International Books - Page 6

The Three Trillion Dollar War: The True Cost of the Iraq Conflict

Joseph Stiglitz, Linda Bilmes

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 35 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

$3 trillion would have been cheap 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

This book puts forth a lot of numbers and tries to put a price on certain things that should not have to have a price on it: such as the price of a human life. But it needs to happen because obviously this country does not value the lives of its soldiers.

This book backs up the sentiment that veterans feel, that their life, sacrifices and the sacrifices of their family are for not. Stieglitz shows how our disabled veterans even if paid at the maximum rate, will not be compensated fully for the cost of their medical treatments even when the payments last a lifetime. This is not including the loss in their potential earnings because of their loss in productivity. Stieglitz goes even farther and shows how the loss of productivity to family members is not accounted for, because they have to take time off of work or even quit working to take care of their veteran.

This work is a must read for everyone. It is a wake up call to all Americans, this war is going to cost us, but the cost should not be passed onto our veterans. Everyone that reads this book should at the very least call their representative and demand that they step up and take care of our veterans.

Fibonacci Analysis (Bloomberg Market Essentials: Technical Analysis)

Constance Brown

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 8 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Only someone who is both a successful trader and a successful writer could pull off what Constance Brown has accomplished in this book: distilling Fibonacci analysis to two hundred or so comprehensive, clearly written, eminently practical pages. Brown knows exactly what a professional trying to come up to speed on a new trading tool needs and she provides it, covering what Fibonacci analysis is, how it works, where it comes from, pitfalls and dangers, and, of course, how to use it. Basic trading strategies are touched upon in virtually every chapter. Fibonacci analysis is one of the most popular technical analysis tools, yet it is often used incorrectly. Brown quickly clears up common misconceptions and moves on to show, step by step, the correct way to apply the technique in any market. Those with Fibonacci analysis software will learn how to use it with maximum effectiveness; those without will chart the market the old-fashioned way. All will find answers to the trader's most important questions: where is the market going; at what level should my stop be entered; based on the size of my trading account, how much should I leverage into a trading position; can I tell if I am in trouble before my stop is hit; how much should I buy or sell if given a second or third opportunity? Occasional references to other tools--including Elliott Wave, W.D. Gann, and candlestick charts--and an extensive bibliography make this book richer for accomplished technical analysts without confounding the less experienced. Plentiful real-life examples and dozens of carefully annotated charts insure every reader will get maximum value from every minute spent with this book.

The Elephant and the Dragon: The Rise of India and China and What It Means for All of Us

Robyn Meredith

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 32 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

A Challenge Facing America 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

While I spend most of my time writing and speaking about India's role in the global economy I am always aware of the rise of China and the economic challenge that it poses to America.

One of the fine works which looks at that is "The Elephant and the Dragon: The Rise of India and China and What It Means for All of Us" by Robyn Meredith, the editor for Forbes magazine based in Hong Kong.
Meredith , points out that India has developed its infrastructure and economy to the level that it no longer should be seen as a dumping ground for cheap consumer goods.

But personally I found the book more interesting because of Meredith's insight into China. Meredith issues a wake-up call when she points out that China now exports more in one day than it sold abroad during all of 1978.

We need to listen and consider the implications that China's rapid economic growth was directed by an authoritarian leadership rather than by a democratic economy. Another wake-up call is that China's (and India's) need for raw materials and energy will prompt it to turn to such countries as Iran, the Sudan, and Venezuela.

Meredith also does a nice job discussing those forces that will hinder China's and India's long-term development. The author also does a good job in discussing what should be America's role in the global economy, why we should abandon isolationism, and why the U.S. must have a greater focus on education.

By Gunjan Bagla
Author of Doing Business in 21st Century India

Editorial Review:

"A comprehensive primer on the development of these Asian tigers."—Noam Lupu, San Francisco Chronicle

The Elephant and the Dragon is the essential guide to understanding how India and China are reshaping our world. With labor now unbound from geographic borders, we're seeing startling shifts in how—and where—nearly everything we buy is made. In a compelling mix of history and on-the-ground reporting, veteran journalist Robyn Meredith untangles the complex web of business and politics, as well as environmental and cultural issues that entwine India, China, and the West. She also outlines how Americans—business leaders, workers, politicians, even parents—can understand the vast changes coming and thrive in this new age.

