Derick

Wonderful history of US Ecology

Revisado: 02-01-23

Great book in many ways. Mostly limited to United States history so not much on Canada and Mexico. The only real negative is the narrator makes some pretty bad errors in pronunciation.

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Essential history of Vermont’s founding

Revisado: 12-31-22

Interesting insight into the politics of Vermont, New York, New Hampshire, and French Canada leading up and through the Revolutionary War.

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Diverse and Fulfilling

Revisado: 08-25-19

I really enjoyed this lecture series. It's great at building on itself as it goes. The diversity in philosophies is what stands out the most for me. I especially enjoyed how Tolstoy, Nietzsche, Gandhi, and Lame Deer fit together to critique modernity.

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Truly useful for any profession

Revisado: 01-11-17

What did you love best about Thinking, Fast and Slow?

The breakdown of System 1 and System 2 thought processes. Our cognitive functions are all programmed through both nature and nurture. Knowing how this affects us is priceless in my opinion. This book is very academic but the narrator does a fantastic job of livening up the dry sections.

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The man who shaped modern NYC

Revisado: 12-03-16

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Absolutely, especially to anyone familiar with the city. It's perfect for anyone interested in politics but it describes NY in such great detail it's good to be knowledgeable about the area. Robert Caro is a superb writer. He illustrates so well how a young idealist can be torn down and remade into a cutthroat official. It really is amazing to hear about all the people Moses worked with intimately. Al Smith, FDR, Laguardia, Rockefeller among many more are all important characters in the story. Really a fascinating biography.

Which character – as performed by Robertson Dean – was your favorite?

Robert Dean does a great job throughout. His deep voice seems perfect for describing a tough SOB like Moses. I especially enjoyed when he reads about Al Smith and Laguardia.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Not all great men are good

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All Politicians & Financiers should read this book

Revisado: 11-07-16

What made the experience of listening to Fragile by Design the most enjoyable?

This book is extremely academic but still very relevant. It illustrates wonderfully how the government somewhat unwittingly illustrated the ’08 financial crisis through various policy changes and incentives.

I would not suggest this book to anyone who isn’t truly interested in government policy and its relationship to financial markets, specifically banking. However, it’s very enjoyable to any history buffs with more than a basic understanding of economics.

You learn how banks formed and why their lending is so important to the State and vice versa. Once they get into each country case study, they begin with the Bank of England and how England’s wars with Louis XIV led to its formation. From there it goes over in depth the unique agrarian makeup of the US banking system and how national banks came into being during the Civil War. It then dives into the Canadian banking system and its appeared stability. From there historically authoritarian states are explored like Mexico and Brazil. Their implementation of inflation taxes and state controlled banks causes all sorts of unrest. I learned more about Brazil than I ever thought I would, specifically with demographics.

While history is a huge part of the book, it does a wonderful job showing how certain policies really affect banks and lending practices. The writers make a concerted effort to be as fair and non-biased as possible which I believe does show. If there was anything they were really trying to prove it’s that macro-prudential regulation is far more effective than micro-prudential regulation in creating a healthy stable banking system. I enjoyed the book and will probably come back to it in the near future.

Would you be willing to try another one of Basil Sands’s performances?

Unfortunately I thought Basil was not ready for this book. He was not only very dry and robotic but mispronounced quite a bit including Monaco, Curacao, and Econometrics. Those were examples just off the top of my head. I know there were more.

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Answering everything, simply, fairly & imperfectly

Revisado: 09-27-16

If you could sum up Fallen Leaves in three words, what would they be?

Enlightened, cathartic, elegant

What did you like best about this story?

Classic Will Durant. You don't have to agree with him to truly respect his views on life and society. He's wonderfully self-aware and balanced in his approach. Nothing too groundbreaking, especially if you're familiar with The Story of Philosophy, but it’s great to hear the summation of the lessons he’s learned in life. I’ll certainly come back and listen again.

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Financialization Laid Out in Detail

Revisado: 09-13-16

What did you love best about Makers and Takers?

I was happy to hear this topic lay out in a coherent and detailed narrative. The author does a good job piecing together separate but related topics concerning fictionalization. Topics like changes in American corporate governance, MBA programs extreme focus on finance, Wall Street creating short term investment emphasis for public companies, the disappearance of R&D, big banks allocation of capital, government policy and incentives toward debt are usually separate books. But this does a great job linking them to show how America is at a tipping point and needs common sense bipartisan reform.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The point that finance and business administration are not the same thing. In my own experience I feel this is lost on many MBA grads

Any additional comments?

As someone who works on Wall Street and has a degree in Economics I feel I can say firsthand this current system is unsustainable. You really just have to follow the money and truly find out why it got there.

This is a book that puts most of it together with detail and ideas to fix it. It's a great starting point and will lead to further analysis for those interested. It cites tons of other authors and books so we can all educate ourselves on who and what drives our capitalist society.

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Best Narrative of the Founding Fathers

Revisado: 08-23-16

Would you listen to Founding Brothers again? Why?

Yes, the stories and events Joseph Ellis choose were not only great for laying out the issues of the day but captivatingly shows the personalities of the individuals showcased. I'll definitely go back to listen to specific chapters in the near future. The only negative I have is it was a little more Jefferson centric than I would have liked but it’s not surprising given the time period this book focuses on.

Who was your favorite character and why?

G Wash, duh! While John Adams wasn't my favorite, I liked how this book talks about Adams. It does a good job pinpointing Adams’ legacy and doesn’t focus too much on his maligned presidency. His influence seems to be vastly underrated in present times.

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Removes the Veil

Revisado: 07-14-16

Any additional comments?

It doesn't matter where you stand on the political spectrum, it's important to know how money is affecting contemporary politics. Special interest leanings are undeniable and can easily be hidden from the masses. This book does a great job of illustrating how the elite have focused its efforts in national elections, local elections, the courts and most importantly our educational system.

As someone with an economics background I believe free markets are generally good, but like almost everything in life, absolutes are dangerous. There’s a reason Adam Smith put an emphasis on ethics and sympathy. It’s obvious most of the people mentioned in the book have never put themselves in other people’s shoes.

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