5 comments about The Market Guys' Five Points for Trading Success: Identify, Pinpoint, Strike, Protect and Act!.

1. I am new to investing and this book is a fantastic start to showing (with charts) of what to look for and how to start. I look forward to their new book as i would like to see real world examples such as. Here's a trend, we invested because of these signs, and here's how it played out. We lost money or made money.
   Great book. A+, thanks guys.



2. This book provides a good introduction to short-term stock trading. It doesn't go into great detail, but it provides what seems like solid, no-nonsense advice. The book isn't perfect (for example, some typos and a couple odd pages on good nutrition and exercise), but overall it's a good read.



3. The Market Guys have followed their own mantra in keeping this read simple. The book is very approachable and easily explains the process of trading. I have a background that emphasized company fundamentals and held little appreciation for technical analysis. The Market Guys have helped me to consider the opportunity of simple technical measures to include in my portfolio management. I find there philosophy on 'money' to be refreshing and enjoyable. Thanks Market Guys!



4. So many trading books focus on new tricks and an unfounded techniques to perfect your trading system. This book is a blueprint for Trading Success regardless of your Trading System. It's a very practical, common sense guide to helping you be aware of your emotions and implement a more disciplined approach to trading. I am a Financial Planner and active Trader and I think this book is quite possible the best trading book I have ever read! Their podcasts are great too!



5. Good introduction book to read if thinking about starting to invest. Most of the information is basic that I've seen in a lot of free educational webiners on broker websites. Review and repetition is a good thing, the mother of skill and the key to being a successful trader.

5 comments about Billions of Entrepreneurs: How China and India Are Reshaping Their Futures--and Yours.

1. This is a curious book, not really about entrepreneurship but rather about a broad range of cultural, social, historical and economic subjects involving and contrasting China and India, from 1.5 billion village dwellers to urbanites in Beijing and Mumbai. Tarun Khanna's text is part travelogue, part reflection, part history and part speculation about the future. Anyone who has read to any depth about China and India will not find all that much that is surprising here. However, getAbstract recommends this book with enthusiasm because of its nearly unique richness of anecdotes, variety of perspectives, color and range.



2. Professor Tarun Khanna describes and explains the social histories, lay cultures, religions, politics, infrastructures, resources, regional differences, and business successes and flops in China and India using personal observations, anecdotes, case histories, and statistics to help readers understand opportunities in Asia to access resources and enter markets there. His style makes the book appealing and interesting as he highlights the contrasts.
   
   Rather than make a case for mirror images, Professor Khanna argues that good businesses will gain benefits from both countries by coordinating resources and market positions. His main example is a chapter explaining what General Electric has done in both countries.
   
   I thought the best part of the book was arguing that natives of each country develop solutions for how to create more successful businesses. That's a point that few multinational companies are going to consider seriously enough.
   
   I always enjoy reading about examples of superior business models, and this book is relatively rich in describing businesses that contain interesting twists on traditional ways of operating. I also didn't know the history of how many of the major new businesses in India got their start.
   
   I hope that Professor Khanna will follow up this book with a narrower focus on the opportunities for small company entrepreneurs in both countries. I think he would do a fine job and the information would be valuable to a much larger audience than this book will probably command.



3. I had the misfortune to be assigned this book as a textbook for a class on global competitive strategy. I was very excited about exploring international perspectives in business, however this book proved useless. Stylistically, the prose is pretentious and verbose, making it difficult to read. It seems as though the author was more interested in showing off his extensive vocabulary than in coherently expressing his point. Also, the author relies heavily on name-dropping and anecdotal evidence to give credibility to his theories. If there is one thing I have learned in my extensive travels, it's that one person's experience does not translate into an immutable or universal truth. In short, this book turned into a very time-consuming and frustrating read with few useful lessons.



4. I was assigned to read this book for a MBA class on international competitive strategy. I found this book to be much more interesting to read than a "traditional" textbook, while retaining its academic roots. By the time I finished the book, my understanding of India and China's culture as well as each country's influence on the global economy was much richer than before.
   
