Wall Street Revalued by Andrew Smithers Andrew Smithers’s book “Wall Street Revalued” is not a light read, but it is interesting reading. It is based on two principles: (1) assets can be objectively valued, and (2) it is important for central bankers to adjust policies when asset values are substantially inconsistent with underlying values. Not […]

“The Investor’s Manifesto: Preparing for Prosperity, Armageddon, and Everything in Between” by William Bernstein In a nutshell Must read book for investors; Bernstein calls it the way he sees it. He starts off with the observation that only a very small minority of investors will succeed at managing their own investments (this by the way […]

“The Ascent of Money” by Niall Ferguson In a nutshell If you are interested in the history of finance, its visionaries and innovators, the financial products whether toxic and otherwise, explanation of financial terms, and how the financial industry through its greed and stupidity almost (at least for now) plunged us into the next Great […]

“This Time is Different”by Reinhart and Rogoff In a nutshell The authors provide “a quantitative history of financial crises in their various guises. Our basic message is simple: We have been here before”. They say that common theme leading to crises is “excessive debt accumulation, whether it be by the government, banks, corporations, or consumers, […]

“Animal Spirits” by Akerlof and Shiller In a Nutshell Akerlof and Shiller argue that traditional macroeconomic theory has lost its way by making it more scientific, with the result that it only addresses a small part of the observed macroeconomic behavior because it only focuses on rational and economic drivers. ‘Animal spirits’ (irrational or non-economic […]

Markopolos: “No one would listen:  A true financial thriller” The story Harry Markpolos’s book is a fun and informative read. He approached the SEC the first time in 2000 with documentary evidence and recommended an investigation of Madoff’s fund.  We all know how this story ended in 2008. The book reads like a thriller, well […]

“$windler$” by Al and Mark Rosen In a nutshell The Rosens’ book “Swindlers” can be best summarized in their own words that: all scams are “dependent on conflicted auditors, inadequate or non-existent regulations, ill informed directors, crooked managers and gullible investors.” They also say that scams remain “undetected because auditors, regulators, lawmakers and self-regulated professions […]

“13 Bankers” by Simon Johnson and James Kwak In a nutshell “13 Bankers” is about how the powerful financial industry/oligarchy has burrowed itself deeply into government policymaking circles and under the banners of “free-markets and capitalism” they have succeeded in creating an almost regulation-free system where they get most of the upside while the taxpayer […]