The Way We'll Be: The Zogby Report on the Transformation of the American Dream

John Zogby

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 22 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

tedious, with pre-determined outcomes 1 out of 5 stars.
1 of 3 people found this review helpful.

great premise but falls way short with little useful future insight and plenty of opinion vs. legitimate analysis

Zogby goes past daily polls to go for deeper themes. This is provocative; thoughtful. 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

In the media John Zogby parlays his political polls to promote his somewhat (I use the word reluctantly) maverick role within the spread of political opinion researchers. Four years ago I felt his observations were right on the mark, and he was picking up on undercurrents before anyone else. In this election I've found his insights to be running against the tide by insisting (at the time of writing this review) that the presidential race is still close. He knows that our unfolding history can turn on a dime, but all other evidence I've seen suggests quite a large seminal change is going on. But either way, as an opinion researcher (in New Zealand) I continually admire the work of this man. He clearly wears on his sleeve a lifelong interest in our changing society - and his is a curiosity that gets piqued whether he's running political polls or the marketing surveys which make up 75% of his work. Everything fascinates him. He's certainly a colleague I'd happily do lunch with.

In this book he takes a bite of a mighty big topic: where is society shifting, and what will be the dominant values in a few years time?

Unlike many other trend-spotting books (remember the Greening of America in the 1970s?) Zogby eschews the frenzied "this just in from the heartland!" tone and instead thinks about all the bits of jigsaw he sees in his opinion research work. As he points out in chapter one: there can be interesting connections between quite disparate fragments of research.

Now how does he piece together the changing social puzzle? Overall Zogby sees evidence of at least 6 big themes. I'll mention two but all are about a return to values of co-operation, authenticity, acceptance of diversity. As he says: he means none of this in a Pollyanna kind of way.

Trend. Society will become less divided, not more so. People will tend to seek common ground rather division. As he points out, investors (this is before Wall St feel) were great supporters of Bush in 2004, and also of Eliot Spitzer (and that was before HE fell also.) These investors, who were actually the majority of Americans, weren't hidebound by party colours. They sought values that were offered at both ends of the main political spectrum. He sees this kind of reach-across-the-aisle middle ground increasing.

Second - we have an increasing demand for truth. As Zogby points out, we're in the age of spin doctors and we've moved past cynicism (ignore what they say) toward a much more active demand for real, authentic truth. Our demands of companies (don't spin, just tell the truth) and of politicians is creating a new climate for authenticity. As Zogby says: "we're saying goodbye to smear and smash."

Overall I think the book mostly succeeds, especially in terms of drawing out big themes and chewing these around and giving examples to illustrate what's going on. There are implications for marketers, but the ramifications are far wider than that, and I wouldn't pigeon-hole this book as being a business book. It is for anyone interested in the way we're heading.

What I feel the book lacks - and perhaps this comes from Zogby's natural pollster's caution - is any sense of certainty about his conclusions. The way we'll be ...is what the title talks about. In five years? Ten years? 20? Zogby is vague about the rate of change. There's certainly a sense that there are some big changes going on, and yes, Zogby articulates them well, but I didn't emerge with a confidence that these changes are necessarily long-lasting let alone permanent.

In research we often argue over what makes a fad versus a trend; and by my definition at least, a true trend reflects an underlying fundamental human need in the way that a hoola hoop does not. Zogby, I feel, argues from the position that society naturally tends towards these deep-seated needs - working together, being authentic, living a good life rather than a materialistic one - but in my lifetime I've just seen too many aberrations from this norm to have full confidence in his thesis. If Zogby is saying we're trending toward being less greedy, less materialistic, less selfish, then I wonder why our societies did that bad power-suited greed thing in the 1980s, and again earlier this decade when Hummers looked such a success and Fortune was singing the praises of Enron. Can it happen again? Will the social chemistry be any less volatile?

To this extent, the author doesn't really test his over-arching themes. Even so, the book made me stop, made me think, made me re-evaluate and in quite a few patches made me professionally envious too. In an admiring way. It is an engaging, readable and in many places a quite personal book.

I give it four stars and warmly recommend it.

Editorial Review:

In the tradition of Why We Buy, preeminent pollster John Zogby identifies key trends in American culture and suggests how companies from the Fortune 500 to the neighborhood deli can use this information to improve their business.

The Coming Economic Collapse: How You Can Thrive When Oil Costs $200 a Barrel

Stephen Leeb, Glen Strathy

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 80 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Speculations about the Coming Economic Collapse 2 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

At the end of the book Leeb gives some solid tips for picking stocks
that will benefit from higher oil prices and inflation. His general
thesis that the next decade could mirror and exceed the trends of the 1970's does seem compelling. Unfortunately I have some serious concerns about the soundness of the research that he uses to predict that an imminent and prolonged oil shock is on the horizon.