   One example:
   A chapter in the book is dedicated to discussing India's and China's use of soft power and hard power. Soft power is defined as "the ability to get what you want through attraction rather than coercion or payments." The book is very successful in illustrating how India has mastered soft power by spreading its culture internationally through various channels (for example, Bollywood movies). Conversely, China has become very successful at using its economic and military resources to create desired results. Burma/Myanmar is used as an example due to the fact that this country has felt both India's soft power and China's hard power.
   
   While this book is not inclusive of all apsects of China's and India's international influence, it's a great start. I'd recommend this book to anyone curious about India and China. It's a wide-ranging overview of each country's government and culture, which will be a great asset to anyone given the growing international influence of each country. If you're attending the Beijing Olympics, it'd be a perfect read on the flight to and from China.



5. Before starting the book, I was suspicious of an Indian man (albeit a scholar) writing about India and China. Many authors tend to be overly negative or unrealistically positive about their native countries, especially when comparing to other countries... It was impressive how Khanna acknowledged certain bias tendencies and while reading the book I came to respect his unwavering commitment to objectivity. I thought he always gave both countries a fair and critical look, admiring and questioning when appropriate regardless if it was India or China.
   
   As an entrepreneur myself, it was fascinating to get a glimpse into the human stories and anecdotal evidence of the statistics that are abound in major news stories. Those exact personal encounters are what made this a page-turner for me...I felt like I got a chance to meet people I wouldn't have met otherwise.
   
   Finally, I loved the overall optimism that Khanna has for China, India and the world. In today's atmosphere of doom and gloom it's remarkable to see an academic looking forward with excitement. I appreciated the thorough observations, intelligent and substantiated analysis in the book; I am waiting for a sequel about Russia and Brazil!

5 comments about Value Investing: From Graham to Buffett and Beyond (Wiley Finance).

1. Fantastic summary of modern value investing. Greenwald looks at the discipline with the critical eye of a professor, making it more informative than many other books about the subject. Even seasoned value investors will learn from this book.



2. The authors announce their intention to bravely go "beyond" Graham and Buffet. I found their effort extraordinarily interesting. Not because it brings new ideas from the frontiers of Value Investing; but rather because it forced me to revalidate old ones.
   
   Written mainly by academics, the book attempts - with undeniable clarity - to provide a simple framework for valuation of a firm using Value Investment principles. First, three sources of value are defined: Asset Value; Earnings Power Value; and Value of Growth. Second, some conceptual tricks are employed to link them in a theoretical structure capable of supporting hours of animated tutorial discussion.
   
   The importance of Asset Value in the scheme derives from the idea that if a firm that has no defenses against competitors it is worth no more, or less, than the replacement value of the assets necessary to set up a similar business.
   
   To illustrate, imagine a defenseless firm that is worth 2x on the stockmarket while its productive assets are worth only 1x. Attracted by the absence of barriers to entry and by the high market value achievable with a substantially lower investment, enterprising businessmen set up similar businesses.
   
   As the new capacity comes on stream the market is inundated with products of the same type and prices and profits consequently fall. The process only ends when the market value of all the firms has fallen to the value of their assets, thus eliminating the differential that attracted new market entrants in the first place.
   
   For this to happen we must have an idealized market of perfect competition: lots of buyers and sellers, undifferentiated products, no barriers to entry, perfect information, etc. In practice, however, a dozen firms with similar assets will generate a dozen different levels of profit. And in the end, as the book admits, it is profit expectations, not assets, that determine the value of an on-going business.
   
   I wondered if Graham and his associates ever subscribed to this concept. In my 5th edition of "Security Analysis" I found the ambiguous comment: "ECONOMISTS believe that high returns on capital attract competition which ultimately forces down the rate of profit" (my capitalization). This same edition affirms that it is "The earning power of the assets in use (that) determines their investment value" (rather than the replacement value of these assets). I could find no evidence that the notion formed a key part of the valuation process described in the value-investing classic.
   
