super Crunchers." His web site is http://islandia.law.yale.edu/ayres/.

$ Chaotics: The Business of Managing and Marketing in the Age of Turbulence by Philip Kotler, John A. Caslione (2009) [From Amazon.com] "We have entered into an entirely new era, an age of increasingly frequent and intense periods of turbulence in the global economy. Unlike past recessions, today's crises have precipitated a need for businesses to develop a new mindset, one that takes into account intermittent periods of disturbance, allowing them to thrive while under the constant threat of chaos. Complete with metrics and measurements, "Chaotics" outlines a powerful new system for managing waves of uncertainty affecting customers, employees, and other stakeholders. In this climate of increased turbulence, no organization can survive with less." Part of an Amazon reader review "The material is carefully organized within eight chapters. First, review the main causes of turbulence, then shift their attention to the sequence of eight steps of the chaotics implementation cycle that will enable business leaders to navigate 'the unpredictable and uncertain waters of disruptive turbulence in what they characterize as the 'Age of Turbulence': 1. Identify sources of turbulence and chaos; 2. Identify management's wrong responses to turbulence; 3. Establish early-warning systems; 4. Construct key scenarios and strategies; 5. Prioritize key scenarios and select strategy; 6. Implement chaotics strategic management behaviors; 7. Implement chaotics strategic marketing behaviors; 8. Achieve business enterprise sustainability."

$@ Why Things Bite Back: Technology and the Revenge of Unintended Consequences by Edward Tenner (1997) [From Amazon.com] "In this perceptive and provocative look at everything from computer software that requires faster processors and more support staff to antibiotics that breed resistant strains of bacteria, Edward Tenner offers a virtual encyclopedia of what he calls "revenge effects"--the unintended consequences of the mechanical, chemical, biological, and medical forms of ingenuity that have been hallmarks of the progressive, improvement-obsessed modern age. Tenner shows why our confidence in technological solutions may be misplaced, and explores ways in which we can better survive in a world where despite technology's advances--and often because of them--"reality is always gaining on us." For anyone hoping to understand the ways in which society and technology interact, Why Things Bite Back is indispensable reading. 'A bracing critique of technological determinism in both its utopian and dystopian forms...No one who wants to think clearly about our high-tech future can afford to ignore this book.'--Jackson Lears, Wilson Quarterly."

9. Socially Responsible Investing (SRI) and economies

$ The Great Disruption: Why the Climate Crisis Will Bring On the End of Shopping and the Birth of a New World by Paul Gilding (2011) [From Amazon.com] "One of those who has been warning me of [a coming crisis] for a long time is Paul Gilding, the Australian environmental business expert. He has a name for this moment-when both Mother Nature and Father Greed have hit the wall at once-'The Great Disruption.' "-Thomas Friedman in the New York Times. It's time to stop just worrying about climate change, says Paul Gilding. We need instead to brace for impact because global crisis is no longer avoidable. This Great Disruption started in 2008, with spiking food and oil prices and dramatic ecological changes, such as the melting ice caps. It is not simply about fossil fuels and carbon footprints. We have come to the end of Economic Growth, Version 1.0, a world economy based on consumption and waste, where we lived beyond the means of our planet's ecosystems and resources. The Great Disruption offers a stark and unflinching look at the challenge humanity faces-yet also a deeply optimistic message. The coming decades will see loss, suffering, and conflict as our planetary overdraft is paid; however, they will also bring out the best humanity can offer: compassion, innovation, resilience, and adaptability. Gilding tells us how to fight-and win-what he calls The One Degree War to prevent catastrophic warming of the earth, and how to start today. The crisis represents a rare chance to replace our addiction to growth with an ethic of sustainability, and it's already happening. It's also an unmatched business opportunity: Old industries will collapse while new companies will literally reshape our economy. In the aftermath of the Great Disruption, we will measure "growth" in a new way. It will mean not quantity of stuff but quality and happiness of life. Yes, there is life after shopping."

$ Don't Count on It!: Reflections on Investment Illusions, Capitalism, "Mutual" Funds, Indexing, Entrepreneurship, Idealism, and Heroes by John C. Bogle (2011) [From Amazon.com] "Insights into investing and leadership from the founder of The Vanguard Group Throughout his legendary career, John Bogle-founder of the Vanguard mutual fund group and creator of the first index mutual fund-has helped investors build wealth the right way, while, at the same time, leading a tireless campaign to restore common sense to the investment world. A collection of essays based on speeches delivered to professional groups and college students in recent years, in Don't Count on It is organized around eight themes * Illusion versus reality in investing; * Indexing to market returns; * Failures of capitalism; * The flawed structure of the mutual fund industry; * The spirit of entrepreneurship; * What is enough in business, and in life; * Advice to America's future leaders; * The unforgettable characters who have shaped his career."

