- “Bleeding Out: The Devastating Consequences of Urban Violence–and a Bold New Plan for Peace in the Streets” by Thomas Abt[1]I found this through a recommendation of Chris Blattman in a post about defunding the police. Chris has a book coming out soon called “Why We Fight” about war that I’m looking … Continue reading: A combination of social science and observational study based on Abt’s experience with urban crime. “Bleeding Out” lays out a strong case for how urban homicide in particular is a huge problem in the US, and some specific ways to address the problem.
- “The World For Sale: Money, Power, and the Traders Who Barter the Earth’s Resources” (2021) by Javier Blas and Jack Farchy: Describes the rise of major commodity trading companies, such as Cargill, Glencore, Vitol, and Trafigura. These are major power brokers trading grains, energies (oil, coal, gas), and metals, and often involved in brokering deals with countries in the midst of sanctions (e.g. South Africa during apartheid) or war. While this book has some perennial interest, it is especially interesting given recent volatility, the current Ukranian invasion by Russia, and the recent Nickel incident on the LME.[2] I also noticed an interesting white paper from “Streetwise Professor” Craig Pirrong put out on behalf of Trafigura: “Not Too Big to Fail”.
- “The Bond King” (2022) by Mary Childs: The story of PIMCO and its founder Bill Gross. PIMCO revolutionized bond trading and Gross was widely regarded to be one of the most successful investors of all time, although he had a falling from grace recently.[3]From the first few pages, one has the feeling that Childs’ portrayal may not have been fully embraced by Gross himself. And Gross appears to have released a personal memoir at roughly the same … Continue reading
- “Reality+: Virtual Worlds and the Problems of Philosophy” (2022) by David Chalmers: Chalmers is famous for introducing the “hard problem of consciousness”. Reality+ makes the case the virtual reality is real, as real as our typical lived experience. The book is very engaging and well-written, and I found myself regularly putting it down to reflect on what was being said. Self-recommending.
- “The Man From the Future: The Visionary Life of John von Neumann” (2022) by Ananyo Bhattacharya[4] I came across this book based on Tyler Cowen’s recommendation.: Von Neumann is one of my favorite scientists. His contributions across a wide range of fields were astonishing, so I was excited to start Bhattacharya’s biography, which is comprehensive and easy to read. [5]In the past year, I read two other great books (recommended!) that spend a lot of time on von Neumann, although he isn’t the primary character: “Prisoner’s Dilemmma: John von … Continue reading
Footnotes
| ↑1 | I found this through a recommendation of Chris Blattman in a post about defunding the police. Chris has a book coming out soon called “Why We Fight” about war that I’m looking forward to reading. |
|---|---|
| ↑2 | I also noticed an interesting white paper from “Streetwise Professor” Craig Pirrong put out on behalf of Trafigura: “Not Too Big to Fail”. |
| ↑3 | From the first few pages, one has the feeling that Childs’ portrayal may not have been fully embraced by Gross himself. And Gross appears to have released a personal memoir at roughly the same time: “I’m Still Standing”. |
| ↑4 | I came across this book based on Tyler Cowen’s recommendation. |
| ↑5 | In the past year, I read two other great books (recommended!) that spend a lot of time on von Neumann, although he isn’t the primary character: “Prisoner’s Dilemmma: John von Neumann, Game Theory, and the Puzzle of the Bomb” (1993) by William Poundstone and “A Beautiful Mind” (1994) by Sylvia Nasar. |