   Moving on, We are told that the major difference between Earnings Power Value and Value of Growth, when used to estimate intrinsic value, is the confidence we can place on the result. It is notable, however, that both definitions of value exist in the same continuum. To calculate Earnings Power Value we can simply assume growth to be zero in the traditional Discounted Cashflow formula for estimating intrinsic value.
   
   Beyond a certain point it is reasonable to suppose that the degree of confidence we can put on an intrinsic value calculation falls with the size of profit growth projected. How much faith would we have in a value based on a growth projection of 30% per annum, for example? But why should zero growth produce an intrinsic value closer to the truth than 5% per annum? Is one really inherently safer than the other? What about the risk of deceleration in the case of an assumption of zero growth? Conservatism does not mean ignoring reality.
   
   Once again it all seems part of a jolly academic game. The questionable differentiation between Earnings Power Value and Value of Growth allows the authors to find a role for another element: the franchise - the defenses the firm possesses against competition. They thus arrive at a tidy little conceptual framework. If a firm has no franchise then its intrinsic value is represented by its Asset Value. If the franchise is weak then we base our estimate on its Earnings Power Value. And if it has a rock-solid franchise we might just be able to introduce the Value of Growth. Does all this have any useful meaning in the real world?
   
   Aside from these conceptual questions I found the book exceptionally practical in describing the details of how to value the assets and evaluate the franchise of a firm. On the other hand I found the profiles of eight value investors rather tedious.



3. While reading Graham himself is invaluable, this book is an excellent contribution to the field of value investing in its own right, and brings modern techniques that have been employed in this field for finding value. In addition, the author does an excellent job at qualifying Graham's valuation techniques over DCF valuation. Value investors do not disagree with DCF in principle, but its reliability, based on countless assumptions may not produce consistent results that align a firm's current reality and strategy with its intrinsic value. The latter part of the book discusses techniques of well known value investors and innovations to the field that they have brought to the table. Gabelli's private market value and control premium concept, as well as Seth Klarman's theme of looking for forced sellers are some of the highlights in this section.



4. I got this book from Amazon several years ago, have read it several times and applied it to my own investing. It is not for beginners, but does not require a Phd either. The authors present a rational philosophy and a unique, detailed method that will help you to really estimate the intrinsic value of a share of stock, and then they walk you through actual examples. The writing is interesting, concise, well organized, and clear. The book provides a backgroud of traditional value investing methods, and then introduces a model which builds upon and advances the body of value investing knowledge. I have read many books on value investing, and this is probably the best. Some of the material is difficult, but even if you don't get everything you will still profit from the book and find it interesting and thought provoking. The second half of the book, from Chapter 9 to the end, profiles various professional value investors, their philosophies and methods. This part of the book was probably included mostly to provide filler, but it is easy reading and contains some useful information.



5. This book is not about value investing, it is about modern security analysis, which is exactly what Graham warned against. It places an emphasis on growth over actual value. One of Graham's fundamental principles was that future growth is completely unreliable and any analysis based on it is just a speculator's way of justifying his gamble. While I liked the book's coverage on franchises and competitive advantage it highlights the fact that fundamentals weren't discussed at all.
   
   Here is the biggest example of why this book is so far off the mark. It highlights Intel as a value investment. The stock currently has a P/E of 25x and has always been over priced from a valuation standpoint. Not only that but Intel's only possible competitive advantage is size. Yes modern value investors look for good companies with long term competitive advantage but not at a high cost. Buffett was famous for sitting out the dotcom boom because they were not value investments.
   
   The only reason this book was not a one star book were the biographies of value investors in the second half of the book.

5 comments about The Independent Film Producer's Survival Guide: A Business and Legal Sourcebook.

1. This book is a serious but very readable approach to educating filmmakers on the maze of legal hoops that must be jumped through in order to create a film. Indispensable resource to have.



2. It was a book with that gave you a good background on how film production works from a legal perspective. So you should read it if that is your concern. The authors are lawyers, not producers.



