GIÁ SÁCH

This is the list of my real-life library. Please feel free to suggest your book recommendations or any additional info using the comments section below.

- MARKETS, RISK AND CHANCE -

1. No one would listen – Harry Markopolos

Amazon Review

Harry Markopolos and his team of financial sleuths discuss first-hand how they cracked the Madoff Ponzi scheme

No One Would Listen is the exclusive story of the Harry Markopolos-lead investigation into Bernie Madoff and his $65 billion Ponzi scheme. While a lot has been written about Madoff’s scam, few actually know how Markopolos and his team-affectionately called “The Fox Hounds” by Markopolos himself, uncovered what Madoff was doing years before this financial disaster reached its pinnacle. Unfortunately, no one listened, until the damage of the world’s largest financial fraud ever was irreversible.

Since that time, Markopolos openly has testified and questioned the enforcement and fraud investigation capabilities of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), shared a sliver of this page-turning story with 60 Minutes, and become perhaps the world’s most visible and insightful whistleblower on fraud and conflicts of interest in financial markets.

Throughout the book, Markopolos and his Fox Hounds tell their first-hand story of investigating Madoff-with the help of bestselling author David Fisher. They explain how they discovered the fraud, and then how they provided credible and detailed evidence to major newspapers and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) many times between 2000 and 2008, only to have his warnings ignored repeatedly by the SEC.

• Provides a firsthand account of how Markopolos uncovered Madoff’s scam years before it actually fell apart
• Discusses how the SEC missed the red flags raised by Markopolos
• Describes how Madoff was enabled by investors and fiduciaries alike
• The only book to tell the story of Madoff’s scam and the SEC’s failings by those who saw both first hand

Despite repeated written and verbal warnings to the SEC by Harry Markopolos, Bernie Madoff was allowed to continue his operations. No One Would Listen paints a vivid portrait of Markopolos and his determined team of financial sleuths, and what impact they will have on financial markets and financial regulation for decades to come.

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2. Betrayal: The Life and Lies of Bernie Madoff – Andrew Kirtzman

Focusing much more on Madoff himself and on the anger and shame his crimes provoked

Reviewed by Douglas K. Pinner (Indiana)

“An astoundingly well researched and deftly crafted look,not only at Madoff himself,but also inside the pool of victims ,both witless and not,in which the shark found his prey.Unlike some of the others I have read ,this is no mere compilation of news stories but incisive and succinct cameos of both victims and accomplices, implicit and explicit, and the greed and entitlement driving the delusion.While many of the victims were ,indeed,innocent dupes,the larger question of how sophisticated and experienced investors with investments in the millions if not billions could have been deceived is answered,albeit somewhat tangentially.Does anyone with knowledge of Wall Street really believe that mega investors with mega advisors in the investment banking,legal and accounting communities could really believe that anyone or system could beat the market all the time? Of course not,and one needs no knowledge of sophisticated financial models to so conclude. So how did they convince themselves? Kirtzman uses the phrase “forward trading”, A.K.A. insider trading,i.e. Knowing full well no model ,however intricate or abtruse, could replicate the chaos of markets ,the only other explanation being that Bernie knows something or someone we don’t.Wink wink!! But,let’s keep that to ourselves,”Don’t ask ,don’t tell” and let the good times roll; after all, we are entitled and part of the in pool.. A great,compelling read,well written and on a par with the best of biz books such as “Barbarians at the Gates” etc”

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- SOCIAL SCIENCES -

1. The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference – Malcolm Gladwell

Why is it that fashion trends change the way we dress? Why do various TV shows, movies, and books become so popular? Malcolm Gladwell provides a diagram of our society, along with an analysis of the strategies people apply to influence and mold its direction. Gladwell describes the personality types that create trends and those that influence others by “spreading the word.” History takes on a whole new perspective as he describes events of early America that specifically follow his theories of “selling the public on an idea” and “social epidemics.” Feedback from market mavericks further substantiates Gladwell’s viewpoints.
– B.J.P. © AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine

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2. Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking - Malcolm Gladwell

From Publishers Weekly

Best-selling author Gladwell (The Tipping Point) has a dazzling ability to find commonality in disparate fields of study. As he displays again in this entertaining and illuminating look at how we make snap judgments—about people’s intentions, the authenticity of a work of art, even military strategy—he can parse for general readers the intricacies of fascinating but little-known fields like professional food tasting (why does Coke taste different from Pepsi?). Gladwell’s conclusion, after studying how people make instant decisions in a wide range of fields from psychology to police work, is that we can make better instant judgments by training our mind and senses to focus on the most relevant facts—and that less input (as long as it’s the right input) is better than more. Perhaps the most stunning example he gives of this counterintuitive truth is the most expensive war game ever conducted by the Pentagon, in which a wily marine officer, playing “a rogue military commander” in the Persian Gulf and unencumbered by hierarchy, bureaucracy and too much technology, humiliated American forces whose chiefs were bogged down in matrixes, systems for decision making and information overload. But if one sets aside Gladwell’s dazzle, some questions and apparent inconsistencies emerge. If doctors are given an algorithm, or formula, in which only four facts are needed to determine if a patient is having a heart attack, is that really educating the doctor’s decision-making ability—or is it taking the decision out of the doctor’s hands altogether and handing it over to the algorithm? Still, each case study is satisfying, and Gladwell imparts his own evident pleasure in delving into a wide range of fields and seeking an underlying truth.

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3. Outliers: The Story of Success - Malcolm Gladwell

Now that he’s gotten us talking about the viral life of ideas and the power of gut reactions, Malcolm Gladwell poses a more provocative question in Outliers: why do some people succeed, living remarkably productive and impactful lives, while so many more never reach their potential? Challenging our cherished belief of the “self-made man,” he makes the democratic assertion that superstars don’t arise out of nowhere, propelled by genius and talent: “they are invariably the beneficiaries of hidden advantages and extraordinary opportunities and cultural legacies that allow them to learn and work hard and make sense of the world in ways others cannot.” Examining the lives of outliers from Mozart to Bill Gates, he builds a convincing case for how successful people rise on a tide of advantages, “some deserved, some not, some earned, some just plain lucky.”

Outliers can be enjoyed for its bits of trivia, like why most pro hockey players were born in January, how many hours of practice it takes to master a skill, why the descendents of Jewish immigrant garment workers became the most powerful lawyers in New York, how a pilots’ culture impacts their crash record, how a centuries-old culture of rice farming helps Asian kids master math. But there’s more to it than that. Throughout all of these examples–and in more that delve into the social benefits of lighter skin color, and the reasons for school achievement gaps–Gladwell invites conversations about the complex ways privilege manifests in our culture. He leaves us pondering the gifts of our own history, and how the world could benefit if more of our kids were granted the opportunities to fulfill their remarkable potential. –Mari Malcolm

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