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by Turney Duff (Get the Book)
With the twists and turns of a suspense novel, this autobiographical account of the rise and fall of a hedge fund trader exposes the risks and liabilities of a career on Wall Street during one of the most turbulent decades of the financial industry. Duff's 15-year career parallels the peaks and valleys of the stock market, from the boom of the 1990s to the tumultuous decline in the early 2000s. With unabashed honesty, he tells how he went from an entry-level position in Morgan Stanley in 1993 to successful trader on the buy side before his excessive partying and downward spiral into drugs ended his career and he had the courage to walk away for good. He exposes the occupational hazards of his high-pressure trading jobs, the lure of power and money when million-dollar trades were commonplace, insider alliances were useful, and collusion was a part of the business. Fast-paced and gritty, this is a fascinating and convincing portrayal of one trader's challenges in a tough environment and his ultimate redemption. --Booklist
by Drew Boyd (Get the Book)
Using a set of "systematic inventive thinking" (SIT) techniques, Boyd (marketing and innovation, Univ. of Cincinnati) and Goldenberg (marketing, Hebrew Univ. of Jerusalem) demonstrate ways for corporations to enhance productivity and develop innovation creatively. SIT are taught in workshops or classes and involve ways of thinking about product design and concepts without restrictions caused by specific problems. Other techniques include unifying tasks for which components are asked to do double duty, or attribute dependency where results are varied depending on specific conditions. Examples of how to implement the techniques exist throughout the book and range from laparoscopic surgical innovations to Captcha characters and new ways to build skyscrapers. Many books are written on the topic of stimulating creativity, but the practical examples provided here make Boyd and Goldenberg's advice stand out from the crowd. VERDICT A captivating and fun read that adds insight to product design. --Library Journal
by R. Glenn Hubbard (Get the Book)
Political paralysis leading to fiscal collapse is the "existential threat" facing America, argues this stimulating, contentious economic history. Economists Hubbard (dean of Columbia University's Graduate School of Business) and Kane (chief economist of the Hudson Institute), both one-time advisers to the 2012 Romney-Ryan campaign, conduct a loose, engaging tour through history, pinpointing the economic failings of states from ancient Rome (debased currency, expensive bread and circuses, totalitarian labor controls) and Ming China (squabbling between court mandarins and eunuchs that scotched trade initiatives) to contemporary Europe and the United States (unsustainable government entitlements and debt). They frame the perennial debate over national decline in novel economic terms, ranking countries by a metric of "economic power"-GDP times productivity times the square root of growth-that puts America still uneasily on top. The authors' economics tilt conservative, extolling budget austerity, low taxes, and free trade, while deploring over-mighty public-sector workers-a latter-day Praetorian Guard of California's state government-and excessive welfare spending. They conclude by proposing a constitutional balanced-budget amendment, while acknowledging dysfunctional political institutions that block reform, like the "prisoners dilemma" in Congress that prevents Republicans and Democrats alike from compromising on deficits. Theirs is political economy with a grand historical sweep-and provocative implications for the present. --Publishers Weekly
by Jan Chipchase (Get the Book)
Chipchase, executive creative director of global insights at Frog Design (now known as frog), has been described as a global design anthropologist. In his first book, written with journalist Steinhardt, he uses this anthropologist's curiosity and research experience to examine both the mundane and extraordinary: "scratching beneath the surface to find reality in bits and pieces. to see the world in a richer, more textured way." And Chipchase does indeed scratch the surface on a wide variety of captivating yet random topics, examining such disparate subjects as mobile phones, fast food, pornography, hybrid corn adoption, and the Amish. While he recounts many fascinating anecdotes about consumer adoption of products and services, status, buying behaviors, and technologies, the disjointed organization is distracting and may leave the reader wondering what point the author is trying to make. In the conclusion, Chipchase admits he did not focus on making a point, but rather aimed "to offer new perspectives that can help you bring the world into focus," and to motivate us to ask smarter questions. For nonlinear thinkers or those who embrace the ambiguity inherent in design research, Chipchase's work will provide a lively, thought-provoking, and often humorous read. --Publishers Weekly