3. If it's not already, this book will soon become the industry standard for substantive knowledge of the film business for independent filmmakers. Deal points, standard contract provisions, the often technical and confusing jargon, and the historical context for many industry practices are all covered here in comprehensive yet concise fashion. Topics of interest that are covered in depth include standard talent and producer agreements, developing a screen play, financing, and digital distribution. The book was a tremendous asset to me when I had to help an independent filmmaker comply with complicated federal securities laws in order to raise $200,000. Highly recommended.
   
   jeffbrownlegal@gmail.com



4. I highly recommend this book. As a first time amateur independent film producer, with about 30 film books resting on my shelf, I believe I was constantly thumbing through this one the most during preproduction. This book contains so much useful information and helpful insights, it's almost like having an industry consultant right there with you. Unlike other books, there weren't a lot of sections where they seemed to rush on to the next chapter without exploring the present topic in some depth.



5. I purchased this expecting some advice on legal issues, but this book is so much more. It talks you through the whole process of producing a film from start to finish, including valuable information on finding investors, attaching stars, behind the scene terminology, production advice, sample legal forms and what do with your film once you've made a cut. All of the advice is indispensable. This is a must have for any independent film producer, especially those new to the industry. It should be taught as a textbook in film schools. The most helpful book on producing I've stumbled upon yet.

5 comments about U.S. Master Tax Guide (2008).

1. This book is a tax preparer's dream, with all the answers for any questions that might arise in processing 2006 returns. It's simple language and full explanations of new tax law changes that impact 2006 filers is extensive. I use these guides every year and as always I am never disappointed. Thank you.



2. My one-stop source for updated Federal tax information. I don't prepare taxes, but I buy a new copy every year to stay current on tax law and IRS regulation changes. A must-have for financial/accounting managers and executives.



3. As a tax preparer this manual gives just the facts enough samples to work to the preparers advantage. Cut and dried! Just what I wanted. We'll see how well when I sit for my EA :-)



4. An automatic must have every year. This handbook is a great reference tool for any level of staff.



5. This product has a ton of information. It was recommended by a friend because I am not an accountant by trade but work in a position where it comes up daily. However the writing is quite small and reading some things requires a re read.
   Over all, I would recommend this book for information seekers.

5 comments about Trump: The Art of the Deal.

1. The fact that this book was written years ago makes it more valuable to someone who's looking for a good business book. Trump has developed his brand in an amazing way utilizing his abbility to relate to people. That way is making deals. Definetly a great book that teaches you one of the most important lessons to learn in business: how to make deals.



2. Great book!!! I purchased this book because it was a best seller. Glad I did, it was before all the drama with his wives and near declaration of bankcruptcy. It explains his roots to his rise as one of the wealthiest land owners. Great read, hard to put down.



3. Wow, The Donald has no real wig on this cover! Actually, this book is quite different from his later books. Here he gets into detail much more often and gives you better insight into the rise of his career (his fall and second rise came after this book).
   
   In this book you'll get the examples about Trump that made him rise. He was as bold then as he is now. Only difference was he had less money, but it'll make you realize that if you want to be succesful in the future you have to act succesful in the present.
   
   All the casino's and buildings he built early on in his career are mentioned in the book and the details about the deals are fun to read. Just consider this is a one-sided story, but the examples fit their goal.
   
   This book is like The Donald without a wig: strange, but fun to see.



4. This is a excellent wealth of information and insight in Mr. Trump's life and business dealings of his early years. Learned he is a very good man. It is as intended very inspiring. Made me fill like I needed to go out and build sky scrapers as well, witch after reading this book now believe we all do in ways that fit each of us. Recomend reading his following book next Trump: The Art of the Comeback for more clairity.



5. The Art of the deal is the only book written by Trump that I recommend; however, I rate this as one of the finest autobiographies I have read.
   
   The Art of the Deal takes you behind the scenes and into the thoughts of one of the great deal makers of our time. Donald jumps right in with a detailed daily account of his business dealings for an entire week offering a genuine feel for the life of high society and big-time business decisions. He goes on to discuss his childhood and the brilliance of his self made father whose millions enabled Donald to jump start his own career in Manhattan.
   