$@ Enough: True Measures of Money, Business, and Life by John C. Bogle (2008) [From Amazon.com] "Written by John C. Bogle–the legendary founder of the Vanguard Mutual Fund–Enough. offers his unparalleled insights on money, the values we should emulate in our business and professional callings, and what we should consider as the true treasures in our lives. Inspired in large measure by the hundreds of lectures Bogle has delivered to professional groups and college students in recent years, this book will help you discover what it really means to have 'enough' and how close you are to really having it.".

$@ The Battle for the Soul of Capitalism by John C. Bogle (2006) [From Amazon.com] "Despite its inflated title, this volume is a worthy jeremiad against corporate excess, especially the kind hastened by the mutual fund industry that Bogle, former CEO of low-cost Vanguard, knows well. Among the problems: inflated executive compensation and creative accounting that allows companies to claim profits even when they're in the red. Mutual fund companies, Bogle charges, care more about short-term results than long-term value, and many of them gain profits for larger parent corporations by charging investors unnecessary fees that undermine the funds' net returns. To remedy such problems, Bogle writes, mutual fund owners and their fiduciaries must exercise the corporate responsibility they now shirk, and fund boards must be reshaped to serve the interests of shareholders. He advances in all seriousness Warren Buffett's once-joking idea for a high tax on short-term trading gains and calls for a federal commission to examine the way pension funds are managed, as well as the state of our retirement systems in general. While other recent books, such as David Swensen's Unconventional Success: A Fundamental Approach to Personal Investment, marry similar criticisms with more advice for individual investors, Bogle—a rock-ribbed Republican businessman—still deserves attention in the precincts of power."

$ The Soul of Capitalism: Opening Paths to a Moral Economy by William Greider (2004) [From Amazon.com] "The good news is, American capitalism has "solved the economic problem" of overcoming scarcity, says veteran journalist Greider, currently with the Nation. Most Americans live materially comfortable lives. The bad news: capitalism seems increasingly dysfunctional and alienating, and fundamentally conflicts with humanity's noneconomic values. Greider says we have the luxury and responsibility now to repair this, to transform the essential purpose of our economic system from the relentless pursuit of "more" to the fulfillment of "human needs." Greider (Secrets of the Temple) breaks from the standard left-wing critique in one critical respect: he believes the system will be changed not by activist government but by a variety of small-scale reformers working to transform the economic system from within. Greider reports on experiments in corporate governance, especially employee ownership and consultative decision making. He investigates initiatives in corporate financing, most significantly, the growing practice of socially responsible investing by union and pension funds. Toward ecological sustainability, Greider's proposals include industries' developing "closed-loop recycling that mimics nature." Arguing that current government policies amplify capitalism's distortions, Greider emphasizes redirecting government expenditures from corporate subsidies to long-term social investments. Greider is immoderately optimistic, but without illusions about the challenges these grassroots movements face. Wisely, he recommends local experiments before considering any grandiose plans. Greider concedes that people might perceive a "touchy-feely wishful thinking" in some of the reformers' projects, and that quality is not absent from the book, but his overall framework is fresh and valuable, and his reporting on specific efforts is resourceful and illuminating."

$ Creative Capitalism: A Conversation with Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, and Other Economic Leaders by Conor Clarke (Contrib.), Michale Kinsley (ed)(2008) [From Amazon.com] "Gates has approached philanthropy the same way he revolutionized computer software: with a fierce ambition to change the rules of the game. That's why at the 2008 annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Gates advocated a creative capitalism in which big corporations, the distinguishing feature of the modern global economy, integrate doing good into their way of doing business. This controversial new idea is discussed and debated by the more than forty contributors to this book, among them three Nobel laureates and two former U.S. cabinet secretaries. Edited by author and columnist Michael Kinsley, Creative Capitalism started as a first-of-its-kind online conversation that brought together some of the world's best minds to engage Gates's challenge. From Warren Buffett, who seconds Gates's analysis, to Lawrence Summers, who worries about the consequences of multiple corporate objectives, the essays cover a broad spectrum of opinion. Judge Richard Posner dismisses Gates's proposal as trumped-up charity that will sap the strengths of the profit-maximizing corporation, while journalist Martin Wolf maintains that the maximization of profit is far from universally accepted, and rightly so. Chicago Nobel laureate Gary Becker wonders whether altruistic companies can survive in a competitive economy, while Columbia Nobel laureate Edmund Phelps argues that a little altruism might be the right prescription for a variety of market imperfections. Creative Capitalism is not just a book for philanthropists. It's a book that challenges the conventional wisdom about our economic system, a road map for the new global economy that is emerging as capitalism adapts itself once again to a changing world."