In general he seems to draw from his experience as a PhD psychologist
more than from either his math or economics background. He repeatedly
makes the assertion that "group think" is responsible for the experts
ignoring the fact that we are reaching a peak in oil production and
that demand will far outstrip supply in the near term. This assertion
is the core of his thesis. If you allow that there exist experts that
depend on accurate analysis of oil reserves and demand that do not
suffer from "group think" then the book amounts to little more then a
speculative stock picking book. I also noticed that most of the
references he makes in the book are to Scientific American articles or
popular non-fiction books such as Jared Diamond's "Collapse". His
research does not appear to be any deeper than what any layperson
could cobble together from the books and magazines they normally read.

I believe in the end that speculative stock picks is all this book has
to offer. It is a stock picking book by a professional stock picker,
who has accurately identified trends in the past, and has found a new
concern among investors and capitalized on it. His previous
prediction about the collapse of technology shocks shows he has good
timing, but good timing does not guarantee that everything he believes
will come to pass in the time frame he predicts. If speculating on
the market is what you want to do, then his book is as good as any on
the topic. It does not appear to offer principled investment advice
based new research or insights though.

I took notes, see below, on the points that led me to my conclusion.
Perhaps you'll want to review these sections to see if you also find
them troubling.

Pg 66-68 - Author shows his support of Keynsesian economics. He
argues for government spending is a preferable response to inflation
then balanced budgets. He never discusses the place that increased
productivity plays in decreasing inflation. If "Chindia" does become
modernized in the next ten years, as he asserts, won't that increased
productivity have a negative impact on inflation?

He advocates a get rich quick scheme is better then a get rich slow
system offered by modern portfolio management. The saying, "you can't
cheat an honest man" comes to mind when I read that.

Pg 82 - Leeb writes: "The government wll likely resist conservation
for fear of the economic consequences." This does not appear to ring
true to me.

Aren't poor nations likely to conserve even more then the U.S.A.? He
says Chindia must grow - but can they afford to grow if oil becomes
expensive?

He claims US Natural Gas has peaked, but I thought there were large
untapped gas deposits in the US.

Pg 86 - Leeb writes: "Safe to assume Saudi own energy consumption will
again grow by about 10% a year" and will consume 1/2 of new
production. This does not ring true to me. Seems like more complex
story here.

Pg 96 - "no new energy supplies waiting to come online." But what
about Alaska? If things get tough, we have the Arctic National
Wildlife area right?

"Government debt at record highs ($7.8 trillian)" BUT - as an
inflation adjusted percent of GDP how big is our debt? He doesn't
say. Using absolute values like this is misleading.

Pg 99-100 - Leeb down plays downside of letting inflation rise to
devaluded the dollar. Focus on inflation hurting returns, but not
cost to business planning. Fed may not allow inflation for that
reason.

Pg 112 - Leeb claims best strategy in the 70's is essentially to buy
at start of a rally and sell at top of a rally. Nothing more then buy
low, sell high. Not a great insight and no plan for the future.

Would be worth reading "The Prize" by Yeagin. This is written by a
true oil industry insider.

Pg 141 - Leeb writes - "Only massive effort by Federal Government will
be able to solve the energy crisis". Here he shows his statist bias.
How about some trust in the power of capitalism?

Pg 149 - claims oil/gasoline price is subsidized by the US Government.
He sites tax breaks, but this does not ring true to me. It seems
like the government taxes gas and oil more then it creates special
targeted subsides.

Pg 136 - Claims hydrogen from wind is a viable technology. This
ignores massive problems with hydrogen storage and inefficiency of
straight electrolysis. Basic physics is completely ignored.

Pg 173 - According to chart, gold peaked for a very short period
around 1978/79, then has averaged approx $350 since. 1975 deregulated
gold which accounts for the big increase and he uses that short peak
when he describes the profit made from gold. Using such precise stock
timing to make his point strikes me as dishonest.

