The essential reading page of AAA contains a list of books and articles that are well worth the read.
The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the WorldNiall Ferguson
The book is its title. Although it cannot go into great detail of the economic and financial history of the world, it certainly covers the important parts. The Ascent of Money is an overview of all the tools and instruments that revolve around money and the pursuit of it.
Niall Ferguson divides the book into chapters, each covering various aspects of the financial world. From currency, the bond market, the stock market, credit, real estate, international finance, and insurance, he writes with a direct and forthright style that is readable to any adult.
The Ascent of Money is a well written book about an incredibly important aspect of anyone's life: money. Ferguson professes to be concerned about the financial illiteracy of most people and has written the book to be a sort of primer to all things financial. The Age of Abundance: How Prosperity Transformed America's Politics and Culture
Brink Lindsey
The Age of Abundance concerns itself with American politics immediately after WWII, which was the beginning of the age of abundance. What exactly does that mean? Brink Lindsey states that before WWII, most Americans lived in an age of scarcity, where tremendous labor was required to produce and procure the bare essentials of food, water, and shelter.
But the post war era ushered in an era (that still continues today) of unprecedented prosperity. For the first time in history, a large country built up enough capital and wealth to enable everyone of its citizens to lead a life of luxury and abundance. A few hour's of work buys a week's worth of food. Every household owns at least one car, multiple televisions, a washer and dryer, air conditioning, and any other consumer good that Americans now take for granted.
However, with the age of abundance came an age of turbulence in politics. Two factions drew a line in the sand. The first camp was a conservative backlash against the material abundance that only a conservative work ethic and discipline could have enabled. The second camp was a liberal embracing of a new ideology of opulence for all while scorning the very policies that enabled everybody to escape the age of scarcity.
Lindsey posits that these two camps will eventually reach a libertarian consensus, in which free markets and free people will carry the day and maintain the age of abundance. What the Iraq War will cost the U.S.
Lawrence Lindsey
The essay found on CNNMoney was adapted from his book, What a President Should Know ... but Most Learn Too Late , and is about a former White House economist's recollection of his own experience during the buildup to the Iraq War.
When asked what the Iraq war would cost the US, Lindsey estimated between 100-200 billion, which was far higher than than the 50 billion dollar figure being bandied about from the upper echelons of the Bush administration.
Although the figure has surpassed even that "outrageous" estimate, Lindsey then goes on to explain how he arrived at the number, how the war is currently going, and how an economist would conduct a war while simultaneously saying that going to war based on the numbers alone should be something no President should ever do.
I would close this entry with a quote from the end of the essay, but it's a pretty good one so I'll leave it for you to read.
The article can be found here.
David Mamet
Okay, so this isn't a book, but it's an extremely entertaining "election-season essay".
David Mamet is a famous playwright and if one would have to guess his political orientation from that bit of information alone, the reasonable guess would be "liberal". However, Mamet took the time to write this essay proclaiming that he is no longer a "brain-dead liberal".
He goes on a very well written (one can see why he is a playwright) monologue-bordering-on-stream-of-consciousness where he jumps from shilling his latest play (November, at the time of his essay), bashing NPR (National Palestinian Radio, in his words), comparing JFK to Bush, praising the Founding Fathers and the works of Milton Friedman.
Whether or not you agree with his views or not, the essay itself is just a plain ol' good read.
The original essay, first published in the Village Voice, can be found here.
Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner
Freakonomics has a straightforward premise: applying economic theory and analysis to nontraditional subjects of interest. The results may surprise you. Among the topics covered are the economics of crack dealers, the win-loss records of professional sumo wrestlers, the similarities between real estate agents and the Ku Klux Klan, and the naming patterns of children.
Freakonomics brings economics to the masses, using subjects and topics that people are familiar with. Levitt and Dubner challenge a lot of the conventional wisdom out there. They state that all too often, conventional wisdom is used to make people feel better about themselves and not as a dependable heuristic for problem solving or conflict resolution.
The book's core concept is that our actions are motivated by incentives, and that the relationship between our actions and incentives is the core of economics. It is accessible to almost anybody as well as a fun and stimulating read. One Up On Wall Street
Peter Lynch
The complement to A Random Walk Down Wall Street, One Up On Wall Street espouses the belief that ordinary investors can compete and thrive in the stock market even against the financial professionals. Written by Peter Lynch, the extremely successful former manager of Fidelity's flagship Magellan Fund, the book is widely considered the stockpicker's bible.
Lynch writes that common knowledge, sense, and discipline can triumph in the market, which routinely buries gems out of sight. A significant portion of the book is also dedicated to his own experiences in managing the Magellan Fund and various hot stocks he's observed over the years. He also gives advice on how to construct a portfolio, analyze companies and their growth potential, and how to invest confidently to earn a large return on investment.
Even if you do believe that markets are efficient, you owe it to yourself to see how the other half lives. A Random Walk Down Wall Street
Burton Malkiel
A Random Walk Down Wall Street is a book that deals with equity markets. Burton Malkiel introduces the theory of efficient markets, which states that information is incorporated rapidly and accurately into financial markets.
Part history and part self-help guide, the book describes many interesting events about stock markets in the past. From tulip mania in the Netherlands to the dot com crash in the United States, many financial bubbles throughout history are covered and analyzed by Malkiel.