$ Investing With Your Values: Making Money and Making a Difference by Hal Brill, Jack A. Brill, and Cliff Feigenbaum (2000) goes into the details of socially responsible investing (SRI). Feigenbaum writes the http://www.greenmoney.org/ web site (also see the http://www.socialinvest.org/ web site). [From Amazon.com] "Investing with values . . . . is a trillion dollar, growing industry. Investing with Your Values offers a rare combination: the pragmatic tools of disciplined investing with a thoughtful methodology for melding difficult financial decisions with fundamental and cherished personal values.-Joan Shapiro, Former Executive Vice President, South Shore Bank. The fact is that you can make money and make a difference at the same time! Now in paperback, this step-by-step guide answers all the financial basics and makes it easy to link your money with your values in a high-performance portfolio. Includes: o The philosophy and fascinating history that built SRI (socially responsible investing), o An explanation of the visionary new framework of "Natural Investing", o How to outperform the market and be a force for social change, o Shareholder activism and community investing, o Detailed information on socially responsible stocks, mutual funds, and bonds, o Stories, lists of funds and companies, worksheets, and scores of resources. The authors are dedicated financial activists who have had a long involvement with SRI. "

$ Plan B 3.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization, Third Edition by Lester Brown (2008) [From Amazon.com] "In this updated edition of the landmark Plan B, Lester Brown outlines a survival strategy for our early twenty-first-century civilization. The world faces many environmental trends of disruption and decline, including rising temperatures and spreading water shortage. In addition to these looming threats, we face the peaking of oil, annual population growth of 70 million, a widening global economic divide, and a growing list of failing states. The scale and complexity of issues facing our fast-forward world have no precedent. With Plan A, business as usual, we have neglected these issues overly long. In Plan B 3.0, Lester R. Brown warns that the only effective response now is a World War II-type mobilization like that in the United States after the attack on Pearl Harbor." Lester Brown is President of the Earth Policy Institute

$ The Real Wealth of Nations: Creating a Caring Economics by Riane Eisler (2007) [From Amazon.com] "Bestselling author Riane Eisler (The Chalice and the Blade, which has sold more than 500,000 copies sold) shows that at the root of all of society's big problems is the fact that we don?t value what matters. She then presents a radical reformulation of economics priorities focused on activities of caring and caregiving at the individual, organizational, societal, and environmental levels."

$ Getting a Life: Strategies for Simple Living Based on the Revolutionary Program for Financial Freedom, "Your Money or Your Life" by Jacquelyn Blix and David Heitmiller (1999) [From Amazon.com] "Revolutionary and life changing, the "voluntary simplicity" movement is about achieving financial freedom and living well for less. Now Getting a Life shows how real people have left the rat race for a more meaningful--and financially manageable--life that reflects their own true values and individual goals. Written by a couple who used the nine steps in the bestselling Your Money or Your Life to transform their own relationship with money, Getting a Life offers proven, practical ideas on how to use each step of the program. With honesty and humor, the authors and more than two dozen families and individuals share their personal experiences on such issues as paying for health care, raising children in a materialistic world, and breaking the link between what you do for a living and who you are. Getting a Life shows you how to adopt voluntary simplicity in your own life and what to expect once you do."

$@ Your Money or Your Life: 9 Steps to Transforming Your Relationship with Money and Achieving Financial Ind ependence: Revised and Updated for the 21st Century by Joe Dominguez, Vicki Robin, Monique Tilford (2008) [From Amazon.com] "'The seminal guide to the new morality of personal money management' (Los Angeles Times(on the first edition)). In an age of great economic uncertainty when everyone is concerned about money and how they spend what they have, this new edition of the bestselling Your Money or Your Life is an essential read. With updated resources, an easy-to-use index, and anecdotes and examples particularly relevant today-it tells you how to: * get out of debt and develop savings, * reorder material priorities and live well for less, * resolve inner conflicts between values and lifestyle, * save the planet while saving money, * and much more. In Your Money or Your Life, Vicki Robin shows readers how to gain control of their money and finally begin to make a life, rather than just make a living."

$ The Secret History of the American Empire: Economic Hit Men, Jackals, and the Truth about Global Corruption by John Perkins (2007) [From Amazon.com] "In his stunning memoir, Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, John Perkins detailed his former role as an "economic hit man" in the international corporate skullduggery of a de facto American Empire. This riveting, behind-the-scenes exposé unfolded like a cinematic blockbuster told through the eyes of a man who once helped shape that empire. Now, in The Secret History of the American Empire, Perkins zeroes in on hot spots around the world and, drawing on interviews with other hit men, jackals, reporters, and activists, examines the current geopolitical crisis. Instability is the norm: It’s clear that the world we’ve created is dangerous and no longer sustainable. How did we get here? Who’s responsible? What good have we done and at what cost? And what can we do to change things for the next generations? Addressing these questions and more, Perkins reveals the secret history behind the events that have created the American Empire, including: • The current Latin-American revolution and its lessons for democracy, • How the "defeats" in Vietnam and Iraq benefited big business, • The role of Israel as "Fortress America" in the Middle East, • Tragic repercussions of the IMF’s "Asian Economic Collapse", • U.S. blunders in Tibet, Congo, Lebanon, and Venezuela, • Jackal (CIA operatives) forays to assassinate democratic presidents. From the U.S. military in Iraq to infrastructure development in Indonesia, from Peace Corps volunteers in Africa to jackals in Venezuela, Perkins exposes a conspiracy of corruption that has fueled instability and anti-Americanism around the globe. Alarming yet hopeful, this book provides a compassionate plan to reimagine our world."

