Well worth the money - a good read., 09 Oct 2008
The book starts well although it reads a bit like a hagiography written by Arthur Hailey. That is ok by me I like Arthur Hailey and have always regarded Buffett as a saint. I laughed out loud several times during the first 50 pages.

After this it gets a bit heavier going. There are many insights and many surprises. I had not realised that Berkshire Hathaway lost money from the start and wound up having the textile mill shut down. I had not reliased that Buffett was first a director of Salomon brothers and then became chairman appointed to clean up the mess which he seems to have done with great honour distinction and dignity. I liked the account of the arbitration with the former director Gutfreund who seems to have had it coming. His views on how derivatives spawn risk rather than remove it are very current today. Also his views on the Efficient Market Hypothesis have always been my own and not current orthodoxy.

A trifle over-written but very moving at the death of this friend Kay Graham and at the death of his wife Susie. Remarkable for the close friendship he enjoys with Bill and Melinda Gates and his partner Charlie Munger.


Good but..., 08 Oct 2008
I can't agree more with 1nnovator' review. This is a good book on Buffett but it could be better. Particularly liked the first 1/3 because it concentrated on his character and how he came to be the man he is. The 2/3 it did became more factual and felt a bit padded like it was written quickly she wanted to finish the book quickly.

Liked the one by Roger Lowenstein better but this is the only 'official' biography with direct interviews with Buffett so it is as close as it gets to the man.

More Buffalo News than Washington Post, 04 Oct 2008
How can the most comprehensive biography of the world's most remarkable allocator of capital be disappointing? Alice Schroeder has used her several years of access to Buffett to good, but not great effect.
This is a terrific human interest story, but how many purchasers will be buying the book for that reason?
For those of us spoiled by Buffett's ability to say all with few words, wading through Schroeder's work is frustrating. Ultimately, the return per word read matches the index of Buffett biographies, nothing more. For the book to live up to the man a greater return was required.
Everyone should understand Buffett, but start with the main feature: his own words and books that add value. This is the equivalent of the bonus disc: not as good as the feature, but with lots of background detail for enthusiasts.

A Lesson Not To Be Missed in Difficult Times, 29 Sep 2008
Warren Buffett is one of the most important and successful people in the business world. His life is a story of success - not a single lucky hit but a career going from one victory to another. One would be very irrational to miss an opportunity to have a glimpse of what made him the person he is and what made his success so huge. This book offers more then just a glimpse - it is a full scale portrait of the man. Full scale in more than one sense - this is a book of almost a thousand pages.
Alice Schroeder has done a marvelous job putting together this biography - it is insightful and thought-provoking. People pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for the honour of lunching with Buffett - you can get to know him (inasmuch as he was ready to reveal himself, obviously) for much less so why not give it a try?

Well worth the money - a good read., 09 Oct 2008
The book starts well although it reads a bit like a hagiography written by Arthur Hailey. That is ok by me I like Arthur Hailey and have always regarded Buffett as a saint. I laughed out loud several times during the first 50 pages.

After this it gets a bit heavier going. There are many insights and many surprises. I had not realised that Berkshire Hathaway lost money from the start and wound up having the textile mill shut down. I had not reliased that Buffett was first a director of Salomon brothers and then became chairman appointed to clean up the mess which he seems to have done with great honour distinction and dignity. I liked the account of the arbitration with the former director Gutfreund who seems to have had it coming. His views on how derivatives spawn risk rather than remove it are very current today. Also his views on the Efficient Market Hypothesis have always been my own and not current orthodoxy.

A trifle over-written but very moving at the death of this friend Kay Graham and at the death of his wife Susie. Remarkable for the close friendship he enjoys with Bill and Melinda Gates and his partner Charlie Munger.


Good but..., 08 Oct 2008
I can't agree more with 1nnovator' review. This is a good book on Buffett but it could be better. Particularly liked the first 1/3 because it concentrated on his character and how he came to be the man he is. The 2/3 it did became more factual and felt a bit padded like it was written quickly she wanted to finish the book quickly.

Liked the one by Roger Lowenstein better but this is the only 'official' biography with direct interviews with Buffett so it is as close as it gets to the man.

More Buffalo News than Washington Post, 04 Oct 2008
How can the most comprehensive biography of the world's most remarkable allocator of capital be disappointing? Alice Schroeder has used her several years of access to Buffett to good, but not great effect.
This is a terrific human interest story, but how many purchasers will be buying the book for that reason?
For those of us spoiled by Buffett's ability to say all with few words, wading through Schroeder's work is frustrating. Ultimately, the return per word read matches the index of Buffett biographies, nothing more. For the book to live up to the man a greater return was required.
Everyone should understand Buffett, but start with the main feature: his own words and books that add value. This is the equivalent of the bonus disc: not as good as the feature, but with lots of background detail for enthusiasts.

A Lesson Not To Be Missed in Difficult Times, 29 Sep 2008
Warren Buffett is one of the most important and successful people in the business world. His life is a story of success - not a single lucky hit but a career going from one victory to another. One would be very irrational to miss an opportunity to have a glimpse of what made him the person he is and what made his success so huge. This book offers more then just a glimpse - it is a full scale portrait of the man. Full scale in more than one sense - this is a book of almost a thousand pages.
Alice Schroeder has done a marvelous job putting together this biography - it is insightful and thought-provoking. People pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for the honour of lunching with Buffett - you can get to know him (inasmuch as he was ready to reveal himself, obviously) for much less so why not give it a try?

Great book, but terrible online content, 10 Sep 2008
I ordered this book as part of my Masters in Business Administration course. The book is neatly structured, mainly separating subjects in three main parts: Strategic Positioning, Strategic Choices and Strategy in Action.

I also found the case studies presented in this book to be of great help when studying for the Business Environment module of my MBA. A matrix table presents a guide for each case study in the book and what are their main focus. For example, if you want a case study that focus on Porter's five forces, then read the TUI case study on page 619, and so on.

The book also comes with an "student access kit" to access further content online, and claims that users would have access to more than 30 "classic case studies" within the companion website.

The book is good but I must say the so called online content is a joke. You can only find the case studies that came with the book, and there are no further "classic case studies" to be found. I was particularly interested on a given business case which is mentioned in the book as available in the companion website for my dissertation, and I can't help but to feel cheated about it.

I emailed support asking for advice but I never got an answer, and I tried to call Pearson's support line but I have never received a call back or a proper answer to my query.

The experience I had with Pearson's student access kit was terrible that comes with this book, and I would warn anyone who is thinking to buy one of their books or a standalone student access kit to stay away from them.

