I.O.U.S.A. One Nation. Under Stress. In Debt. by Addison Wiggin and Kate Incontrera
Type: Nonfiction, Business & Investing
My rating: 3 stars (out of 5)
Why I chose it: I first heard about the documentary of the same name. This book was written after the movie was made. I understand the movie was originally based on the book, Empire of Debt by Bill Bonner.
What I liked about it: The book is split into two sections. The first explains the problems that our nation is in. The second is a collection of interviews with various businessmen, government officials, and others who were featured in the movie. The book supposedly expands on the documentary by highlighting America’s four serious deficits: budget, personal savings, trade, and leadership. At the time the book was released in September 2008 the national debt was $9.6 Trillion. Today, just 15 months later, the national debt is $12.0 Trillion. And that does not include the unfunded Medicare and Social Security obligations. If you include those programs, the total national debt stands at over $54 Trillion...and it grows daily.
You can watch a 30-minute summary version of the documentary here.
Book 50
Busted: Life Inside the Great Mortgage Meltdown by Edmund L. Andrews
Type: Nonfiction, Business & Investing
My rating: 3 stars (out of 5)
Why I chose it: I am very interested in the current economic crisis and enjoy reading other people's perspective on what they think caused it.
What I liked about it: There are many contributing factors that led to this economic crisis. The author delves into the loose lending standards especially in the area of sub-prime lending, the financial innovations that were used to sell junk mortgages to sophisticated investors, and the rating agencies who assumed that because housing prices historically always went up that they would continue to always go up. What makes this book a bit more entertaining is that the author is an economics reporter for the New York Times and gets himself into financial trouble with his own mortgage.
I was disappointed that the author blamed many different groups of people but did not lay the ultimate blame on the institution that provided the source of the cash to make it all possible -- the Federal Reserve.
If you're a teacher and leave a big bowl of chocolates in the middle of a room full of 1st graders and leave the room for 15 minutes then come back and the kids are bouncing off the walls, you cannot then say "What happened?" That is exactly what Alan Greenspan, the former Chairman of the Federal Reserve, said about the busting of the housing bubble.
None of the housing boom could have been possible without the Federal Reserve providing the big bowl of chocolate (i.e. money) for those 1st graders (i.e. lenders/borrowers/investors). There's no doubt that investment bubbles can form from time-to-time. But the bubbles will be limited in size to the amount of money available. The Fed essentially made an unlimited amount of money available following the dot-com bust in 2000 and the events of September 11, 2001 by lowering interbank interest rates to 1% from June 2003 to June 2004. Aside from that one-year period, interest rates in the United States have not been at 1 percent, or below, since 1958.
Imagine the bubble which is now being formed by the Fed lowering interest rates to essentially 0% back in December 2008 and holding it at that level ever since.
Type: Nonfiction, Business & Investing
My rating: 3 stars (out of 5)
Why I chose it: I am very interested in the current economic crisis and enjoy reading other people's perspective on what they think caused it.
What I liked about it: There are many contributing factors that led to this economic crisis. The author delves into the loose lending standards especially in the area of sub-prime lending, the financial innovations that were used to sell junk mortgages to sophisticated investors, and the rating agencies who assumed that because housing prices historically always went up that they would continue to always go up. What makes this book a bit more entertaining is that the author is an economics reporter for the New York Times and gets himself into financial trouble with his own mortgage.
I was disappointed that the author blamed many different groups of people but did not lay the ultimate blame on the institution that provided the source of the cash to make it all possible -- the Federal Reserve.
If you're a teacher and leave a big bowl of chocolates in the middle of a room full of 1st graders and leave the room for 15 minutes then come back and the kids are bouncing off the walls, you cannot then say "What happened?" That is exactly what Alan Greenspan, the former Chairman of the Federal Reserve, said about the busting of the housing bubble.
None of the housing boom could have been possible without the Federal Reserve providing the big bowl of chocolate (i.e. money) for those 1st graders (i.e. lenders/borrowers/investors). There's no doubt that investment bubbles can form from time-to-time. But the bubbles will be limited in size to the amount of money available. The Fed essentially made an unlimited amount of money available following the dot-com bust in 2000 and the events of September 11, 2001 by lowering interbank interest rates to 1% from June 2003 to June 2004. Aside from that one-year period, interest rates in the United States have not been at 1 percent, or below, since 1958.