   Donald spends the bulk of his book discussing in detail his triumphs in Manhattan; from starting as unknown developer to gaining celebrity status as an entrepreneur. He outlines his often unpopular decisions such as filling half of one of his buildings with the homeless while waiting for tenants to give up their leases. He also outlines his knack for efficiency by taking over the construction of the Wollman Rink from the city and finishing the project in far less time and for reduced costs. Donald further discusses his entrance into the casino industry in New Jersey as well as his plans to build the world's tallest building on the west side and court NBC as its main tenant (something that obviously did not come to fruition). Perhaps this book is at its best in its discussion of Trump Tower, Donald's largest love and possibly most significant investment having been profitable even before completion of construction.
   
   Since the time when he finished the book, Donald's life has taken numerous turns many of which fall outside of real estate development. The Art of the Deal at its core is all about his real estate empire. Donald gives off none of the arrogance that he is often associated with, the only exception being in his aggressive approach to business. If you enjoy the real estate industry and want to hear from one of its great tycoons, The Art of the Deal is essential reading.

5 comments about The Complete Guide to Locating, Negotiating, and Buying Real Estate Foreclosures: What Smart Investors Need to Know - Explained Simply.

1. The Complete Guide to Locating, Negotiating, and Buying Real Estate Foreclosures: What Smart Investors Need to Know - Explained Simply is the best explanation I have read for buying foreclosures in a long time. It starts off in plain English, crunches the numbers for anyone not sure if they can afford it and then gets straight into the how to. While I didn't take the author's advice of skipping around it is entirely possible to skip around chapters, reading what's most interesting first, before coming back thanks to the simply way everything is explained inside. Whether a first time buyer or a long time investor I think anyone would benefit from reading this book.



2. Frankie and Marsha have truly put together a user friendly guide that examines the foreclosure process. For anyone looking to purchase a home or invest in the foreclosure market, this book is truly a gem. The book aims at helping investors take advantage of the foreclosure market. They point out the potential pitfalls and abundant gain that a foreclosure can bring investors.
   Homeowners would also benefit from reading this book. The book provides an insiders look at how the foreclosure process works and the way that investors can potentially save them before a foreclosure occurs. The best defense against foreclosure is knowing the tricks of the trade.
   The book is user friendly and well organized. Not to mention part of the proceeds are donated to a worthy charity.



3. Real estate investors can amass a fortune by purchasing foreclosed homes at various foreclosure auctions, and this guide is the resource novices and pros will find an outstanding key to locating such bargains. From auctions and online processes to making it easy for bargains to come your way, THE COMPLETE GUIDE is a survey investors will find easy to begin with, making it the perfect item of choice for public libraries.
   
   Diane C. Donovan
   California Bookwatch



4. If you hesitated about getting into real estate investing during the real estate housing boom, the new boom - the one in foreclosures - may be your chance to build wealth by buying forclosed real estate.
   
   This book is not for everyone. As a licensed real estate agent for eight years, I have seen people try to get rich quick using various schemes they have heard about on television or read about in books - with little success. This method is no fly-by-night strategy and not everyone who would be able to invest successfully. Investors need - at the very least - good credit, some ready cash and a willingness to work hard and stick to the plan.
   
   Those who are able to take advantage of the foreclosure niche in the current buyer's market can create for themselves a life making income as a real estate investor.
   
   The authors wrote this book for the brand-new investor, including not only basic information on how to choose and invest in foreclosures, but current information on where and how to find and choose foreclosure properties, current real- estate and foreclosure laws from state-to-state and detailed information on what to expect during every step of the process. The are even chapters on how to rent your new property, if you choose to do so.
   
   While this book is primarily for investors, buyers looking for a home of their own will find this book filled with useful information. Foreclosed homes can be found at bargain prices and home buyers can use these same procedures to find the home of their dreams. Too many buyers, frightened by the headlines, are not taking advantage of a once-in-a-lifetime buyer's market to buy their own home.
   
