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Flash Boys: Cracking the money code |
Read this short but shocking tale if you want to understand why a man from Hounslow allegedly caused the flash crash of 2010, wiping billions of dollars off the value of America's biggest companies in a matter of seconds. Written in a somewhat breathless style, it introduces us to the frightening world of high-frequency trading. By the end, we might just understand what an algorithm is but, I venture, not how it works.
(Jeremy Miller - bwl 76 Spring 2015) |
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The Fifth Risk: Undoing Democracy |
His writing style is deceptively beguiling, drawing one along by the pacy narrative. Alas, whilst his subject "the combustible cocktail of wilful ignorance and veniality that is fuelling the destruction of the USA" is compelling, one can't help feeling he pulls his punches by choosing less than enthralling examples. Nevertheless, he does add to the understanding of what most political commentators in the US regard as a government under attack - by its own leaders.
(Jeremy Miller - bwl 91 Winter 2019) |
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The Premonition: A Pandemic Story |
In his breathless and utterly unique style, the author tells the story of how a group of American scientists sought to identify, track and combat the virus that was killing people in Wuhan in January 2020. As usual, he carries the narrative forward through the forensic examination of 'unsung heroes'. Each cameo is highly engaging though I started to lose the plot and frustratingly could not connect his colourful tales to America's baleful Covid response.
(Jeremy Miller - bwl 102 Autumn 2021) |
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The Undoing Project: A Friendship that Changed the World |
Thomas Carlyle called economics the dismal science. What would he have called behavioural economics? Lewis turns his attention to this burgeoning field by focussing on the friendship between two notable Israeli practitioners. I am unconvinced that this new craze advances human understanding or that it really is a science. Lewis's usual frenetic writing style doesn't make the subject any more exciting. After reading this book, Carlyle might conclude that 'dreary' might be an appropriate epithet.
(Jeremy Miller - bwl 87 Winter 2018) |
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