Editorial Review:

In The Oil Factor, Stephen Leeb accurately predicted the current oil shortage and showed how savvy investors could profit. But now the world is facing an energy crisis of unprecedented scope, and the recent surge in oil prices is only the tip of the iceberg. With meticulous research and analysis, Leeb shows that due to strong competition from India and China for the world?s oil reserves, prices could soon top an astounding $200 a barrel, bringing an economic collapse that most countries and investors are ill-prepared for. Now in this groundbreaking book, Leeb shows how this crisis will affect you, but how savvy investing can turn these dire times into financial gain.

The Complete Guide to Currency Trading & Investing: How to Earn High Rates of Return Safely and Take Control of Your Investments

Jamaine Burrell

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Subjects -> Business & Investing -> Investing -> Introduction

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 21 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

In recent years many smart investors have exited the stock market and other investment areas because they have essentially lost control of their investments. They have relied on the advice and skill of their brokers, bankers, and financial advisors. Many investment and retirement accounts have dwindled. Fortunately, there is a wonderful but little-understood alternative: currency trading and investing. As with many other business segments, the Internet and technology have opened up this attractive marketplace to a new breed of individual investors and speculators working part-time. You and I can now stand on an even playing field with the largest banks and trading institutions from the comfort of home. Currency trading is the practice of exchanging one country's currency for another country's currency. The foreign exchange (Currency or Forex or FX) market is the largest trading market in the world exceeding $1.9 trillion every single day! Essentially there are four variables involved: currencies, exchange rate, time, and interest rate. The relationships of these variables create opportunities for small investors to obtain investment returns that are generally unheard of in the traditional investment world. You owe it to yourself and your family to begin to learn about currency trading. You can get started with just $100 or less, and the investment can easily be managed in a part-time capacity, usually requiring a few hours on the Internet a week from your home or your office. Currency investments can provide you with very high and secure rate of return, in some cases as high as 12%, 18%, 24%, or even 1,000% or more per year. If performed correctly, currency trading will far outpace all other investments. The key is to know how to perform this process correctly. This all sounds great, but what is the catch? There really is none, except you must know what you are doing! This groundbreaking and exhaustively researched new book will provide everything you need to know to get you started generating high-investment returns with low risk from start to finish, and you can start with less than $100. You will learn what currency trading is; how to invest in foreign currency; trading strategies and tactics; technological considerations; how to set up your account online; purchase currency online; day trader insights; current trends; Pivot Programs; price projectors; futures predicting; trading software; insider secrets to help you double or even triple your investment all while avoiding traps and pitfalls. If you are interested in learning hundreds of hints, tricks, and secrets on how to earn enormous profits in currency trading while controlling your investments, then this book is for you.

Secrets of the Temple: How the Federal Reserve Runs the Country

William Greider

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 43 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Tom Potts Review is simply erroneous about the ownership questions 3 out of 5 stars.
10 of 12 people found this review helpful.

Tom Potts of Ottowa chose to review this book, and he erroneously comments that:
"The Federal Reserve is a 100% privately owned corporation, carefully set up to appear as though it is an arm of government. It was created solely for the benefit of it's shareholders, a significant proportion of which are foreign. Greider could have mentioned this extremely important fact at the outset. Instead he deliberately helps perpetuate the myth that "The Fed" is public."
That short paragraph is simply not correct. Please understand that as a libertarian, I have no reason nor any desire to favor the Fed. But, I do favor getting the facts straight, and, in just the snippet quoted above, Mr. Potts' has more than one or two facts incorrect.
The 12 Federal Reserve banks, facially organized like a private corporation, do indeed issue shares of stock to "member banks." But owning such stock is NOT like owning stock in a private corporation. To start with, member banks have no choice - they must both "own stock" and they also must have reserves on deposit with the Federal Reserve Banks. Yet their "stock" can't be bought, sold or pledged as security and memeber banks get no interest for the funds must they must have held in reserve by their Federal Reserve bank. And, the dividends paid are limited to, at most 6%, which is supposedly partial compensation for the fact that no interest is paid on the amount the member banks are required to have on reserve. And, if you review the weekly statement or balance sheet the Fed issues, you'll see the "total capital" which, you might say represents the Fed's "profit." The Fed's excess capital is then paid over to the U.S. treasuery.
So, to say that the Federal Reserve was created solely for the "benefit of is shareholders" misstates the situation.

Editorial Review:

This ground-breaking best-seller reveals for the first time how the mighty and mysterious Federal Reserve operates -- and how it manipulated and transformed both the American economy and the world's during the last eight crucial years. Based on extensive interviews with all the major players, Secrets of the Temple takes us inside the government institution that is in some ways more secretive than the CIA and more powerful than the President or Congress.