$ The Clean Tech Revolution: The Next Big Growth and Investment Opportunity by Ron Pernick, Clint Wilder (2007). [From Amazon.com] "When industry giants such as GE, Toyota, and Sharp and investment firms such as Goldman Sachs are making multibillion-dollar investments in clean technology, the message is clear. Developing clean technologies is no longer a social issue championed by environmentalists; it's a moneymaking enterprise moving solidly into the business mainstream. In fact, as the economy faces unprecedented challenges from high energy prices, resource shortages, and global environmental and security threats, clean tech—technologies designed to provide superior performance at a lower cost while creating significantly less waste than conventional offerings—promises to be the next engine of economic growth. In The Clean Tech Revolution, authors Ron Pernick and Clint Wilder identify the major forces that have pushed clean tech from back-to-the-earth utopian dream to its current revolution among the inner circles of corporate boardrooms, on Wall Street trading floors, and in government offices around the globe. By highlighting eight major clean-tech sectors—solar energy, wind power, biofuels and biomaterials, green buildings, personal transportation, the smart grid, mobile applications, and water filtration—they uncover how investors, entrepreneurs, and individuals can profit from this next wave of technological innovation. Pernick and Wilder shine the spotlight on the winners among technologies, companies, and regions that are likely to reap the greatest benefits from clean tech—and they show you why the time to act is now. Groundbreaking and authoritative, The Clean Tech Revolution is the must-read book to understand and profit from the clean technologies that are reshaping our fast-changing world."

10. Retirement planning and income distribution

$ The Retirement Challenge: Will You Sink or Swim?: A Complete, Do-It-Yourself Toolkit to Navigate Your Financial Future by Frank Armstrong, Jason R. Doss (2009) [From Amazon.com] "In 48 quick, practical lessons, Armstrong shows how to assess what you have and what you’ll need to build a simple, reliable retirement plan. Better yet, the book’s easy online calculators do all the math for you. Investing for retirement has never been so sensible and simple! Includes free access to comprehensive Web-based tools and resources at www.Sink-Swim.com: * More than 75 easy-to-use online calculators and budget spreadsheets to help you get on track and stay on track; * Sample asset allocation plans you can adjust for any stage of your career and any portfolio; * Up-to-the-minute updates on pension law, regulation, enforcement, and estate planning Free Sink or Swim Newsletter, and much more". [Note that the Sink-Swim.com website has been moved to Armstrong's company Investor Solutions. The new link to the calculator is www.investorsolutions.com/knowledge-center/calculators.

$@# Pensionize Your Nest Egg: How to Use Product Allocation to Create a Guaranteed Income for Life by Moshe A. Milevsky, Alexandra C. Macqueen (2nd Edition, 2015) [From Amazon.com] "Guarantee your retirement income with a DIY pension Pensionize Your Nest Egg describes how adding the newapproach of "product allocation" to the tried-and-true assetallocation approach can help protect you from the risk of outliving your savings, while maximizing your income in retirement. This book demonstrates that it isn't the investor with the most money who necessarily has the best retirement income plan. Instead,it's the investor who owns the right type of investment and insurance products, and uses product allocation to allocate the right amounts, at the right time, to each product category. This revised second edition is expanded to include investors throughout the English-speaking world and updated to reflect current economic realities. Readers will learn how to distinguish between the various types of retirement income products available today, including life annuities and variable annuities with living income benefits, andhow to evaluate the features that are most important to meet their personal retirement goals. * Evaluate the impacts of longevity, inflation, and sequence ofreturns risk on your retirement income portfolio. * Make sense of the bewildering array of today's retirementincome products. * Measure and maximize your Retirement Sustainability Quotient. * Learn how your product allocation choices can help maximizecurrent income or financial legacy — and how to select theapproach that's right for you. * Walk through detailed case studies to explore how to pensionizeyour nest egg using the new product allocation approach. Whether you do it yourself or work with a financial advisor,Pensionize Your Nest Egg gives you a step-by-step plan tocreate a guaranteed retirement income for life."

$@ Your Money Milestones: A Guide to Making the 9 Most Important Financial Decisions of Your Life by Moshe A. Milevsky (2010) [From Amazon.com] "Admitting that he lost hundreds of thousands of dollars in the latest economic downturn by doing everything exactly right, Milevsky (Are You a Stock or a Bond?) revises personal finance planning now that all the received wisdom is out the window. He introduces readers to a simpler model employing basic arithmetic: assessing the value of assets (addition), allotting funds for future liabilities (subtraction), planning for even spending over time (division), and preparing for unanticipated occurrences (multiplication). He examines the nine major money milestones including paying off student loans, having children, purchasing a home, and retiring—with a decidedly contrarian twist: he insists that most people should not purchase a home until they are in their 50s or 60s, when they have unlocked most of their labor or human capital and converted it into financial capital. With helpful chapter summaries and designed for readers to pick and choose which chapters are most germane to their current stage of life, this is a comprehensive and readable introduction to wealth management." Makes a big point that one's human capital should be included in planning and asset allocation decisions. It is often ignored. He makes various planning tools mentioned in the book available on a Web site http://www.qwema.ca/ .

