Grand pursuit : the story of economic genius

 by Sylvia Nasar. The historical transformation of economics from laissez-faire into a. instrument of master. (Nasar's phrase) thematically presides over these biographical sketches of some of those who were instrumental in the process. Showing them all wrestling in some way with the causes of poverty and prosperity, Nasar opens with Marx and his habit of supporting himself on cadged capital while he wrote Das Kapital. Indeed, the way Nasar's subjects dealt with their own funds enlivens her presentations of what they advised businesses, banks, and governments to do with theirs. In Nasar's time frame, about 1870-1960, the booms and busts her economists lived through affected their wallets as much as their theorizing. Though few of her subjects besides Marx, Keynes, and Milton Friedman will be familiar to many readers, such figures as Irving Fisher, inventor of the Rolodex, and Joan Robinson, a British economist with a colorful background, become supremely interesting in her hands. Also including sketches of socialist Beatrice Webb, conservative icon F. W. Hayek, and developmental economist Amartya Sen, Nasar creatively deploys lives-and-times to show the evolution of economics from an explanation of fate into an application of policy. . HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Sylvia Nasar's A Beautiful Mind (1998), a biography of schizophrenic mathematician-economist John Nash, was converted into an Academy Award-winning movie starring Russell Crowe, priming above-average awareness of this author and interest in her sequel about economists. --Booklist (Check Catalog)

Empowered : unleash your employees, energize your customers, transform your business

 by Josh Bernoff. Two vice presidents at Forrester Research (Bernoff is also the coauthor of Groundswell) offer a rare thing: a book about using new technologies that actually goes beyond jargon and offers practical solutions. In addition to providing examples of how today's consumers have empowered themselves through social software, the authors suggest that the best way to deal with such customers is to train and support empowered workers (or HEROes, "highly empowered and resource operatives"). The most valuable part of the book is its second half, which describes how HERO employees, management, and IT staff can and must collaborate to make the system work. The focus on the whole organization makes this a good read for employees and managers alike. --Library Journal (Check Catalog)

Groundswell : winning in a world transformed by social technologies

 by Charlene Li. Kudos to Li and Bernoff (both, Forrester Research) for this jam-packed guide to using social networking sites to market products and services and engage customers. Timely and accessible, Groundswell provides an insider's look into the Internet world of blogs, online communities, wikis, discussion groups, tweets, and more. The book is filled with stories of companies that have successfully harnessed the power of the Internet to connect with customers and build relationships. For example, Blendtec, manufacturer of a $399 blender, used the "Will it blend?" video on YouTube to show its industrial-strength blender chewing up everything from wooden two-by-twos to Apple iPhones--and increased sales by 20 percent. Accounting firm Ernst & Young built a Facebook "wall" to recruit new accounting graduates. Procter & Gamble created the Beinggirl.com community to connect with teenage girls, answering their coming-of-age questions while steering them to the company's tampon products. With its techniques, strategies, and how-to advice on tapping into the online social networking movement, Groundswell is a must for today's marketers. See related, David Meerman Scott's The New Rules of Marketing and PR: How to Use News Releases, Blogs, Podcasting, Viral Marketing and Online Media to Reach Buyers Directly (CH, Dec'07, 45-2127). Summing Up: Highly recommended. --Choice (Check catalog)

Nothing to lose, everything to gain : how I went from gang member to multimillionaire entrepreneur

 by Ryan Blair. Bad boy makes good in this energetically recounted rags-to-riches success story. Blair's placid middle-class family was abruptly disrupted when his father became hooked on drugs and abandoned the family. Blair got involved with a gang, and had multiple and violent run-ins with the law, but salvation came in the form of a successful and encouraging stepfather, who started him working and became his first real mentor. The survival instincts he earned in his scrappy adolescence became his greatest asset as he created his first company, and Blair tells the story of his rise to success in the hopes that readers might benefit from his philosophies, from the jail cell to the boardroom. His failures and successes, along with a little input from his gurus, coupled with his solid commonsense advice and entrepreneurial life lessons offer an inspiring and helpful story. Readers will find the "nothing-to-lose" mindset and his optimistic, do-anything attitude both charming and encouraging. --Publishers Weekly (Check Catalog)