ByROBERT J. HUGHES
Is it time to buy stocks?For our previous installment of book selections, click here
Here's our latest crop of staff picks
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Author: Felix Rohatyn
Reviewed by: Robert J. Hughes
Americans have debated government's role in the economy since our founding, but if we look at the history of public works in the U.S. we'll be equipped to weather the current fiscal crisis, Felix Rohatyn argues in his compelling new book. You may remember the mid-1970s headline, "FORD TO CITY: DROP DEAD," when New York was on the verge of bankruptcy. Rohatyn certainly does. As a government official at the time, he helped rescue the beleaguered city's finances. Rohatyn writes that renewed prosperity depends on government initiatives to rebuild roads and bridges, schools and hospitals, ports and dams, water, sewer, and electric lines. He gives a history of 10 of the nation's largest public endeavors such as the Erie Canal and the Homestead Act to show that, despite opposition, these projects benefited the U.S. Everyone knows the Louisiana Purchase doubled America's size, for example, but it also strengthened our credit in international financial markets. For someone in finance, Rohatyn writes lucid, accessible prose. Even those fretful over "nationalization" might find this a thought-provoking look at how and when government should step in.
How Our Government Built America, and Why It Must Rebuild Now
Author: Bryan Burrough
Reviewed by: Brad Reagan, Staff Writer, SmartMoney
For those who think the hard-living Texas oilman is a Hollywood myth, meet H.L. Hunt, Clint Murchison, Roy Cullen and Sid Richardson. With little more than cojones and plain ole luck, these 20th-century wildcatters amassed nine-figure fortunes and transformed the Lone Star State from cotton-and-cattle country into the engine of the U.S. energy economy.
, co-author of the seminal takeover drama "Barbarians at the Gate," picks up steam once the money is made, as the oilmen struggle to control their empires despite no-good kids (legitimate and illegitimate), alcoholism and the threat of Saudi oil. It s a story even this native Texan never fully realized before. His efforts to link his subjects right-wing politics to the rise of modern conservatism are less compelling than his outsized tales of profligate spending and business boondoggles (such as the gripping chapter on the Hunt brothers' attempts to corner the silver market). By the end, many fortunes have been depleted, making the book an effective cautionary tale for anyone with a family business.
The Rise and Fall of the Greatest Texas Oil Fortunes
Burrough
Author: Daniel Suarez
Reviewed by: Thomas E. Weber, Editor, SmartMoney.com
As the financial crisis unfolded last year, one of the biggest lessons became apparent early on: Complicated things can hurt you if you don t understand them. Even banks themselves didn t seem to fully understand the ramifications of all those credit-default swaps. That real-world context makes the fictional premise of Daniel Suarez s Daemon that much more chilling. Suarez tells of a genius computer programmer who wreaks havoc on the economy and society after his death. How? By manipulating thousands of people through a giant World of Warcraft -style online game that begins awarding points for actions in the real world. If someone were to secretly train an army in an online game, would we and would the players themselves realize it? Part crime story, part Michael Crichton-style technothriller, Daemon is entertaining and thought-provoking, though the writing isn t always up to its ambitious plot. For a home-run take on the same general subject, try
by Charles Stross.
Author: Jim Rogers
Reviewed by: Thomas E. Weber, Editor, SmartMoney.com
As the father of two young girls myself, I was interested to see that investor Jim Rogers (author of
and other titles) has penned A Gift to My Children: A Father s Lessons for Life and Investing. Rogers presents the volume as a guide for his own young daughters, and the volume is appropriately thin and clearly written. Some of the life lessons discussed think for yourself, be ethical, pay attention to details can seem a bit superficial. Rogers feels on much firmer ground when discussing his hallmark method of diving in deep for firsthand knowledge even traveling the backroads of a foreign country before deciding on investments (or anything else). His girls, like my own, are growing up in a Twitterized, Wikipedian world where information is everywhere, yet accuracy can be torturous to gauge. In that regard, Rogers s call for doing your own research is welcome. Investing buffs will see this as a nice gift for the kids or grandkids that can help explain just how deeply markets can fascinate and that it isn t just about the money.
Authors: Kenny Shopsin and Carolynn Carre o
Reviewed by: Robert J. Hughes
It's a tough small-business environment, and Kenny Shopsin, no-nonsense chef-owner of New York's Shopsin's General Store, offers practical and humorous advice for running one in this cookbook-cum-memoir, with recipes for home cooks who just want tasty food. Shopsin has an autocratic reputation but the popularity of his quirky eatery means he's good at what he does. Offbeat recipes include a Mexican Caesar salad (with romaine as well as chipotle peppers in adobo and tortilla chips instead of croutons) plus simple comfort food, like a satisfying chicken-and-barley soup. His advice for the business professional as well as the home cook: Be yourself and trust your instincts. This is harder to do than you'd think, as Shopsin's pungent anecdotes demonstrate. It may seem odd that Shopsin won't allow diners at the same table to order the same thing as each other. But you've got to applaud him for forbidding cellphones and texting.