$#@ Retirement Income Redesigned: Master Plans for Distribution: An Adviser's Guide for Funding Boomers' Best Years by Harold Evensky and Deena B Katz (Editors) (April 2007) is a collection of 20 essays on retirement planning shifting the focus of much of the current literature from the accumulation of assets to their distribution during retirement. [From Amazon.com] "Clients nearing retirement have some significant challenges to face. And so do their advisers. They can expect to live far longer after they retire. And the problems they expect their advisers to solve are far more complex. The traditional sources of retirement income may be shriveling, but boomers don't intend to downsize their plans. Instead, they're redefining what it means to be retired—as well as what they require of financial advisers. Planners who aren't prepared will be left behind. Those who are will step up to some lucrative and challenging work. To help get the work done, Harold Evensky and Deena Katz—both veteran problem solvers—have tapped the talents of a range of experts whose breakthrough thinking offers solutions to even the thorniest issues in retirement-income planning: * Sustainable withdrawals, * Longevity risk, * Eliminating luck as a factor in planning, * Immediate annuities, reverse mortgages, and viatical and life settlements, * Strategies for increasing retirement cash flow. In Retirement Income Redesigned, the most-respected names in the industry discuss these issues and a range of others."

$ Live Long and Prosper: Invest in Your Happiness, Health andWealth for Retirement and Beyond by Steve Vernon (2004) is both about the psychological aspects and the financial. Amongst other things he discusses figuring out how much you will need, and various methods of taking money out of retirement savings. He is a semi-retired VP of Watson Wyatt Worldwide that provides retirement services for many companies internationally. [From Amazon.com] "In Live Long and Prosper!, Steve Vernon unveils a new way of thinking that will truly help you live a more happy, healthy, and prosperous life. Based on the latest research and planning strategies typically reserved for large corporations, it will help you answer these important questions: * Do you have enough money to retire? * How can you manage your income and expenses so you don't outlive your 401(k) balances? * How can you invest in your health, so that you won't be wiped out by large medical expenses and are able to live a long, comfortable, and productive life? * What can you expect from Social Security and Medicare? * What's the best work/life balance for prosperity and fulfillment? Live Long and Prosper! will help you move beyond the traditional view of retirement and begin planning for the rest of your life." His web site is http://www.restoflife.com/ with lots of supplementary material on it.

$ The Number: A Completely Different Way to Think About the Rest of Your Life by Lee Eisenberg (2006) suggests that many peoples goals of saving until they reach their "number" or how much they need to retire may not be the best or only way to prepare for retirement. He suggests that the future(s) we envision may be like and may in fact be more affordable. His web site is http://www.TheNumberBook.com/. [From Amazon.com] "Do you know your Number? What happens if you don’t make it to your Number? Do you have a plan? The often-avoided, anxiety-riddled discussion about financial planning for a secure and fulfilling future has been given a new starting point in The Number by Lee Eisenberg. The buzz of professionals and financial industry insiders everywhere, the Number represents the amount of money and resources people will need to enjoy the active life they desire, especially post-career. Backed by imaginative reporting and insights, Eisenberg urges people to assume control and responsibility for their standard of living, and take greater aim on their long-term aspirations. From Wall Street to Main Street USA, the Number means different things to different people. It is constantly fluctuating in people’s minds and bank accounts. To some, the Number symbolizes freedom, validation of career success, the ticket to luxurious indulgences and spiritual exploration; to others, it represents the bewildering and nonsensical nightmare of an impoverished existence creeping up on them in their old age, a seemingly hopeless inevitability that they would rather simply ignore than confront. People are highly private and closed-mouthed when it comes to discussing their Numbers, or lack thereof, for fear they might either reveal too much or display ineptitude. In The Number, Eisenberg describes this secret anxiety as the “Last Taboo,” a conundrum snared in confusing financial lingo. He sorts through the fancy jargon and translates the Number into commonsense advice that resonates just as easily with the aging gods and goddesses of corporate boardrooms as it does with ordinary people who are beginning to realize that retirement is now just a couple of decades away. Believing that the Number is as much about self-worth as it is net worth, Eisenberg strives to help readers better understand and more efficiently manage all aspects of their life, money, and pursuit of happiness."