Rampant speculation. Record trading volumes. Assets bought not because of their value but because the buyer believes he can sell them for more in a day or two, or an hour or two. Welcome to the late 1920s in the US. There are obvious and absolute parallels to the great bull market of the late 1990s, writes Galbraith in a new introduction dated 1997. Of course, Galbraith notes, every financial bubble since 1929 has been compared to the Great Crash, which is why this book has never been out of print since it became a bestseller in 1955.

Galbraith writes with great wit and erudition about the perilous actions of investors and the curious inaction of the government. He notes that the problem wasn't a scarcity of securities to buy and sell: "The ingenuity and zeal with which companies were devised in which securities might be sold was as remarkable as anything." Those words become strikingly relevant in light of revenue-negative start-up companies coming into the market each week in the 1990s, along with fragmented pieces of established companies, like real estate and bottling plants. Of course, the 1920s were different from the 1990s. There was no safety net below citizens, no unemployment insurance or Social Security. And today we don't have the creepy investment trusts--in which shares of companies that held some stocks and bonds were sold for several times the assets' market value. But, boy, are the similarities spooky, particularly the prevailing trend at the time toward corporate mergers and industry consolidations--not to mention all the partially informed people who imagined themselves to be financial geniuses because the shares of stock they bought kept going up. --Lou Schuler, Amazon.com

Well worth the money - a good read., 09 Oct 2008
The book starts well although it reads a bit like a hagiography written by Arthur Hailey. That is ok by me I like Arthur Hailey and have always regarded Buffett as a saint. I laughed out loud several times during the first 50 pages.

After this it gets a bit heavier going. There are many insights and many surprises. I had not realised that Berkshire Hathaway lost money from the start and wound up having the textile mill shut down. I had not reliased that Buffett was first a director of Salomon brothers and then became chairman appointed to clean up the mess which he seems to have done with great honour distinction and dignity. I liked the account of the arbitration with the former director Gutfreund who seems to have had it coming. His views on how derivatives spawn risk rather than remove it are very current today. Also his views on the Efficient Market Hypothesis have always been my own and not current orthodoxy.

A trifle over-written but very moving at the death of this friend Kay Graham and at the death of his wife Susie. Remarkable for the close friendship he enjoys with Bill and Melinda Gates and his partner Charlie Munger.


Good but..., 08 Oct 2008
I can't agree more with 1nnovator' review. This is a good book on Buffett but it could be better. Particularly liked the first 1/3 because it concentrated on his character and how he came to be the man he is. The 2/3 it did became more factual and felt a bit padded like it was written quickly she wanted to finish the book quickly.

Liked the one by Roger Lowenstein better but this is the only 'official' biography with direct interviews with Buffett so it is as close as it gets to the man.

More Buffalo News than Washington Post, 04 Oct 2008
How can the most comprehensive biography of the world's most remarkable allocator of capital be disappointing? Alice Schroeder has used her several years of access to Buffett to good, but not great effect.
This is a terrific human interest story, but how many purchasers will be buying the book for that reason?
For those of us spoiled by Buffett's ability to say all with few words, wading through Schroeder's work is frustrating. Ultimately, the return per word read matches the index of Buffett biographies, nothing more. For the book to live up to the man a greater return was required.
Everyone should understand Buffett, but start with the main feature: his own words and books that add value. This is the equivalent of the bonus disc: not as good as the feature, but with lots of background detail for enthusiasts.

A Lesson Not To Be Missed in Difficult Times, 29 Sep 2008
Warren Buffett is one of the most important and successful people in the business world. His life is a story of success - not a single lucky hit but a career going from one victory to another. One would be very irrational to miss an opportunity to have a glimpse of what made him the person he is and what made his success so huge. This book offers more then just a glimpse - it is a full scale portrait of the man. Full scale in more than one sense - this is a book of almost a thousand pages.
Alice Schroeder has done a marvelous job putting together this biography - it is insightful and thought-provoking. People pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for the honour of lunching with Buffett - you can get to know him (inasmuch as he was ready to reveal himself, obviously) for much less so why not give it a try?

Great book, but terrible online content, 10 Sep 2008
I ordered this book as part of my Masters in Business Administration course. The book is neatly structured, mainly separating subjects in three main parts: Strategic Positioning, Strategic Choices and Strategy in Action.

I also found the case studies presented in this book to be of great help when studying for the Business Environment module of my MBA. A matrix table presents a guide for each case study in the book and what are their main focus. For example, if you want a case study that focus on Porter's five forces, then read the TUI case study on page 619, and so on.

The book also comes with an "student access kit" to access further content online, and claims that users would have access to more than 30 "classic case studies" within the companion website.

The book is good but I must say the so called online content is a joke. You can only find the case studies that came with the book, and there are no further "classic case studies" to be found. I was particularly interested on a given business case which is mentioned in the book as available in the companion website for my dissertation, and I can't help but to feel cheated about it.

I emailed support asking for advice but I never got an answer, and I tried to call Pearson's support line but I have never received a call back or a proper answer to my query.

The experience I had with Pearson's student access kit was terrible that comes with this book, and I would warn anyone who is thinking to buy one of their books or a standalone student access kit to stay away from them.

Essential Reading, 01 Sep 2008
I found this book captivating, in a "gallows humor" sort of way.

Although written many years ago, and recounting events in the distant past, it should be required reading for anyone in the markets today. More specifically, it should have been required reading a year ago (mid 2007) for those invested in finance and property sectors.

Whether the malaise in those sectors (some stocks down 90%) spreads eventually to the general indexes remains to be seen.

Tony Loton, author --
DON'T LOSE MONEY! (in the Stock Markets)
Financial Trading Patterns


An excellent book and highly recommended to anyone with any interest whatsoever in economics or the dark days of 1929. , 04 Jan 2007
One of the most surprising and delightful things that I found about the book, particularly in view of the potentially heavy subject matter, was how wonderfully readable Professor Galbraith is. There are not that many world renowned experts in any field who can write as well as they can understand their subject. It's a bit like finding that a world class footballer can also play first violin. This book reads like the work of a top drawer professional writer who has immersed him/herself in the subject for a period and, with ongoing expert guidance and hands-on editing, has brought the subject home in fine style. It reads to me a bit like Tom Wolfe (of the Right Stuff etc), wonderfully literate, sardonic prose. It really is quite unexpected. Marvellous. You will have more than one chuckle out loud which may raise one of the live-in's eyebrows. Chuckling at economics now? Hmmm.