Author: John Allen Paulos
Reviewed by: Janet Paskin, Staff Writer, SmartMoney
Quick: If every American adult had to write a check to cover the cost of the federal bailout, how much would we each owe? (See below.) It s impossible to understand such big numbers without putting them in context, which is only one of the timeless arguments John Allen Paulos makes in his classic Innumeracy. Written long before the global financial system imploded, this tract has never felt more relevant than now. But Paulos, a math professor at
, doesn't just wring his hands over the poor state of our collective math skills. He teaches using entertaining real-world examples such as drug use, unprotected sex and terrorism to illustrate abstract concepts of probability, statistics and numbers improbably large and small. The precise explanation of combinatorial coefficients is there if you want; skip it if you don t. Either way, you ll never look at the headlines the same way. After all, a billion here, a billion there, and pretty soon you re talking about real money.
Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences
Temple University
Population of the U.S.: 300 million; approx 73% over 19 = about 220m adults. $1T/220m = 1,000,000/220 = $4,545 per person.
Author: Jeff Matthews
By Dyan Machan, Senior Writer, SmartMoney
If you ve never been to a Berkshire Hathaway shareholder meeting and want to know what it s about, this book is for you. It s a breezy, readable account of the 2006 and 2007 Omaha gatherings. But for those of us who have also attended meetings and know something about the sage, it s a dry hump with little satisfaction. All the more curious since Matthews is a hedge fund investor and he tells us in the preface that hedge fund investors tend to be more skeptical. We wonder, then, where s the skepticism when he writes how Buffett avoids investing in technology without challenging that notion or exploring the costs to shareholders. Also, Matthews states Buffett is lacking as an oracle but doesn t go in for the kill. We were hoping for some facts and hard-nosed analysis, but we get, as Matthews himself admits, an expanded account of his
. We can almost hear one of Matthews' relatives reading him online and exclaiming, Now, Jeff, you must turn this into a book!
A Hedge Fund Manager's Dispatches from Inside the Berkshire Hathaway Annual Meeting
blog
Author: William J. Bernstein
Reviewed by Robert J. Hughes
Global trade isn't new: It's been around since humans first created products.
, whose books include "The Four Pillars of Investing," knows the history of money and how trade in actual goods like silks became trading in something as intangible as mortgages. He argues that knowing about trade history is essential in today's business world since the very transportation of goods and financial know-how (a form of economic trade) is at the top of any socioeconomic discussion. By tracing the rise of ancient trade routes through the ages, such as between Baghdad and Canton, or by outlining how 16th-century Portuguese navigators reshaped commerce, he brings to life the growth of nations, the development of monetary systems, the spread of culture and the intersection of business, religion, art and products. Not to mention disease and warfare. All still relevant: We're closer to the past than you'd think.
Author: Martin D. Weiss
Reviewed by: Robert J. Hughes
We have a pretty good sense of how we got into this mess: the housing bust, the mortgage leveraging, the debt crisis. But Weiss, president of Weiss Research Inc., and the editor of the
, outlines it all clearly and gives historical precedents that may help investors profit from today's crisis. Some of his advice you can get free elsewhere: Pull yourself out of debt by paying down credit cards. Yeah, we'd already thought of that. But Weiss offers strategies for investment and makes a pretty good case for hope. He recommends buying exchange-traded funds (for their diversity and trading flexibility), or Treasury-only money-market funds (for their reliability). And he has tips for finding stocks with rising dividends. Although this book is aimed more at investors than entrepreneurs, it is clear-headed and rational, which is no small thing amid today's fog of uncertainty.
Protect Your Savings, Boost Your Income, and Grow Wealthy Even in the Worst of Times
Safe Money Report
Author: Christopher Potter
Reviewed by: Robert J. Hughes
While many these days worry about their place in the world, this highly readable book puts things in perspective on a grander scale. Even humbled Masters of the Universe might appreciate Potter's down-to-earth explanations of distance and size in our solar system, the galaxy and beyond. He starts small, by looking at the human-sized steps we take, and moves on to planetary distances, astronomical units, light years and more. Along the way, we learn a lot about the known (and barely known) cosmos. Potter explores relativity, quantum theory, evolution, antimatter, the big bang, the nature of being and the ultimate destiny of our species. It all sounds quite heady, but it's actually accessible and entertaining as Potter wittily clarifies the links between the immense universe and the infinitesimal quantum world. We are all connected.
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