$ The New Retirementality: Planning Your Life and Living Your Dreams... at Any Age You Want by Mitch Anthony (2006) [From Amazon.com] "With this latest edition of The New Retirementality, readers will quickly discover how to achieve the freedom to pursue their retirement goals at their own pace, on their own terms regardless of their age. Most people won't experience the same retirement that their parents did, nor do they necessarily want to. Page by page, top financial planner Mitch Anthony reveals how new opportunities will enable individuals to create tailor-made retirements. He includes new research and studies to back his insights and introduces readers to important concepts such as "wealthcare" and "return on life." Filled with engaging anecdotes and inspirational suggestions, this book will motivate readers to rethink the way they retire." His web site is http://www.flpinc.com/.

$ AARP Crash Course in Estate Planning, Updated Edition: The Essential Guide to Wills, Trusts, and Your Personal Legacy by Michael T. Palermo (Author), Ric Edelman (Foreword) (2009) [From Amazon.com] "Scrutinized for accuracy by AARP’s legal specialists, and completely up-to-date, this indispensable volume covers every aspect of planning an estate and creating a will. A crash course in one handy volume, the book walks readers through the entire process, from understanding the distinction between probate and nonprobate property to delegating a durable power of attorney, and from resolving possible tax issues ahead of time to safeguarding your assets. In these pages you will find: • Comparisons of wills and simple living trusts, • Advice on guardianship and advanced medical directives, • Explanations of the role and powers of a trustee and what steps to take in the case of suspected misconduct, • A primer on marshaling and protecting retirement assets, • Help in planning for children with disabilities, • A primer on marshaling and protecting retirement assets, • Help in planning for children with disabilities, • Ideas for making sure your money stays in the family in case a spouse remarries; and much, much more."

Note: many of the other books mentioned in these lists also touch on the retirement income topics. In addition, there is some discussion on this topic in other lists.

10.1 Non-financial aspects of retirement

$ My Time: Making the Most of the Rest of Your Life by Abigail Trafford (2003) [From Amazon.com "Kids grown? Mortgage paid? Career topping out? What now? In My Time, best-selling author Abigail Trafford answers the questions more and more 50somethings are asking themselves.Thanks to the longevity revolution of recent decades, today's 55-75-year-olds are living and working longer and healthier than ever before. This generation is the first to experience the period of personal renaissance in between middle and old age--what Trafford calls "My Time." Defining this period as a whole new developmental stage in the life cycle, Trafford skillfully guides readers through the obstacles of "My Time" and offers them the opportunity to take full advantage of the bonus decades. With the same wit, compassion, and vivid storytelling that made Crazy Time one of the best-loved books ever written on the subject of divorce, Trafford blends personal stories with expert opinions and the latest research on adult development. From the doctor who gave up his practice to write books to the widowed mother of three who reinvented herself as a successful photographer, true tales of crisis and triumph sparkle on every page of this inspiring and insightful book.Like Gail Sheehy's Passages, My Time is certain to profoundly affect the journey through our adult years."

$ Don't Retire, REWIRE! by Jeri Sedlar, Rick Miners (2nd edition, 2007). Discusses the process of shifting gears and career changes during retirement. [From Amazon.com] "Working in retirement is quickly becoming one of the fastest growing career trends, considering that a 1998 AARP survey of over 2,000 adults age 33-52 found that 80% say they plan to work at least part-time during retirement. The last thing retirees are looking for is the same thing they've been doing all their lives. They are looking for work situations that are mentally and emotionally rewarding. Don't Retire, REWIRE will help readers to not only define what kind of work is best suited for their passions and interests, but guide them through the process of obtaining such work-whether it's a part time job, volunteer work, or a second career. In addition to the practical how-to content, this book combines the stories and lessons of real-life retirees with original research based on more than 300 original interviews."

$ Refuse to Choose!: Use All of Your Interests, Passions, and Hobbies to Create the Life and Career of Your Dreams Age by Barbara Sher (2007). [From Amazon.com] "Don't know what to do with your life? Drawn to so many things that you can't choose just one? New York Times best-selling author Barbara Sher has the answer-do EVERYTHING! With her popular career counseling sessions, motivational speeches, workshops, and television specials, Barbara Sher has become famous for her extraordinary ability to help people define and achieve their goals. What Sher has discovered is that some individuals simply cannot, and should not, decide on a single path; they are genetically wired to pursue many areas. Sher calls them "Scanners"-people whose unique type of mind does not zero in on a single interest but rather scans the horizon, eager to explore everything they see. In this groundbreaking book, readers will learn: • what's behind their "hit and run" obsessions,• when (and how) to finish what they start, • how to do everything they love, • what type of Scanner they are (and which tools they need to do their very best work)." [Note: Barbara Sher wrote "Wishcraft" in 1998 (now on-line for download at http://www.wishcraft.com/). She has a number of related books that would be useful in helping figure out new directions.]