Anyway, the stock market fell, measured by the Times Industrial Average, from 542 down to 224, from October through Nov 1929, and then more gradually to only 58, basically a tenth of its peak 1929 value, by July 1932. Drastic times indeed. This residual value that the market held, 58, in 1932, was roughly the same amount by which the market fell, in only one day, 28/10/1929, Black Thursday. The Professor's contention seems to be that the Depression and the Crash, while not totally unrelated, were less connected than popular opinion held then, or holds now. The contention is that prior to the crash, that the economy was not fundamentally sound. Although there were no glaring warning signs in the economic indicators reported in the first half of 1929, there were some red lights flickering. The Professor goes on to detail and explain those. Of course I am still no expert on what happened in 1929 and why. But due to this book I have a better idea. And it has encouraged me to read more about it. Which I intend to do shortly. And further works by the extremely readable Professor Galbraith will most certainly be on my list.





What Actually Happened in 1929?, 05 Jul 2004
Having recently lived through the crash of the dot-com stocks, I thought it was a particularly appropriate moment to reread John Kenneth Galbraith's famous history of the stock market crash of 1929 in the United States. Professor Galbraith's final words prove to be prophetic as he suggests that as soon as the lessons of 1929 are forgotten, the speculative excesses that led to that debacle will recur. I am sure that when the dot-bomb experience is forgotten, it will be repeated with some new class of speculation in some future generation.

With the recent experience of seeing a market mania, I came away more impressed with this book than before. Professor Galbraith does a fine job of capturing the psychology that builds into and sustains a mania. He also writes like a novelist rather than like an economist. That talent makes the message easy to grasp and appreciate.

I was also impressed by how our popular perceptions of 1929 are so often wrong. For example, most people believe that many "broken" speculators committed suicide. Although some did, there was no significant rise in the suicide rate compared to a general trend in that direction.

Economists often like to fault the Federal Reserve for the crash. That blame seems somewhat misplaced when you learn that there was very little government debt that the Fed could repurchase to create liquidity. Had the Fed acted differently, the crash might have come a little sooner and not been quite so severe . . . but the fundamentals would probably not have changed too much.

Another misperception is that everyone was speculating. By even the most generous measures, the speculators probably never numbered over a million people.

Although this is a history, Professor Galbraith takes on the economic question of how the crash contributed to the Depression. Although we know very little about the economic details of 1929, I was impressed by the point about how much consumer spending was concentrated in the wealthiest people. As they lost vast sums, both spending for consumer goods and savings for capital were decimated. With the broader income distribution of today, such a cataclysm would not be so harmful (as we saw in the aftermath of the dot-com crash).

There is an excellent parallel discussion of the land boom in Florida earlier in the 1920's that is very rewarding. I was intrigued by the ways that ever increasing ways of extending leverage were created so that both bubbles could climb higher. In Florida, people didn't actually buy the land. They bought options to buy the land, and traded those. In the stock market, holding companies sold stock and then floated new holding companies. These were capitalized with common stock, preferred and debt so that all of the appreciation would accrue to the common holders. Naturally, the opposite occurred on the way down. Many stocks fell by over 99 percent, as a result.

Everyone who is tempted to buy any item primarily because it is thought to represent an opportunity for a quick buck should read this book.

Look for true value in all that you do!

What Actually Happened in 1929?, 10 Apr 2004
Having recently lived through the crash of the dot-com stocks, I thought it was a particularly appropriate moment to reread John Kenneth Galbraith's famous history of the stock market crash of 1929 in the United States. Professor Galbraith's final words prove to be prophetic as he suggests that as soon as the lessons of 1929 are forgotten, the speculative excesses that led to that debacle will recur. I am sure that when the dot-bomb experience is forgotten, it will be repeated with some new class of speculation in some future generation.

With the recent experience of seeing a market mania, I came away more impressed with this book than before. Professor Galbraith does a fine job of capturing the psychology that builds into and sustains a mania. He also writes like a novelist rather than like an economist. That talent makes the message easy to grasp and appreciate.

I was also impressed by how our popular perceptions of 1929 are so often wrong. For example, most people believe that many "broken" speculators committed suicide. Although some did, there was no significant rise in the suicide rate compared to a general trend in that direction.

Economists often like to fault the Federal Reserve for the crash. That blame seems somewhat misplaced when you learn that there was very little government debt that the Fed could repurchase to create liquidity. Had the Fed acted differently, the crash might have come a little sooner and not been quite so severe . . . but the fundamentals would probably not have changed too much.

Another misperception is that everyone was speculating. By even the most generous measures, the speculators probably never numbered over a million people.

Although this is a history, Professor Galbraith takes on the economic question of how the crash contributed to the Depression. Although we know very little about the economic details of 1929, I was impressed by the point about how much consumer spending was concentrated in the wealthiest people. As they lost vast sums, both spending for consumer goods and savings for capital were decimated. With the broader income distribution of today, such a cataclysm would not be so harmful (as we saw in the aftermath of the dot-com crash).

There is an excellent parallel discussion of the land boom in Florida earlier in the 1920's that is very rewarding. I was intrigued by the ways that ever increasing ways of extending leverage were created so that both bubbles could climb higher. In Florida, people didn't actually buy the land. They bought options to buy the land, and traded those. In the stock market, holding companies sold stock and then floated new holding companies. These were capitalized with common stock, preferred and debt so that all of the appreciation would accrue to the common holders. Naturally, the opposite occurred on the way down. Many stocks fell by over 99 percent, as a result.

Everyone who is tempted to buy any item primarily because it is thought to represent an opportunity for a quick buck should read this book.

Look for true value in all that you do!

a must read for any investor, 21 Feb 2001
following the "sudden vanishing" of approximately USD 5 trillion dollars of market capitalization in the NASDAQ since march 2001, this book comes as a somewhat "refreshing" read - especially considering that it was published back in 1954! i have never been one to put too much weight on comments such as "history always repeats itself", but this book was rather scary in that it could have easily been written in 2001. for those of you have been following the "irrationally exhuberant" technology equity markets of the last 3 years, this book shows that the will to participate in "easy money opportunities" lives in all of us.

Well worth the money - a good read., 09 Oct 2008
The book starts well although it reads a bit like a hagiography written by Arthur Hailey. That is ok by me I like Arthur Hailey and have always regarded Buffett as a saint. I laughed out loud several times during the first 50 pages.

After this it gets a bit heavier going. There are many insights and many surprises. I had not realised that Berkshire Hathaway lost money from the start and wound up having the textile mill shut down. I had not reliased that Buffett was first a director of Salomon brothers and then became chairman appointed to clean up the mess which he seems to have done with great honour distinction and dignity. I liked the account of the arbitration with the former director Gutfreund who seems to have had it coming. His views on how derivatives spawn risk rather than remove it are very current today. Also his views on the Efficient Market Hypothesis have always been my own and not current orthodoxy.