Even if you don't agree with the idea that markets are efficient, A Random Walk Down Wall Street should be a part of every investor's book collection. Anti-Americanism
Jean-Francois Revel
In a kind of eloquence and irony that only a Frenchman could muster, Anti-Americanism is a ringing defense of the peoples, culture, and institutions of the United States from the hypocritical, unjust, excessive, and illogical criticisms of the world at large.
Written for primarily an American and European audience, Anti-Americanism explores the reasons behind the virulent hatred of America in Europe, and in particular, France. He states that most accusations hurled towards America are not only inaccurate, but richly hypocritical. One example he gives is African leaders condemning the policies of the United States while begging for additional financial aid which is then funneled away into their own private Swiss bank accounts.
Anti-Americanism, he argues, is really just a Rorschach test for people on both the political left and right of Europe. For the left, their hatred of the United States is simply an extension of their hatred of market capitalism. For the right, being forced to follow in the steps of the US, whereas it was Europe that previously dictated the pace of global affairs, is both galling and humiliating.
While he states that the United States is not perfect and definitely deserves criticism (as do all countries), he stresses that these criticisms must be logical and founded in fact in order for the United States to take those criticisms seriously. Otherwise, ordinary Americans and policymakers will ignore the rest of the world, even when they have something valid to say. Überpower
Josef Joffe
With the fall of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War, the United States found itself in an incredible situation. Überpower states that in order for the United States to properly lead the world, it must strike a balance between force and diplomacy, isolationism and entanglement.
Two previous diplomatic models, the splendid isolationism of Victorian England, and the hub and spoke of Bismarck's Imperial Germany, serve as two contrasting ways to deal with foreign powers. Josef Joffe advocates blending the two together. The United States must remain aloof, but it must also be anywhere and everywhere at once.
The author also dedicates a portion of the book to how foreigners (especially those in Europe) view the USA with a curious mixture of envy and disgust and exposes the many inconsistencies in their highly "romanticized" view of the United States. This section was a particularly entertaining read.
Joffe also warns against temptations of overreach and states that the United States cannot undertake monumental tasks alone. He also states that in dealing with hostile nations, soft power is all but worthless. Even if the Iranians dance like Americans (in the safety of their own homes), it does not mean they will deal with us at the negotiating table.
Überpower is a relatively quick and easy read, accessible to almost all audiences. While it can ramble on in certain areas, it remains a must read for any American wanting to understand the relationship of the United States with the rest of the world. Colossus: The Rise and Fall of the American Empire
Niall Ferguson
Even just with the title, Colossus is provocative. Most Americans would disagree that the United States is an empire. But the writer, Niall Ferguson, argues that the United States is and always was an empire. This is not to say that he thinks it's a bad thing. In fact, Ferguson believes that an American empire can be very beneficial to the rest of the world. Ultimately, he argues that America's shortcomings will hinder our ability to administrate the world effectively.
The book is divided into two halves. The first half of the book deals mainly with our country's history, from our founding to the present day. Ferguson points out various actions and beliefs throughout our country's history that he says is imperial in nature. The second half is an economic analysis of our current state of affairs. While 1783 to about 1948 has been a story of mostly uninterrupted growth, the post WWII era has been marked by a rapid growth in social programs that will hinder our ability to project force around the world.
Though it is doubtlessly controversial and provocative, Colossus is well written, intelligently thought out, and contains thoroughly researched and readable pages of historic and economic commentary about the nature of our country. Moment of Truth in Iraq: How a New 'Greatest Generation' of American Soldiers is Turning Defeat and Disaster into Victory and Hope
Michael Yon
Published approximately a year after President Bush announced the "troop surge", the book is a collection of stories and personal experiences of an embedded reporter, Michael Yon (a former Army Special Forces member), in Iraq. Yon has three main arguments. 1: Not only is the war in Iraq winnable, but 2: the domestic media has not reported the conflict fairly 3: that the United States, especially its military, can win the hearts and minds (why is this term only ever used sarcastically?) of ordinary Iraqis.
A book of optimism and hope in a sea of despair and melancholy, it gives you a warm, fuzzy feeling inside. The author goes to great lengths to show how our soldiers and Marines are not only great warriors, but mighty humanitarians as well. It is a welcome relief from the usual depiction of our servicemen as burnt out, crazy, psychotic, or depressed.
Plus, the jacket cover is heartbreaking. How could you not at least pick up the book and read more? The Wages of Destruction: The Making and Breaking of the Nazi Economy
Adam Tooze
Everything about this book is astounding. Even from the start, with its super cool title and jacket cover, the Wages of Destruction manages to turn economic history into a genuinely interesting and engaging read. The basic premise is this: Nazi Germany could have never won the war. It lacked the manpower and resources needed to prevail in a conflict with the Allied powers.
The Nazis knew of Germany's relative weakness, and yet they still wanted to plunge the country into war against stronger powers. Why? The answer lies in the United States' ascendancy to global hegemon. Hitler wanted to create a European super-state that would be capable of challenging the United States in world affairs.
This meant that the Nazis had to be hyper aggressive and provoke as many wars as possible to further extend their borders, manpower, and resources. But as Germany escalated the war, they were up against more and more powers and soon the strength of numbers and resources of its enemies would prove overwhelming.
This short description of the Wages of Destruction does not do it justice. If you are any kind of World War II buff, this book deserves a special place in your bookshelf.