Imagine the bubble which is now being formed by the Fed lowering interest rates to essentially 0% back in December 2008 and holding it at that level ever since.
Book 49
Look Me in the Eye: My Life with Asperger's by John Elder Robison
Type: Nonfiction, Memoir
My rating: 3 stars (out of 5)
Why I chose it: This book was mentioned as an interesting read by one of my friends on Facebook. I like book recommendations.
What I liked about it: Through some delightful storytelling I learned that some common traits of someone with Asperger's are that they:
- lack empathy;
- say things that are true, but that people don't want to hear;
- are usually the class clown;
- study intently and have a tendency to focus on one subject or topic;
- enjoy playing tricks on people including weaving just enough truth into a story to make it seem plausible;
- are very logical thinkers and don't understand other people's point of view when it doesn't make logical sense to them; and
- enjoy altering stories and rhymes to include their own personal spin.
Sounds very much like someone I know ;)
What this book has reinforced for me is that we are all different and special in our own ways. There seems to be two schools of thought on Autism and Asperger's. Some individuals seek a cure and others believe Autism should be tolerated as a difference and not treated as a disorder. John Elder Robison, the author, takes the latter view, at least as it relates to Asperger's. Our minds work in mysterious ways. Sometimes we are given a gift like this author was given to allow the mind to be opened up beyond its conventional way of thinking. It's unfortunate that when something special like that happens, the normal thinkers make fun of, and ridicule, the person for not being more like them.
Type: Nonfiction, Memoir
My rating: 3 stars (out of 5)
Why I chose it: This book was mentioned as an interesting read by one of my friends on Facebook. I like book recommendations.
What I liked about it: Through some delightful storytelling I learned that some common traits of someone with Asperger's are that they:
- lack empathy;
- say things that are true, but that people don't want to hear;
- are usually the class clown;
- study intently and have a tendency to focus on one subject or topic;
- enjoy playing tricks on people including weaving just enough truth into a story to make it seem plausible;
- are very logical thinkers and don't understand other people's point of view when it doesn't make logical sense to them; and
- enjoy altering stories and rhymes to include their own personal spin.
Sounds very much like someone I know ;)
What this book has reinforced for me is that we are all different and special in our own ways. There seems to be two schools of thought on Autism and Asperger's. Some individuals seek a cure and others believe Autism should be tolerated as a difference and not treated as a disorder. John Elder Robison, the author, takes the latter view, at least as it relates to Asperger's. Our minds work in mysterious ways. Sometimes we are given a gift like this author was given to allow the mind to be opened up beyond its conventional way of thinking. It's unfortunate that when something special like that happens, the normal thinkers make fun of, and ridicule, the person for not being more like them.
Book 48
WWW:Wake by Robert J. Sawyer
Type: Fiction
My rating: 3 stars (out of 5)
Why I chose it: Robert J. Sawyer is one of my favorite science fiction writers. He is the author of Flashforward (5-stars), the novel upon which the new ABC series of the same name is based. This is his latest novel and the first installment in the WWW trilogy.
What I liked about it: This novel explores an intriguing concept: What if the World Wide Web had a consciousness of its own? What if this artificial intelligence had an unlimited capacity to learn? The reason I didn't love this novel and rated it only a 3-star is that there were a few interesting side stories but those stories were left open-ended with some unanswered questions. Perhaps this was by design and this first installment merely sets up the characters and story lines which will be explored in subsequent chapters. We shall see.
Type: Fiction
My rating: 3 stars (out of 5)
Why I chose it: Robert J. Sawyer is one of my favorite science fiction writers. He is the author of Flashforward (5-stars), the novel upon which the new ABC series of the same name is based. This is his latest novel and the first installment in the WWW trilogy.
What I liked about it: This novel explores an intriguing concept: What if the World Wide Web had a consciousness of its own? What if this artificial intelligence had an unlimited capacity to learn? The reason I didn't love this novel and rated it only a 3-star is that there were a few interesting side stories but those stories were left open-ended with some unanswered questions. Perhaps this was by design and this first installment merely sets up the characters and story lines which will be explored in subsequent chapters. We shall see.
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