$ The New Retirementality: Planning Your Life and Living Your Dreams ... at Any Age You Want (New Retire-Mentality) by Mitch Anthony (2006). [From Amazon.com] "The vision of a retirement spent playing golf or sipping martinis can be more of a dead end than a dream. For many people, retirement may span 30 years or longer and will not be viewed as an isolated economic event but rather a part of ongoing life planning. In a comprehensive update of The New Retirementality, popular author Mitch Anthony revisits and expands on his groundbreaking concept of Retirementality-the ability to achieve the freedom to pursue life's goals, at one's own pace, on one's own terms, and at any age. This book will help readers say goodbye to dreary financial opinions and hello to a whole new way of planning for retirement. Drawing on the latest research on lifestyles and employment, Anthony debunks common myths about retirement, such as 'Age 65 is old,' 'My retirement income will be spent on pills and doctor bills,' and 'Retirement means not working.' Then, he gives readers a brand-new blueprint for retirement-from making a meaningful transition and maintaining a network of connections, to contributing through volunteerism and philanthropy, while ensuring there's enough money to last a lifetime. Innovative ideas and planning techniques from top advisors in the financial world make this book stand out from others on the shelf. Anthony demonstrates that a life well lived after retirement should closely resemble life before retirement, filled with friends, family, work, travel, and hobbies. For the more than 77 million baby boomers on the cusp of retirement, The New Retirementality helps paint a detailed portrait of this ideal future and how to achieve it." [A useful related financial planning book where Anthony has a chapter in Retirement Income Redesigned: Master Plans for Distribution: An Adviser's Guide for Funding Boomers' Best Years by Harold Evensky (Editor), Deena B Katz.]

$ The Art of Aging: A Doctor's Prescription for Well-Being by Sherwin B. Nuland (2007) [From Amazon.com] "This book is according to Sherwin Nuland written primarily for those in their Fifties and sixties. Nuland hopes to instruct them on how to wisely age. Physical exercise, maintaining a network of close personal relationships, and being 'creative' (In the broadest sense of the term) is at the heart of his prescription. Nuland is upbeat about the prospect that we can by focusing on what we are really good at, what gives us real pleasure improve the quality of our lives in Old Age. Nuland gives examples of people who do function remarkably well in advanced old age, such as the legendary surgeon Michael deBakey who was still operating at the age of ninety- seven. Some of the reviewers of the book I have seen including the outstanding Joseph Epstein have said that Nuland at points is platitudinous, and preachy. They say he at certain points ceases being the sharp, perceptive first - rate observer he was in his earlier award- winning book, "The Way We Die". But in my understanding Nuland is balanced, humane and realistic throughout this work. For instance, in one interesting section he counters the proposal of a scientist working to eliminate death. Nuland makes a strong argument that the death of the individual serves the well-being of the species, and its survival. It seems to me to anyone interested in growing old in the best way possible would do well to read this book."

$ Live Long and Prosper: Invest in Your Happiness, Health and Wealth for Retirement and Beyond by Steve Vernon (2004) [From Amazon.com] "In Live Long and Prosper!, Steve Vernon unveils a new way of thinking that will truly help you live a more happy, healthy, and prosperous life. Based on the latest research and planning strategies typically reserved for large corporations, it will help you answer these important questions: * Do you have enough money to retire? * How can you manage your income and expenses so you don't outlive your 401(k) balances? * How can you invest in your health, so that you won't be wiped out by large medical expenses and are able to live a long, comfortable, and productive life? * What can you expect from Social Security and Medicare? * What's the best work/life balance for prosperity and fulfillment? Live Long and Prosper! will help you move beyond the traditional view of retirement and begin planning for the rest of your life." He is a semi-retired VP of Watson Wyatt Worldwide that provides retirement services for many companies internationally. He has a site: http://www.restoflife.com/ with lots of supplementary material on it.