A trifle over-written but very moving at the death of this friend Kay Graham and at the death of his wife Susie. Remarkable for the close friendship he enjoys with Bill and Melinda Gates and his partner Charlie Munger.


Good but..., 08 Oct 2008
I can't agree more with 1nnovator' review. This is a good book on Buffett but it could be better. Particularly liked the first 1/3 because it concentrated on his character and how he came to be the man he is. The 2/3 it did became more factual and felt a bit padded like it was written quickly she wanted to finish the book quickly.

Liked the one by Roger Lowenstein better but this is the only 'official' biography with direct interviews with Buffett so it is as close as it gets to the man.

More Buffalo News than Washington Post, 04 Oct 2008
How can the most comprehensive biography of the world's most remarkable allocator of capital be disappointing? Alice Schroeder has used her several years of access to Buffett to good, but not great effect.
This is a terrific human interest story, but how many purchasers will be buying the book for that reason?
For those of us spoiled by Buffett's ability to say all with few words, wading through Schroeder's work is frustrating. Ultimately, the return per word read matches the index of Buffett biographies, nothing more. For the book to live up to the man a greater return was required.
Everyone should understand Buffett, but start with the main feature: his own words and books that add value. This is the equivalent of the bonus disc: not as good as the feature, but with lots of background detail for enthusiasts.

A Lesson Not To Be Missed in Difficult Times, 29 Sep 2008
Warren Buffett is one of the most important and successful people in the business world. His life is a story of success - not a single lucky hit but a career going from one victory to another. One would be very irrational to miss an opportunity to have a glimpse of what made him the person he is and what made his success so huge. This book offers more then just a glimpse - it is a full scale portrait of the man. Full scale in more than one sense - this is a book of almost a thousand pages.
Alice Schroeder has done a marvelous job putting together this biography - it is insightful and thought-provoking. People pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for the honour of lunching with Buffett - you can get to know him (inasmuch as he was ready to reveal himself, obviously) for much less so why not give it a try?

Great book, but terrible online content, 10 Sep 2008
I ordered this book as part of my Masters in Business Administration course. The book is neatly structured, mainly separating subjects in three main parts: Strategic Positioning, Strategic Choices and Strategy in Action.

I also found the case studies presented in this book to be of great help when studying for the Business Environment module of my MBA. A matrix table presents a guide for each case study in the book and what are their main focus. For example, if you want a case study that focus on Porter's five forces, then read the TUI case study on page 619, and so on.

The book also comes with an "student access kit" to access further content online, and claims that users would have access to more than 30 "classic case studies" within the companion website.

The book is good but I must say the so called online content is a joke. You can only find the case studies that came with the book, and there are no further "classic case studies" to be found. I was particularly interested on a given business case which is mentioned in the book as available in the companion website for my dissertation, and I can't help but to feel cheated about it.

I emailed support asking for advice but I never got an answer, and I tried to call Pearson's support line but I have never received a call back or a proper answer to my query.

The experience I had with Pearson's student access kit was terrible that comes with this book, and I would warn anyone who is thinking to buy one of their books or a standalone student access kit to stay away from them.

Essential Reading, 01 Sep 2008
I found this book captivating, in a "gallows humor" sort of way.

Although written many years ago, and recounting events in the distant past, it should be required reading for anyone in the markets today. More specifically, it should have been required reading a year ago (mid 2007) for those invested in finance and property sectors.

Whether the malaise in those sectors (some stocks down 90%) spreads eventually to the general indexes remains to be seen.

Tony Loton, author --
DON'T LOSE MONEY! (in the Stock Markets)
Financial Trading Patterns


An excellent book and highly recommended to anyone with any interest whatsoever in economics or the dark days of 1929. , 04 Jan 2007
One of the most surprising and delightful things that I found about the book, particularly in view of the potentially heavy subject matter, was how wonderfully readable Professor Galbraith is. There are not that many world renowned experts in any field who can write as well as they can understand their subject. It's a bit like finding that a world class footballer can also play first violin. This book reads like the work of a top drawer professional writer who has immersed him/herself in the subject for a period and, with ongoing expert guidance and hands-on editing, has brought the subject home in fine style. It reads to me a bit like Tom Wolfe (of the Right Stuff etc), wonderfully literate, sardonic prose. It really is quite unexpected. Marvellous. You will have more than one chuckle out loud which may raise one of the live-in's eyebrows. Chuckling at economics now? Hmmm.

Anyway, the stock market fell, measured by the Times Industrial Average, from 542 down to 224, from October through Nov 1929, and then more gradually to only 58, basically a tenth of its peak 1929 value, by July 1932. Drastic times indeed. This residual value that the market held, 58, in 1932, was roughly the same amount by which the market fell, in only one day, 28/10/1929, Black Thursday. The Professor's contention seems to be that the Depression and the Crash, while not totally unrelated, were less connected than popular opinion held then, or holds now. The contention is that prior to the crash, that the economy was not fundamentally sound. Although there were no glaring warning signs in the economic indicators reported in the first half of 1929, there were some red lights flickering. The Professor goes on to detail and explain those. Of course I am still no expert on what happened in 1929 and why. But due to this book I have a better idea. And it has encouraged me to read more about it. Which I intend to do shortly. And further works by the extremely readable Professor Galbraith will most certainly be on my list.





What Actually Happened in 1929?, 05 Jul 2004
Having recently lived through the crash of the dot-com stocks, I thought it was a particularly appropriate moment to reread John Kenneth Galbraith's famous history of the stock market crash of 1929 in the United States. Professor Galbraith's final words prove to be prophetic as he suggests that as soon as the lessons of 1929 are forgotten, the speculative excesses that led to that debacle will recur. I am sure that when the dot-bomb experience is forgotten, it will be repeated with some new class of speculation in some future generation.

With the recent experience of seeing a market mania, I came away more impressed with this book than before. Professor Galbraith does a fine job of capturing the psychology that builds into and sustains a mania. He also writes like a novelist rather than like an economist. That talent makes the message easy to grasp and appreciate.

I was also impressed by how our popular perceptions of 1929 are so often wrong. For example, most people believe that many "broken" speculators committed suicide. Although some did, there was no significant rise in the suicide rate compared to a general trend in that direction.

Economists often like to fault the Federal Reserve for the crash. That blame seems somewhat misplaced when you learn that there was very little government debt that the Fed could repurchase to create liquidity. Had the Fed acted differently, the crash might have come a little sooner and not been quite so severe . . . but the fundamentals would probably not have changed too much.

Another misperception is that everyone was speculating. By even the most generous measures, the speculators probably never numbered over a million people.

