Business & Economics
Economics through the people and institutions that steer it. Sebastian Mallaby's The Man Who Knew is a biography of Alan Greenspan and his years at the Federal Reserve; Christopher Leonard's The Lords of Easy Money examines how the Fed's response to 2008 reshaped the economy. The Dictator's Handbook by Bruce Bueno de Mesquita and Alastair Smith explains how rulers keep power by paying the right supporters. Our article on ten economics books, from daily choices to global inequality, suggests where to go next. Readable, story-led economics for readers without a background in the subject.
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Business & Economics
Finance is the system of money, credit and markets that runs underneath everyday life. Niall Ferguson's The Ascent of Money tells its history, from ancient credit and the first banks to bonds, insurance, the stock market and the crises that keep recurring. Christopher Leonard's The Lords of Easy Money looks at the US Federal Reserve after 2008 and how its policies changed markets and who got rich. Two accessible books for readers who want to understand where money comes from and why financial crises happen. See Business & Economics for more.
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Business & Economics
How organizations work, and how they fail. Atul Gawande's The Checklist Manifesto shows how a simple checklist saves lives in surgery and aviation. The Phoenix Project by Gene Kim, Kevin Behr and George Spafford is a novel about rescuing a failing IT project, and a popular introduction to DevOps. Brad Stone's The Everything Store follows Jeff Bezos and the building of Amazon. Practical ideas wrapped in good stories: useful for managers and team leaders, and readable for anyone who has worked inside a large organization.
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Business & Economics
Business strategy is about choosing where to compete and how to win, often over many years. Brad Stone's The Everything Store shows strategy in action through the rise of Amazon: Jeff Bezos's focus on customers, willingness to lose money for growth and habit of entering new markets, from books to cloud computing. Read it as a case study in long-term thinking, and as a portrait of the costs of relentless ambition. More strategy books will join this shelf; see Business & Economics and Management & Leadership for related reading.
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Business & Economics
Marketing rests on understanding why people say yes. Robert B. Cialdini's Influence, one of the most widely read books on persuasion, explains the principles behind it, such as reciprocity, commitment, social proof, authority, liking and scarcity, using research and real examples from sales and advertising. Marketers use it to persuade more effectively, and everyone else uses it to notice when they are being persuaded. Practical and easy to read. More marketing books will join this shelf; see Business & Economics and Psychology for related reading.
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Business & Economics
Operations is how work actually gets done, and supply chains are how things get to us. Marc Levinson's The Box tells how the standard shipping container cut the cost of moving goods so much that it made today's global trade possible. The Phoenix Project by Gene Kim, Kevin Behr and George Spafford is a business novel about rescuing a failing IT project, and a popular introduction to DevOps and flow in technical work. Two engaging books for managers, engineers and anyone curious about how complex systems run. See Business & Economics for more.
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Business & Economics
International business is about companies that trade across borders, and the influence they gain doing it. Javier Blas and Jack Farchy's The World for Sale tells the story of the commodity traders, a small group of firms that buy and sell the world's oil, metals and food, often in difficult and dangerous places. Their deals with governments, rebels and dictators show how money, resources and power are tied together. A revealing read for anyone interested in global trade and geopolitics. See Business & Economics for more.
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