   Investors will also find the real estate dictionary and extensive list of references extremely helpful if they plan (and they should) to continue to learn about investing as the foreclosure market changes.
   
   The authors do not pretend that making money by buying and selling or renting-out foreclosures is easy and they caution that in real estate investing, money can be made, or it can be lost. That attitude is what makes this book superior to most. If your plan is to buy foreclosed homes with no money down, no assets and no risk, then look somewhere else - an good luck to you. But, if you are looking for a levelheaded approach to real estate investing in the current market, this approach is a winner.



5. In digging into this book, the author continually quoted other books. That annoyed me quite a bit and kept me asking, "Why didn't I buy the other book?" If you're starting off at "ground zero" and know nothing about mortgages, etc. this book is a helpful guide. It also contains concise explanations of different types of "legalese" and gives you places to look. Overall, a good place to start.

5 comments about Mortgage Ripoffs and Money Savers: An Industry Insider Explains How to Save Thousands on Your Mortgage or Re-Finance.

1. As a retired attorney, I have read my share of how-to books in various areas of expertise. Many have disappointed for lack of follow through and updating techniques such as online access to the author, with up-to-the-minute links to web pages addressing new areas of concern. Carolyn Warren's incredibly thorough, professional and brilliant comprehensible book lacks nothing in this regard. In fact, I would place this book among the various genres as the #1 book I have read in the last year that has made it possible for me to actually understand what was once an almost impossible mess of information for the layman. Having no background whatsoever in banking, financial management, debt, mortgages, credit, equity loans etc., this was a perfect book for me to rely upon for clear and concise knowledge. Oh, and after reading this book along with accessing her free info online, you will be delighted to know that Carolyn Warren does not just leave the reader there. She actually answers your emails! Yes, an author who cares about you -- long after you have purchased and read her book! You just gotta get this one - she is a star who knows what you need to survive like no one else out there.



2. Unless you work in the mortgage industry yourself this book is a must read before picking up that phone and calling a loan officer. Even if you have had gotten loans in the past, this book will be the best guide through the, at time seems mysterious/dark, mortgage alley. It is everything you will need to know to ensure and feel confidence that you have gotten a good loan. And that's big for me, to know and be able to sleep at night on a relatively big financial decision. ALL your questions will be answered in this one book. It is all collected and packaged for you. Why spend hours to search online, browse numerous websites and collect this valuable knowledge? It is all right here! It was an easy read too! I personally read it like a novel, the next page seems to answer exactly what I was about to ask. Please read, learn and be a savvy loan consumer for you own sake. It will save you and your loan officer a lot of time, grief and MONEY when you guys are speaking the same lingo.



3. This is a great book for anyone thinking of taking out a loan for a home or home equity. This book can literally save you thousands of dollars and give you a good working knowledge of the mortgage industry and all the scams they run to drive up their profit at your expense.



4. Michelle Singletary recommended this book in the Washington Post. It's clearly written, full of very useful information, and fun to read. I only wish I'd had it before I signed the loan contract. But, no worries, an email to the author, a quick reply, and I received more valuable advice. Don't get a home loan without reading this book first.



5. This is a great, highly readable and very informative book for anyone looking to buy or refinance a house. The take home message is that your mortgage broker is in the same category as your car salesman, except that your home will cost at least 10 times what your car will cost. You can't afford to go into the process ignorant or you are a sitting duck.
   
   My only caveat is that there are a few missing pieces about how to translate the YSP percentage into the mortgage rate effect - how much, exactly, does a 1% YSP increase your mortgage rate? A little more explanation would clear that up.
   
   In addition, this book badly needs a second edition. It was obviously written either before or just at the start of the recent mortage/foreclosure debacle. She never talks about the effects of the current tight credit market on a consumer's ability to borrow and what fees might be charged and how much you can actually negotiate today. Her FICO scoring categories, for example, are very out of date. Also, I know that there has been some crackdown on the mortgage industry, and some of the practices she mentions may have been actually made illegal, or at least come under more scutiny, but I'm not sure which ones. An update here would help.
   Overall, this is a great book. You will get your money's worth and much, much more.