11. A few selected Investing and Personal Finance related Web sites

Index Investing forums
  • The Bogleheads forum - is dedicated to the civil discussion of investing, personal finance, and consumer issues. Many discussions on low-cost index investing. The have an excellent Financial Wiki covering a wide range of topics. They also have a useful short book list, as well as a more comprehensive book list with reviews.
  • Morninstar's Bogleheads(r) Unite forum is the new name of the former Morningstar's "Vanguard Diehards" forum. It is a similar discussion group as the above Bogleheads forum.
  • Quality Index Investing blogs
  • ETF.com (formerly Index Universe) is both a Web site and journal publish useful academic articles dedicated to index and ETF investing. The Index Investing Corner publishes short articles on index investing by CFP or CFAs Larry Swedroe, Rick Ferri, Allen Roth and others.
  • The Bogle eBlog contains academic posts, talks, congressional testimony, articles etc. written by Jack Bogle (founder of Vanguard) with strong emphasis of low-cost index investing.
  • Efficient Frontier.com is the Web site of William J. Bernstein. He previously published insightful periodic articles on index investging which are avaliable on the archived web site. Thre is also a list of books include the free PDF of his If You Can 2014 book.
  • Asset Class Newsletter is a regular newsletter formerly published by TAM Asset Management, which merged with Dynamic Funds Management to form Equius Partners with a heavy emphasis on index investing.
  • Larry Swedroe's blog (on ETF.com Index Investor Corner) publishes articles related to index-style investing (in addition to a number of the books listed above). Swedroe is a Boglehead.
  • Rick Ferri's blog publishes articles related to index-style investing (in addition to a number of the books listed above). Ferri is a Boglehead. He also blogs on ETF.com Index Investor Corner articles related to index-style investing (in addition to a number of the books listed above). Ferri is a Boglehead.
  • Alan Roth's blog (on ETF.com Index Investor Corner) publishes articles related to index-style investing (in addition to a number of the books listed above). He also blogs on AARP. Roth is a Boglehead.
  • Coffee House Investor is a web site dedicated to simplified index investing by Bill Schultheis.
  • Masters in Business Podcasts has downloadable MP3 postcasts of interviews by Bloomberg View columnist Barry Ritholtz that looks at the people and ideas that shape markets, investing and business. He personally takes a more indexing centered approach but interviews people in the financial industry across the spectrum.
  • Financial Research (more academic)
  • Journal of Financial Planning makes the articles for the current issues available. Many useful academic articles related to personal financial planning, investing, safe withdrawal rates, etc..
  • Center for Retirement Research (CRR) at Boston College has many useful studies, papers, etc. on retirement financial issues.
  • The Financial Security Project (FSP) of the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College is targeted to the average consumer (with links back to CRR). It has a useful user-friendly blog called Squared-Away-Blog with useful short posts on financial behavior for work, saving and retiring.
  • Vanguard Institutional Investors Research and Commentary site lists interesting research studies on indexing, asset classes, saving and retirement issues. A number of other big investment companies (Fidelity, T.R. Price, USAA, etc.) also have published similar studies on their web sites. They all generally have a variety of savings and retirement calculators.
  • Latest Journal Articles And Working Papers In Finance lists recent articles (on third party sites) to keep up with the latest research.
  • CFA Institute Webcasts, Podcasts and on-line learning occasionally has very useful material sometines available to non-members (conferences, etc).
  • Financial Research (practical)
  • Morningstar reports on market and sectors, as well as specific fund, ETF stock, bond quotes and data. Also, they have a nice portfolio X-ray tool that looks at a portfolio as a whole (although not as completely as their pricy Morningstar Direct software does). With the X-ray, you can enter a portfolio of funds, individual stocks, bonds and cash with the free membership, out you need to purchase the Premium membership (free 14-day trial) to save and more easily compare your trial portfolios.
  • Yahoo Finance Reports on market and sectors, as well as specific fund, ETF stock, bond quotes and data.
  • AAII American Association of Independent Investors has useful educational articles on investing and saving for life events including for and during retirement.
  • Financial Calculators are offered by the large mutual fund companies, but there is some other useful software available on the net. But buyer-beware. The past can not reliably predict the future as we have seen too often - especially if Black Swan events are in the offering. That said, these calculators are still someone useful for rough estimating if you keep the caviat in mind.
  • Simba's Backtesting Spreadsheet (a Boglehead collaborative project) is a free spreadsheet for backtesting portfolio index fund returns from 1972 to present[1985 to present if you want to include certain Sector/Tax-Exempt funds that started after 1985] of various Vanguard Mutual Funds. This tool is customizable and you can add the returns for any mutual fund. The previous years data is updated each year. For Excel and Open Office. The trick in using the spreadsheet is to used the corresponding index fund as a proxy.
  • Jim Otar's Retirement Calculator has a free retirement calculator (and a more extensive one you can then purchase) that gos along with his book Unveiling The Retirement Myth by Jim C. Otar (2009).
  • Vanguard investment calculator tools for those nearing retirementor or just starting out. These interactive tools let you try out different scenarios. They also have a useful investor education part of their web site..
  • Fidelity calculators and tools is a set of calculators for various investing needs.
  • Financial Calculators from Dinkytown.net has a comprehensive set of free financial calculators for various investing needs.
  • IFA (Index Fund Advisors) has a very colorful interesting web site with a lot of information about index investing, including some useful educational materials to bring you up to speed on index investing. There are also various calculators, book lists, etc. that could be useful. Their web site has what is essentially an on-line book entitled "The 12-Step Recovery Program for Active Investors". Although there is a lot of marketing on the web site, it is still useful.
  • On-Line Videos and freel on-line MOOCs There are many other free MOOCs. Do a Google search.
  • FrontLine "The Retirement Gamble" on April 23,2013. Transcript about the problems with current high-priced 401(k) plans, lack of fiduciary duty, and the current saving for retirement now that defined benefit plans have been going away.
  • Stanford-Online - Stocks and Bonds Investing in Free Online Course by Stanford's Joshua Ruah, 2014. Open continuously.
  • Coursera - Financial Markets by Yale's Robert Shiller, Fall, 2014. Much of the material from 2013. Opens periodically. A less organized version of the same course is offered by Open Yale (2011) that can be accessed any time. Here is an interesting review on Poets & Quants. Check Coursera.org for similar courses as new ones are constantly being offered.

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