Although this is a history, Professor Galbraith takes on the economic question of how the crash contributed to the Depression. Although we know very little about the economic details of 1929, I was impressed by the point about how much consumer spending was concentrated in the wealthiest people. As they lost vast sums, both spending for consumer goods and savings for capital were decimated. With the broader income distribution of today, such a cataclysm would not be so harmful (as we saw in the aftermath of the dot-com crash).

There is an excellent parallel discussion of the land boom in Florida earlier in the 1920's that is very rewarding. I was intrigued by the ways that ever increasing ways of extending leverage were created so that both bubbles could climb higher. In Florida, people didn't actually buy the land. They bought options to buy the land, and traded those. In the stock market, holding companies sold stock and then floated new holding companies. These were capitalized with common stock, preferred and debt so that all of the appreciation would accrue to the common holders. Naturally, the opposite occurred on the way down. Many stocks fell by over 99 percent, as a result.

Everyone who is tempted to buy any item primarily because it is thought to represent an opportunity for a quick buck should read this book.

Look for true value in all that you do!

What Actually Happened in 1929?, 10 Apr 2004
Having recently lived through the crash of the dot-com stocks, I thought it was a particularly appropriate moment to reread John Kenneth Galbraith's famous history of the stock market crash of 1929 in the United States. Professor Galbraith's final words prove to be prophetic as he suggests that as soon as the lessons of 1929 are forgotten, the speculative excesses that led to that debacle will recur. I am sure that when the dot-bomb experience is forgotten, it will be repeated with some new class of speculation in some future generation.

With the recent experience of seeing a market mania, I came away more impressed with this book than before. Professor Galbraith does a fine job of capturing the psychology that builds into and sustains a mania. He also writes like a novelist rather than like an economist. That talent makes the message easy to grasp and appreciate.

I was also impressed by how our popular perceptions of 1929 are so often wrong. For example, most people believe that many "broken" speculators committed suicide. Although some did, there was no significant rise in the suicide rate compared to a general trend in that direction.

Economists often like to fault the Federal Reserve for the crash. That blame seems somewhat misplaced when you learn that there was very little government debt that the Fed could repurchase to create liquidity. Had the Fed acted differently, the crash might have come a little sooner and not been quite so severe . . . but the fundamentals would probably not have changed too much.

Another misperception is that everyone was speculating. By even the most generous measures, the speculators probably never numbered over a million people.

Although this is a history, Professor Galbraith takes on the economic question of how the crash contributed to the Depression. Although we know very little about the economic details of 1929, I was impressed by the point about how much consumer spending was concentrated in the wealthiest people. As they lost vast sums, both spending for consumer goods and savings for capital were decimated. With the broader income distribution of today, such a cataclysm would not be so harmful (as we saw in the aftermath of the dot-com crash).

There is an excellent parallel discussion of the land boom in Florida earlier in the 1920's that is very rewarding. I was intrigued by the ways that ever increasing ways of extending leverage were created so that both bubbles could climb higher. In Florida, people didn't actually buy the land. They bought options to buy the land, and traded those. In the stock market, holding companies sold stock and then floated new holding companies. These were capitalized with common stock, preferred and debt so that all of the appreciation would accrue to the common holders. Naturally, the opposite occurred on the way down. Many stocks fell by over 99 percent, as a result.

Everyone who is tempted to buy any item primarily because it is thought to represent an opportunity for a quick buck should read this book.

Look for true value in all that you do!

a must read for any investor, 21 Feb 2001
following the "sudden vanishing" of approximately USD 5 trillion dollars of market capitalization in the NASDAQ since march 2001, this book comes as a somewhat "refreshing" read - especially considering that it was published back in 1954! i have never been one to put too much weight on comments such as "history always repeats itself", but this book was rather scary in that it could have easily been written in 2001. for those of you have been following the "irrationally exhuberant" technology equity markets of the last 3 years, this book shows that the will to participate in "easy money opportunities" lives in all of us.

Management and Organisational Behaviour ..., 19 Mar 2008
This is an outstanding book to have in any executive library. It covers so much more than most other books, and I'd go so much as to say it is a must have / read for anyone studying management, or is on an MBA program, or is going into an executive post.

Well writen, covers topics clear and succinctly.

Money well spent.

Well worth the money - a good read., 09 Oct 2008
The book starts well although it reads a bit like a hagiography written by Arthur Hailey. That is ok by me I like Arthur Hailey and have always regarded Buffett as a saint. I laughed out loud several times during the first 50 pages.

After this it gets a bit heavier going. There are many insights and many surprises. I had not realised that Berkshire Hathaway lost money from the start and wound up having the textile mill shut down. I had not reliased that Buffett was first a director of Salomon brothers and then became chairman appointed to clean up the mess which he seems to have done with great honour distinction and dignity. I liked the account of the arbitration with the former director Gutfreund who seems to have had it coming. His views on how derivatives spawn risk rather than remove it are very current today. Also his views on the Efficient Market Hypothesis have always been my own and not current orthodoxy.

A trifle over-written but very moving at the death of this friend Kay Graham and at the death of his wife Susie. Remarkable for the close friendship he enjoys with Bill and Melinda Gates and his partner Charlie Munger.


Good but..., 08 Oct 2008
I can't agree more with 1nnovator' review. This is a good book on Buffett but it could be better. Particularly liked the first 1/3 because it concentrated on his character and how he came to be the man he is. The 2/3 it did became more factual and felt a bit padded like it was written quickly she wanted to finish the book quickly.

Liked the one by Roger Lowenstein better but this is the only 'official' biography with direct interviews with Buffett so it is as close as it gets to the man.

More Buffalo News than Washington Post, 04 Oct 2008
How can the most comprehensive biography of the world's most remarkable allocator of capital be disappointing? Alice Schroeder has used her several years of access to Buffett to good, but not great effect.
This is a terrific human interest story, but how many purchasers will be buying the book for that reason?
For those of us spoiled by Buffett's ability to say all with few words, wading through Schroeder's work is frustrating. Ultimately, the return per word read matches the index of Buffett biographies, nothing more. For the book to live up to the man a greater return was required.
Everyone should understand Buffett, but start with the main feature: his own words and books that add value. This is the equivalent of the bonus disc: not as good as the feature, but with lots of background detail for enthusiasts.

A Lesson Not To Be Missed in Difficult Times, 29 Sep 2008
Warren Buffett is one of the most important and successful people in the business world. His life is a story of success - not a single lucky hit but a career going from one victory to another. One would be very irrational to miss an opportunity to have a glimpse of what made him the person he is and what made his success so huge. This book offers more then just a glimpse - it is a full scale portrait of the man. Full scale in more than one sense - this is a book of almost a thousand pages.
Alice Schroeder has done a marvelous job putting together this biography - it is insightful and thought-provoking. People pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for the honour of lunching with Buffett - you can get to know him (inasmuch as he was ready to reveal himself, obviously) for much less so why not give it a try?

