Those of us who have a consulting practice and have decided to go it alone, rather than be part of a bigger organization, just do it all. Beside the paying work, that means the administration and business development. For those who have reserved personalities, like us accountants, that is the biggest challenge. How do we […]
Book Review: Talking to Strangers
Malcolm Gladwell is one of the most popular authors in the world. His previous titles include: The Tipping Point, Blink, Outliers, What the Dog Saw and David and Goliath. Talking to Strangers is his first book in six years. The gap is mostly because he commands six-figure speaking fees and has gotten heavily involved in […]
Another Great Relearning
Tom Wolfe, the author of The Bonfire of the Vanities, The Right Stuff and many other bestsellers, once wrote an article called The Great Relearning. It was about how societies sometimes need to relearn things that have collectively been forgotten. One example was San Francisco’s health clinics in 1968. Hippies were challenging the status quo […]
The Future Revisited: The Outcomes of Increasing Productivity
I remember when I was in teenager (a long time ago), hearing a pundit say, “If productivity gains continue, by the 1980s we’ll all be looking around for something to do.” That didn’t happen, of course, except it sort of did. The factories of North America were mostly automated long ago. The computer revolution that […]
The End of LIBOR
Do you lay awake at night wondering, “What will I do when LIBOR ends?” No? Me either. But if you have any financial instruments tied to LIBOR, you probably should pay a little attention to this issue. First, what is LIBOR? LIBOR is the London Interbank Offered Rate. It is a benchmark rate that indicates […]
Book Review: This Time is Different
This Time is Different, by Carmen M. Reinhart and Kenneth S. Rogoff, is subtitled, Eight Centuries of Financial Folly. The book has been called “a masterpiece” and “…the best empirical investigation of financial crises ever published.” In this amazing book, the authors, two eminent economists, survey and chart 800 years of financial cycle booms and […]
Book Review: Other Minds
This fascinating book is subtitled, The Octopus, The Sea, and the Deep Origins of Consciousness. So, no, this isn’t a business book. It is more of an ‘expand your perspectives book’ or a ‘think outside the box book.’ For the author, Peter Godfrey-Smith, I give him my highest compliment: This book is extremely thought provoking. […]
Book Review: How to be Rich
Every year there are lots of new business books, often on trending topics. Occasionally, I like to go back and read an old business book. Sometimes I’ll do this because the book is a classic and worth revisiting. Other times, I like to read an old business book to see whether the book’s advice or […]
A New Model of Transportation
Last week, I provided a book review of Autonomy—The Quest to Build the Driverless Car—And How it Will Reshape Our World. This week, I’m following up with what this might actually look like. First, it should be stated that the traditional car companies are all working on this, but they are behind the tech companies, […]
Book Review: Autonomy
The subtitle of this books explains what Autonomy is all about: The Quest to Build the Driverless Car—and How it Will Reshape Our World. The author of the book is Lawrence Burns with Christopher Shulgan as the co-author. Published in 2018, the book tells the story about how we’ve gotten to where we are now, […]