While America Aged: How Pension Debts Ruined General Motors, Stopped the NYC Subways, Bankrupted San Diego, and Loom as the Next Financial Crisis

Roger Lowenstein

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 18 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Too much historical detail and not enough analysis of solutions 4 out of 5 stars.
2 of 4 people found this review helpful.

The author examines 3 organizations......1 in the private sector (GM) and 2 in the public sector (NY Transit and City of San Diego) with respects to their pension plans and their financial health.

The case of GM is fairly well publicized. In early 2008, Business Week ran an article predicting that GM and Ford really have no choice but to declare bankruptcy...to eliminate their pension plan obligations by passing them along to the US taxpayers. As the author points out, GM went from being one of the most profitable companies in the world paying out good dividends to shareholders......to a money losing HMO on wheels.

All 3 cases have the same basic theme of management focusing on short term cash flow and ignoring the long term impact of pension obligations. The only caveat to this general theme is that San Diego threw in dishonesty of elected officials. I had not heard the "Enron-by-the-Sea" story of San Diego before.

The author's solution to our private and public pension dilemma is:

1. Nationalized health care with partial payment by the worker.
2. Keep Medicare for 65 and over people (but it has huge unresolved liabilities)
3. Keep Social Security but shift from pay as you go to government savings accounts.
4. Retirement plans should offer more annuity payout options (but the author forgets to point out that annuities offered by Wall Street have extremely high 2% expense ratios).
5. Create and enforce law that public pensions must be fully funded at all times.

I found the book to be too long and boring. I am not that interested in every little bit of history that created the problems at the three institutions. I would have rather had less historical detail......and more focus on pros and cons of alternative solutions to the pension problem.

If you are interesting in accumulating more assets so you are less dependent on our pension system, I would suggest reading some of the books noted below.

Index Mutual Funds: How to Simplify Your Financial Life and Beat the Pro's
The Richest Man in Babylon
Bogle on Mutual Funds: New Perspectives for the Intelligent Investor
The Millionaire Next Door
The Four Pillars of Investing: Lessons for Building a Winning Portfolio
A Random Walk Down Wall Street: The Time-Tested Strategy for Successful Investing, Ninth Edition
The Coffeehouse Investor: How to Build Wealth, Ignore Wall Street, and Get On With Your Life
The Bogleheads' Guide to Investing

Editorial Review:

A Bestselling Author Explains, Via Three Fascinating Stories, How An Upcoming Pension Crisis Threatens to Upset the American Economy.

With his trademark narrative panache, Lowenstein unravels the truth about how pensions work in America and illuminates the impending crisis. While America Aged is comprised of three fascinating case studies, set in the Detroit auto industry, among New York City transit workers, and in the city of San Diego. Lowenstein warns that the pension wars that erupted in these industries and cities are only the first. But he also recognizes that workers are entitled to decent security in their retirement--a critical problem as the country ages. Arming readers with knowledge of the consequences of doing nothing, While America Aged is, first and foremost, a call to action.

Engaging and informative, this work is presented unabridged on 8 CDs.

The Coming First World Debt Crisis

Ann Pettifor

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Editorial Review:

In this book Ann Pettifor examines the issues of debt affecting the first world or OECD countries. She traces the history and roots of where the current international debt crisis comes from--economic liberalization--and the restructuring of the international financial architecture in the early 1970s. The book goes on to explore the implications of high international indebtedness for governments, corporations, households and individuals. An important and unique contribution is Pettifor's discussion of the justice and morality of debt.

Empire of Wealth: The Epic History of American Economic Power (P.S.)

John Steele Gordon

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 43 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

the guy is a flag waver 1 out of 5 stars.
2 of 10 people found this review helpful.

this book is very nationalistic and pro-america in the phrasing. which made me want to stop reading instantly and i couldn't take some things seriously. there were some claims about america that were made in the book that were just included and unexplained while things that is common knowledge to most people were given detailed summaries.

A celebration that offers no guide to the future. 2 out of 5 stars.
1 of 9 people found this review helpful.

The author celebrates triumphs of the past but seriously fails to prepare a reader for challenges of the future, especially for emerging realities likely to diminish the US's heretofore unique status and powers. He seems too ideologically committed to mainstream, right-of-center economics/political economy to see or convey a more nuanced picture.
Otherwise, I agree with (and will not echo) the reviews presented by Amazon and the Washington Post at the outset of this website page.

Editorial Review:

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, 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.