Great book, but terrible online content, 10 Sep 2008
I ordered this book as part of my Masters in Business Administration course. The book is neatly structured, mainly separating subjects in three main parts: Strategic Positioning, Strategic Choices and Strategy in Action.

I also found the case studies presented in this book to be of great help when studying for the Business Environment module of my MBA. A matrix table presents a guide for each case study in the book and what are their main focus. For example, if you want a case study that focus on Porter's five forces, then read the TUI case study on page 619, and so on.

The book also comes with an "student access kit" to access further content online, and claims that users would have access to more than 30 "classic case studies" within the companion website.

The book is good but I must say the so called online content is a joke. You can only find the case studies that came with the book, and there are no further "classic case studies" to be found. I was particularly interested on a given business case which is mentioned in the book as available in the companion website for my dissertation, and I can't help but to feel cheated about it.

I emailed support asking for advice but I never got an answer, and I tried to call Pearson's support line but I have never received a call back or a proper answer to my query.

The experience I had with Pearson's student access kit was terrible that comes with this book, and I would warn anyone who is thinking to buy one of their books or a standalone student access kit to stay away from them.

Essential Reading, 01 Sep 2008
I found this book captivating, in a "gallows humor" sort of way.

Although written many years ago, and recounting events in the distant past, it should be required reading for anyone in the markets today. More specifically, it should have been required reading a year ago (mid 2007) for those invested in finance and property sectors.

Whether the malaise in those sectors (some stocks down 90%) spreads eventually to the general indexes remains to be seen.

Tony Loton, author --
DON'T LOSE MONEY! (in the Stock Markets)
Financial Trading Patterns


An excellent book and highly recommended to anyone with any interest whatsoever in economics or the dark days of 1929. , 04 Jan 2007
One of the most surprising and delightful things that I found about the book, particularly in view of the potentially heavy subject matter, was how wonderfully readable Professor Galbraith is. There are not that many world renowned experts in any field who can write as well as they can understand their subject. It's a bit like finding that a world class footballer can also play first violin. This book reads like the work of a top drawer professional writer who has immersed him/herself in the subject for a period and, with ongoing expert guidance and hands-on editing, has brought the subject home in fine style. It reads to me a bit like Tom Wolfe (of the Right Stuff etc), wonderfully literate, sardonic prose. It really is quite unexpected. Marvellous. You will have more than one chuckle out loud which may raise one of the live-in's eyebrows. Chuckling at economics now? Hmmm.

Anyway, the stock market fell, measured by the Times Industrial Average, from 542 down to 224, from October through Nov 1929, and then more gradually to only 58, basically a tenth of its peak 1929 value, by July 1932. Drastic times indeed. This residual value that the market held, 58, in 1932, was roughly the same amount by which the market fell, in only one day, 28/10/1929, Black Thursday. The Professor's contention seems to be that the Depression and the Crash, while not totally unrelated, were less connected than popular opinion held then, or holds now. The contention is that prior to the crash, that the economy was not fundamentally sound. Although there were no glaring warning signs in the economic indicators reported in the first half of 1929, there were some red lights flickering. The Professor goes on to detail and explain those. Of course I am still no expert on what happened in 1929 and why. But due to this book I have a better idea. And it has encouraged me to read more about it. Which I intend to do shortly. And further works by the extremely readable Professor Galbraith will most certainly be on my list.





What Actually Happened in 1929?, 05 Jul 2004
Having recently lived through the crash of the dot-com stocks, I thought it was a particularly appropriate moment to reread John Kenneth Galbraith's famous history of the stock market crash of 1929 in the United States. Professor Galbraith's final words prove to be prophetic as he suggests that as soon as the lessons of 1929 are forgotten, the speculative excesses that led to that debacle will recur. I am sure that when the dot-bomb experience is forgotten, it will be repeated with some new class of speculation in some future generation.

With the recent experience of seeing a market mania, I came away more impressed with this book than before. Professor Galbraith does a fine job of capturing the psychology that builds into and sustains a mania. He also writes like a novelist rather than like an economist. That talent makes the message easy to grasp and appreciate.

I was also impressed by how our popular perceptions of 1929 are so often wrong. For example, most people believe that many "broken" speculators committed suicide. Although some did, there was no significant rise in the suicide rate compared to a general trend in that direction.

Economists often like to fault the Federal Reserve for the crash. That blame seems somewhat misplaced when you learn that there was very little government debt that the Fed could repurchase to create liquidity. Had the Fed acted differently, the crash might have come a little sooner and not been quite so severe . . . but the fundamentals would probably not have changed too much.

Another misperception is that everyone was speculating. By even the most generous measures, the speculators probably never numbered over a million people.

Although this is a history, Professor Galbraith takes on the economic question of how the crash contributed to the Depression. Although we know very little about the economic details of 1929, I was impressed by the point about how much consumer spending was concentrated in the wealthiest people. As they lost vast sums, both spending for consumer goods and savings for capital were decimated. With the broader income distribution of today, such a cataclysm would not be so harmful (as we saw in the aftermath of the dot-com crash).

There is an excellent parallel discussion of the land boom in Florida earlier in the 1920's that is very rewarding. I was intrigued by the ways that ever increasing ways of extending leverage were created so that both bubbles could climb higher. In Florida, people didn't actually buy the land. They bought options to buy the land, and traded those. In the stock market, holding companies sold stock and then floated new holding companies. These were capitalized with common stock, preferred and debt so that all of the appreciation would accrue to the common holders. Naturally, the opposite occurred on the way down. Many stocks fell by over 99 percent, as a result.

Everyone who is tempted to buy any item primarily because it is thought to represent an opportunity for a quick buck should read this book.

Look for true value in all that you do!

What Actually Happened in 1929?, 10 Apr 2004
Having recently lived through the crash of the dot-com stocks, I thought it was a particularly appropriate moment to reread John Kenneth Galbraith's famous history of the stock market crash of 1929 in the United States. Professor Galbraith's final words prove to be prophetic as he suggests that as soon as the lessons of 1929 are forgotten, the speculative excesses that led to that debacle will recur. I am sure that when the dot-bomb experience is forgotten, it will be repeated with some new class of speculation in some future generation.

With the recent experience of seeing a market mania, I came away more impressed with this book than before. Professor Galbraith does a fine job of capturing the psychology that builds into and sustains a mania. He also writes like a novelist rather than like an economist. That talent makes the message easy to grasp and appreciate.