5 comments about The Wall Street Journal. Complete Personal Finance Guidebook (The Wall Street Journal Guidebooks).

1. One of my friend recommended this book. In a week I finished the book. As the book states, it does not come with some super ideas (hard or impossible to implement), instead it gives some helpful hints on many different subjects.
   Especially after reading about "Debts" (bad debts), I reconsidered my credit cards and paid (not closed) 2 of them right away, I noticed I was paying huge amount of interest. The book paid itself in the first couple days.
   And of course my 410K: I will try to invest more in that one, the facts about pre-tax issues were very helpful.



2. I recently took a personal finance class in which everyone in the class was asked to read a book of their choosing and give a presentation on what they learned. After hearing the presentations, I decided to buy this book. It doesn't get down into the details too much, but I felt it offered a great breadth of resources - kind of like a reference book. It doesn't give you specific action plans like many popular press books, but it much more objective, just providing the facts.



3. The wall street journal's complete personal finance guidebook is very easy to understand. they wrote this book so every one would be able to under stand personal finance. They have put everything you need to know about investing, budgeting, taxes and much more in this book. I would recommend this book.



4. This is a good book if you're in high school, but for those of us who have graduated from college, we already know this stuff. I recommend Graham's book (also coveted by Warren Buffet) and The Model Rules of Personal Finance for Professionals (American Bar Association 2008) for understanding how to manage your financial life and how to invest.



5. For me, this book has one good chapter, its about debt; otherwise this is just an average book. I've read six money managment books this summer. I liked this one the least. I just bought four more copies of Jane Bryant Quinn's SMART AND SIMPLE FINANCIAL STRATEGIES FOR BUSY PEOPLE to give to my young adult children, its the best of the six books I read.

2 comments about Concise Guide to Macroeconomics: What Managers, Executives, and Students Need to Know.

1. This book explain macroeconomics in a very good short way, like the tittle says, what a manager, executives, and students need to know, but not for a student that is getting an Economics degree. It shows problems that some countries had without knowing about, and prevent investors how to spot em before loosing they shirts like what happen in mexico in 1994.
   
   I think is a good book for Investors or whomever is running a company.
   
   BTW, if someone that goes or went to Harverd Business School and that it's getting or got an Economics degree, (BA, Ph.D., etc.), can you please let me know what Books are being used from the start until the end. Since i can't go to Harvard at least i will like to get the books to study on my own. Thank you.



2. It is rare to find a book so aptly described by its title as "A Concise Guide to Macroeconomics." The book really is concise; the text is only 141 pages long, and even that number might give an exaggerated impression because there are fairly wide margins and two blank pages between each chapter, as well as numerous graphs and tables. Yet in those 141 pages, this guidebook covers the essentials of output and GDP accounting, the role of money, interest and expectations in monetary policy and business cycles, a brief monetary history of the United States, as well as the basics of international economics: why countries trade, how to read a balance of payments statement, and what sorts of forces move exchange rates.
   
   The tables and charts scattered throughout the book provide excellent intuition for understanding international comparisons of GDP, the history of business cycles, or whatever topic is presently at hand. All of these media are well referenced in the text, clearly explained, and contain up-to-date information. Moss also illustrates some concepts, such as the Ricardian theory of comparative advantage, with examples of his own; these too are excellent.
   
   What impresses me most about the book is that Moss seems to have gotten the technical level just right: this book has none of the anecdote-ridden flakiness so common to journalistic writing about economics, nor is it ponderous or over-burdened with theory. This guide will aptly explain the essentials of the field to those who are curious; I know of no other book like it, and I cannot recommend it highly enough. If you have any lingering doubts (you shouldn't) just click on the "Search Inside" icon at the top of the page, and click "Surprise Me" to get a random sample of Moss's writing.