Review: Written in History: Letters that Changed the World

Written in History: Letters that Changed the World by Simon Sebag Montefiore
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Started this books with great expectations after listening to an Intelligence Squared podcast about it.

It was probably due to this high expectations that I gave only a rating of 3/5 starts.

The book discloses several letters throughout history and explains the context when they were written in an interesting and some times compelling way.

Nonetheless, only an handful of them provide credit to the title of the book, others have some historic interest but just that and others looked more like personal life anecdotes of illustrious historic figures.

Saying that, the time reading was short, well spent and light-spirited.

However, before starting it you should consider the opportunity cost of such decision (i.e. have in mind other books you might want to read first)

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Review: Fifty Economic Fallacies Exposed

Fifty Economic Fallacies Exposed by Geoffrey Edward Wood
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A small handbook that explains in a simple way 50 economic concepts that usually people get it wrong.

The book was written in a way that someone that is not an expert in the field can easily read it and understand its concepts and the main flaws commonly assumed.

The big problem about these fallacies is that they are widely used by policy makers and politicians, sometimes knowingly or in some case due to ignorance. to promote their conservative, progressive or libertarian ideas (you have it for all tastes).

Strongly advise all (specially the 2 groups previously highlighted) to read this book and that all keep it handy when you hear so called pundits talking about these key economic principles.

The only caveats that i could find while reading it were:
1) The book is strongly biased to the UK reality, that from a fallacies perspective is not a problem, but it explain them almost only with British examples;
2) The author has some unresolved issue with Gordon Brown when he was Chancellor of the Exchequer.

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Review: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change by Stephen R. Covey
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Must confess that i had some (not so good) preconceived ideas about this book and that was the reason why it took me so long to start reading it even after i had bought it for some time.

My main rationale was: What could a best seller that sounded like a self-help book could offer me :-)?

Only when i saw it recommend it 2/3 other books and listen to it as a reference in also a couple of podcasts. i have decided to reluctantly start such endeavor... and what a pleasant surprise it was, i really liked it.

I liked the overall framework (7 habits) and how it is exposed, I liked the basic concepts (e.g what are values, principles, the habits, etc...), I liked that you can try to live and strive to improve the proposed habits and that those are actionable and ground to earth.

Like in every book, its value resided in the intersection of what the author wants to convey and what the reader can and takes out of it. The former is static when the book is published the latter is dynamic and depends on the reader and of course its context.

I will try to take the most of what has been shared in its simplicity and practicability, but at the same time be aware of the complexity of walking the proposed path.

I definitely recommend its reading.


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Review: Futebol ao Sol e à Sombra

Futebol ao Sol e à Sombra by Eduardo Galeano
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Um livro obrigatório para todos aqueles que gostam, apreciam e desfrutam do jogo de futebol, escrito por alguém que comparte a mesma paixão e que a associa ao dom da escrita.

Estes retratos tão definidos, ao mesmo tempo tão sentidos, e que nos transportam como máquina do tempo para cada um desses lugares e nos fazem viver cada momento aqui e agora.

Existem aqueles momentos de que ouvimos falar, outros que não conhecíamos e outros que os pudemos viver e também desfrutar.

Não é uma obra-prima da literatura contemporânea, mas capta de uma forma única o sentir futebol e todas as emoções que com ele vivemos.

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Review: Esteja eu onde estiver

Esteja eu onde estiver by Romana Petri
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Livro de fácil leitura...mas apenas isso.

Uma história sobre uma família como muitas outras, tem o adicional de passar-se em Lisboa num tempo não tão distante e em parte do enredo poder identificar(-me) algumas situaçoes.

570 páginas de livro que confesso que terminei com alguma dificuldade, não porque fosse uma leitura difícl/penosa, mas porque a história ficou previsível e com pouco ritmo.

Caso nao tenha mais nada que ler, queira passar algum tempo e queira algo mt leve, este livro poderá ser uma opção, contudo existem outros livros ou actividades que devem ser equacionadas antes de começar esta "empreitada".

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Review: The Three Languages of Politics: Talking Across the Political Divides

The Three Languages of Politics: Talking Across the Political Divides by Arnold Kling
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A great (small/efficient< 150 pages) book, it explains in a simple and concise way the basics of the major political divide and why the majority tend to go to the extremes while debating it and be so intransigent to the others who see differently from us and finally why in the public domain it's so difficult to have a sound and value-added discussion about politics and policy options,

Don't expect it to be an in-depth political science book, but one that tries to explain the divide, one that lays the foundation of the communication (languages) problems and how we could start changing the current status.

The 3 axis are heuristics/rules of thumb of the 3 main political tendencies and should not be seen as an extensive portrait of each spectrum (they, are used to exemplify, sometimes to the extreme, why we cannot understand each other and find a common ground.

Its simplicity, objectivity and capacity to convey the thesis that the author presents (and that i fully relate to), coupled with a great capacity of synthesis, not extending beyond the fundamental of your argument (in area that could push you to do so), made me give a 5 stars rating.

Strongly advise its reading as its reach and insights will last way more that the time you will invest in it, and it's applicable not only to politics but other areas,

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Sunday thoughts - while Peppa Pig and the kind is playing nonstop on my tele.

Another Sunday morning, Peppa Pig, Paw Patrol and SpongeBob are playing non stop on the tele, for the happiness of my 3 kids and my mind tries find refuge somewhere else for the sake of my mental sanity.

Is based on this setup that i started thinking about an article that i have read in the Economist that basically was saying that all the latest big successful IPOs were almost exclusively done by companies that had blitzscaled based on business models that the winner takes it all, thus growth at all cost trumps anything else and the price they charge for the services/products provided are significantly below the price of its marginal costs and even not mentioning its value (the Uber, Lyft, Neflix, Spotify, Tesla's of these world). This, then creates an huge consumer surplus and on a macro level tames the inflation on the big economies.

If we compound all the direct effects created by this trend and also the spillovers to the other industries, we mix it with the trade wars and the massive subsidies that are being given to the Agricultural sector in the US and also in EU (the latter something almost perennial since the EU inception), we see that most probably the current low inflation could be the results of all these non natural factors that cannot be sustained on the long term (the markets are already asking positive results to these companies and that can only be achieved with higher prices that the end-consumer will have to pay eventually).

Then if we go from the Micro to Macro, we see that the QE and historical low interest rates (even negative) can be done only in an environment of low inflation and even with this big stimulus we denote that the economic growth prospects are dismal to say the least to the advanced economies.

So if inflation picks-up due to this rebalancing of the current pricing levels of these everyday more important products/services in the CPI basket (technological and agricultural ones) and the low inflation scenario disappear are we set to a major disruption in Macro terms?

Well, just started an episode of Motown Magic that i really like, thus have decided to stop the nonsense thinking and enjoy the music and the story with my 3 kids! Enjoy the weekend!