I was also impressed by how our popular perceptions of 1929 are so often wrong. For example, most people believe that many "broken" speculators committed suicide. Although some did, there was no significant rise in the suicide rate compared to a general trend in that direction.

Economists often like to fault the Federal Reserve for the crash. That blame seems somewhat misplaced when you learn that there was very little government debt that the Fed could repurchase to create liquidity. Had the Fed acted differently, the crash might have come a little sooner and not been quite so severe . . . but the fundamentals would probably not have changed too much.

Another misperception is that everyone was speculating. By even the most generous measures, the speculators probably never numbered over a million people.

Although this is a history, Professor Galbraith takes on the economic question of how the crash contributed to the Depression. Although we know very little about the economic details of 1929, I was impressed by the point about how much consumer spending was concentrated in the wealthiest people. As they lost vast sums, both spending for consumer goods and savings for capital were decimated. With the broader income distribution of today, such a cataclysm would not be so harmful (as we saw in the aftermath of the dot-com crash).

There is an excellent parallel discussion of the land boom in Florida earlier in the 1920's that is very rewarding. I was intrigued by the ways that ever increasing ways of extending leverage were created so that both bubbles could climb higher. In Florida, people didn't actually buy the land. They bought options to buy the land, and traded those. In the stock market, holding companies sold stock and then floated new holding companies. These were capitalized with common stock, preferred and debt so that all of the appreciation would accrue to the common holders. Naturally, the opposite occurred on the way down. Many stocks fell by over 99 percent, as a result.

Everyone who is tempted to buy any item primarily because it is thought to represent an opportunity for a quick buck should read this book.

Look for true value in all that you do!

a must read for any investor, 21 Feb 2001
following the "sudden vanishing" of approximately USD 5 trillion dollars of market capitalization in the NASDAQ since march 2001, this book comes as a somewhat "refreshing" read - especially considering that it was published back in 1954! i have never been one to put too much weight on comments such as "history always repeats itself", but this book was rather scary in that it could have easily been written in 2001. for those of you have been following the "irrationally exhuberant" technology equity markets of the last 3 years, this book shows that the will to participate in "easy money opportunities" lives in all of us.

Management and Organisational Behaviour ..., 19 Mar 2008
This is an outstanding book to have in any executive library. It covers so much more than most other books, and I'd go so much as to say it is a must have / read for anyone studying management, or is on an MBA program, or is going into an executive post.

Well writen, covers topics clear and succinctly.

Money well spent.

Yuck, 03 Oct 2008
Even though it was valuable for me to learn what is really going on, I read this book with a mixture of revulsion and horror. I was certainly shocked to learn about the tripartite economic recipe - privatisation, deregulation, and cutbacks in social welfare spending - repeatedly used around the world by a so-called democracy via highly non-democratic means.

In the early years, the primary shock vehicle was dictatorial military force and accompanying fear of - and actual mass use of - arrest, torture, disappearance, or death. Over time, new organisations such as the IMF and the World Bank were employed instead, deliberately creating impossible debt burdens to force governments to accept privatisation, removal of trade barriers and tariffs, and widespread layoffs. In more recent years, these policies have been used on peoples already shocked by terrroism or natural disasters like hurricanes and tsunamis.

And more and more information along the lines revealed by this book continues to show up - only recently, for example, "New Scientist" (23 July 2008) carried an article stating that, for each year of a country's involvement with the IMF, the TB death rate increased by four per cent on average. This was not because countries with worsening TB attract more IMF attention since the TB rates had been falling, or at least steady, before receiving IMF "help".

Finally, for a more personal view of the same story, read "Confessions of an Economic Hit Man".


Complex, Compelling, Horrifying, an Important Book, 29 Sep 2008
"The Shock Doctrine" is a thoroughly good read in which Naomi Klein sets out to illustrate the spread of the economic doctrine of the late economist Milton Friedman and of the Chicago School of Economics; to illustrate the use of force (backed by U.S government in a number of cases) by right-wing governments and exploitation of natural disaster and conflict to push through unpopular economic reforms (based on Friedman's doctrine), and how such governments are putting big business first to line their own pockets and those of the corporate sector, leaving the public sector to deteriorate and their nation to grow poorer and poorer.

The book opens with an introduction of Milton Friedman's view of disaster as an opportunity for the practice of free-market economics; how he longed for the chance to test out his theories and how he finally got the chance. Klein discusses research into the effects of psychological shock and then moves onto how this research was then used and abused by the CIA for interrogation purposes. We are then cited a number of case studies in which right-wing governments have used repressive measures to pursue with their economic policies, and the concept of 'planned misery' is developed.

It is when Klein turns onto the subject of shock therapy in the U.S., of the homeland security industry and U.S. management of Iraq vis-a-vis shock therapy becomes slightly inconsistent, something she appears to seek a remedy for, in the case of the latter, with the concept of "pre-emptive shock". This inconsistency itself, however, isn't particularly important because the message is clear enough: with all the back-scratching and dirty dealing going on under Bush, the corporate world has never had it so good.

The penultimate chapter looks at how conflict has benefited the Israeli economy and stock markets, and the final chapter is Klein's hope-inspiring conclusion is that capitalism is finally coming to its end as left-wing governments turn their backs on the U.S and on free-market economics ideas and practices, etc.

"The Shock Doctrine" is a complex book, but Klein's style of writing is ever-refreshing and there's not a dull word in the text, one of the great things about her work. She brilliantly portrays why right-wing big government and big business can be so dangerous. It's a relief to know both have a thorn in its side like Naomi Klein. This is an important book, one not to be missed. I'd definitely recommend it.

Scandal: Sometimes people profit when bad things happen. Film at eleven!, 21 Sep 2008
First, disclosure: I enjoyed No Logo a great deal, it informed a lot of the way I think about corporations and changed the way I bought clothes. I read the Guardian when I get a chance, and am addicted to the Daily Show. So please don't think that my review is based on having a radically different philosophy to Ms Klein.

I didn't like this book. The main thrust of the book is that there are theorists who believe that you can only change things when a big shock to the system happens; an earthquake, 9/11, Katrina, etc. In the aftermath the populace are too shocked and confused to notice free marketers running in to privatize public assets like security or schools. Now in individual cases, I agree this is something to keep an eye on, particularly with companys like Blackwater. But where the author loses me is in tying this together with a history of torture methods of the CIA around electroshock. I didn't really see the relevance of the comparison and it's a thread that weaves its way through the book. There's also a hint of the paranoia seen in conspiracy theorists, throughout, and here is my fundamental problem with that: most people are not evil. They go about their business, try to be good people, and that's that. If a corporation sees an opportunity to make money it's hardly surprising they will do, it doesn't always need to be interepreted as part of an agenda. Sometimes it's just business.

