8 influential business books of the year
The must-read titles of 2015 on extraordinary stories and game
changers of global business
The Financial Times and McKinsey & Co have col laborated for
their eleventh an nual Business Book Awards, announcing a long-list of
semifinalists recently. This year's top business books come from journalists,
economists and academics on a range of topics -from why India's aspiration to
become a superpower fell apart, to the ways robots could replace workers in
industries. Here are some books to catch up on:
Misbehaving by Richard H Thaler
Thaler is an economist at the University of Chicago Booth School
of Business best known as `the father of behavioural economics'. In traditional
economics, people are presumed to be purely rational actors; in reality,
people's decisions are also influenced by biases and impulses that often have
nothing to do with logic. `Misbehaving' serves as an introduction into Thaler's
way of understanding markets and it is full of his colourful wit.
Climate Shock by Gernot Wagner and Martin Weitzman
Environmental Defense Fund lead economist Gernot Wagner and
Harvard professor Martin L Weitzman argue that the topic of climate change is
more complicated and urgent than even ardent advocates believe. They explain
that the way to avoid the possibility of utter disaster in the next century is
by seeing the issue as something to take insur ance out on, on a global level
and that extreme `geoengineering' tactics well beyond carbon taxes may be
necessary at some point.
Unfinished Business by Anne-Marie Slaughter
In 2009, Slaughter became the first female director of policy
planning for the State department under Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. She
left her position later, upset with how the job prevented her from being a
mother and wife. Slaughter now leads the New America think tank and her new
book is an argument on what corporations and individuals can do to make
professional men and women equals.
Phishing for Phools by George Akerlof and Robert Shiller
Coming of f their 2 0 0 9 book Animal Spirits, the pair of Nobel
laureate economists now turn their attention to how forces deceptively phishing
for profits are upsetting Adam Smith's concept of the invisible hand.
That markets are always driving toward an equilibrium in which
supply meets demand is a fundamental concept of economics, but Akerlof and
Shiller argue that there have long been those who craft demand that otherwise
would not exist, as seen in places ranging from Cinnabon locations to gym
memberships.
Rise of the Robots by Martin Ford
Robots are increasingly intelligent and they're coming to take
your job, says Ford, a software developer and entrepreneur.But rather than
being a warning from a tech-fearing Luddite, Ford guides readers through the
surprising evolution of artificial intelligence from simple task-based machines
into quickthinking programs that can replace service workers, journalists and
programmers.
Digital Gold by Nathaniel Popper
Last year, Newsweek caused a stir when it ran a cover story
claiming it had identified the creator of the online currency Bitcoin. But
Newsweek found the wrong guy.
Popper, a New York Times reporter, seems to have discovered the
actual man behind Bitcoin, and `Digital Gold' is a complete look at the
currency's history, concluding that it has passed the point of being a mere
fad.
Restart by Mihir Sharma
India responded to a massive economic crisis in 1991 with
widespread, sig ni f icant re forms. In the rebound, “Poverty rates fell,
literacy rose and an improving economy triggered a move into the middle classes
for millions of people,“ writes Sharma, a journalist with a leading business
daily in India.
“This led to a big appetite for consumption and what looked like a
clear path toward India becoming a world superpower. But, then, it all fell
apart.“ Sharma contends in his book that India is suffering from a lack of
industrial development, archaic laws, and poor leadership, and offers ways in
which it can reassert itself in the global economy.
Losing the Signal by Jacquie McNish and Sean Silcoff
In 2008, BlackBerry phones were synonymous with Wall Street.But
when the iOS and Android grew in popularity, BlackBerry was all but wiped out.
By the end of last year, the company had just 0.4 per cent of the market. Globe
and Mail repor ters Jacquie McNish and Sean Silicoff chronicle the story of how
Research in Motion built an empire and then suddenly lost it all .
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