Personally I found the entire topic much less relevant to me than No Logo; what am I supposed to do about the issues explored here other than gripe about them to other lefties to show off how well read I am? At 550 pages this could also have done with being a lot more concise. Overall I'm disappointed that I didn't like this more.

The second colonial pillage and the essence of dehumanization, 30 Aug 2008
Naomi Klein unveils in this hard-hitting book (naming names) extremely clearly the economic utopia and the shameful realities resulting from the neo-liberal policies of the Chicago School of Economics, also called `The Washington Consensus'.

What
Its defenders claim that the free market is a perfect scientific system, in which individuals acting on their own self-interested desire, create the maximum benefit for all.
But, as no country or city wanted to implement deliberately their policies, its powerful fundamentalist defenders, together with their long arm, the IMF, used and created shocks (wars, military coups, political upheavals, natural disasters, terrorist attacks, epidemics, energy and resource shortages) to force a second shock of radical social and economic engineering on traumatized populations.

Where
Naomi Klein analyzes brilliantly a long list of victims of the shock doctrine of which the most important are: Chile, Argentina, Bolivia, Iraq, Russia, Indonesia, Poland, South-Africa, former Yugoslavia and its republics, Lebanon, Sri Lanka, Thailand, New Or leans and the US as a whole.

How
This radical economic cure consisted intentionally in eliminating the public sphere, in giving total freedom to private interests and in providing only skeletal social spending. Sometimes with the help of the IMF as their obedient mediator, State and corporate wealth was cut into pieces and sold of for a trifle in debased currencies to private, mostly foreign, interests: airlines, phone and water systems, oilfields, all kind of corporations and factories (sometimes direct competitors), mineral deposits or farmlands.

Private bonanza, public hell
Those policies created a formidable bonanza for transnational corporations, oligarchs and investment banks.
For the majority of the population, the results were less than bleak, rather hellish:
Not democracy, but dictatorship
Not peace, but war, tortures or simply assassinations (the essence of dehumanizing)
Not freedom for the populations, but for the corporations
Not hiring, but mass unemployment (putting people in a starvation position)
Not civil liberties, but aggressive surveillance
Not clean commerce, but rampant corruption
Not broadly based wealth, but turning 25 to 60 % of the population into a permanent underclass
Not clean air and water, but environmental degradation

US
In the US, the core of the governmental tasks (the military, the police, fire departments, power, covert intelligence, disease control, public schools) was subcontracted to private interests.

Future
But the tide is turning against disaster capitalism. The IMF is nearly out of business.
Democratic socialism, always regarded by those in power as a greater threat than totalitarian communism, is clearly on the march, especially in South-America.

Naomi Klein's formidable book is a must read for all those who want to understand the world we live in.


What's really going on, 29 Aug 2008
Read and weep - Klein exposes the real power behind the world throne and the shoddy, extraordinary greed of the few who are happy to make money from the world's poor. Oh actually - BY making the rest of the world poor. The compelling story of how Milton Friedman's Chicago Boys realised that catastrophe gave them a vital window of opportunity in which to snatch and grab, in countries worldwide, starting with some "experiments" in Latin America. It's no news to economists, but it is to the rest of us - governments in "transition", such as Poland under Solidarity, were forced to seek help from the World Bank and IMF, only to be told that essential loans came with unbearable hardship and economic ruin for their citizens. Forced privatisations of state companies, all price controls lifted, so that essentials like bread and milk became unaffordable, and massive layoffs/unemployment. But the deal was always: accept our terms, or forget about securing loans - which these countries (like S.Africa, like Russia) needed to deal with the inherited debts of previous dictatorships. A rock and a hard place indeed. And guess who was controlling the IMF? And making all the money from buying up ex-state companies, only to sell them on for huge profit, or close them down so there'd be no competition for the American companies coming in? And that's before Klein even gets to discussing Iraq. Essential reading. Especially in the Big Brother age, when politicians would like us all to be looking the other way.

Well worth the money - a good read., 09 Oct 2008
The book starts well although it reads a bit like a hagiography written by Arthur Hailey. That is ok by me I like Arthur Hailey and have always regarded Buffett as a saint. I laughed out loud several times during the first 50 pages.

After this it gets a bit heavier going. There are many insights and many surprises. I had not realised that Berkshire Hathaway lost money from the start and wound up having the textile mill shut down. I had not reliased that Buffett was first a director of Salomon brothers and then became chairman appointed to clean up the mess which he seems to have done with great honour distinction and dignity. I liked the account of the arbitration with the former director Gutfreund who seems to have had it coming. His views on how derivatives spawn risk rather than remove it are very current today. Also his views on the Efficient Market Hypothesis have always been my own and not current orthodoxy.

A trifle over-written but very moving at the death of this friend Kay Graham and at the death of his wife Susie. Remarkable for the close friendship he enjoys with Bill and Melinda Gates and his partner Charlie Munger.


Good but..., 08 Oct 2008
I can't agree more with 1nnovator' review. This is a good book on Buffett but it could be better. Particularly liked the first 1/3 because it concentrated on his character and how he came to be the man he is. The 2/3 it did became more factual and felt a bit padded like it was written quickly she wanted to finish the book quickly.

Liked the one by Roger Lowenstein better but this is the only 'official' biography with direct interviews with Buffett so it is as close as it gets to the man.

More Buffalo News than Washington Post, 04 Oct 2008
How can the most comprehensive biography of the world's most remarkable allocator of capital be disappointing? Alice Schroeder has used her several years of access to Buffett to good, but not great effect.
This is a terrific human interest story, but how many purchasers will be buying the book for that reason?
For those of us spoiled by Buffett's ability to say all with few words, wading through Schroeder's work is frustrating. Ultimately, the return per word read matches the index of Buffett biographies, nothing more. For the book to live up to the man a greater return was required.
Everyone should understand Buffett, but start with the main feature: his own words and books that add value. This is the equivalent of the bonus disc: not as good as the feature, but with lots of background detail for enthusiasts.

A Lesson Not To Be Missed in Difficult Times, 29 Sep 2008
Warren Buffett is one of the most important and successful people in the business world. His life is a story of success - not a single lucky hit but a career going from one victory to another. One would be very irrational to miss an opportunity to have a glimpse of what made him the person he is and what made his success so huge. This book offers more then just a glimpse - it is a full scale portrait of the man. Full scale in more than one sense - this is a book of almost a thousand pages.
Alice Schroeder has done a marvelous job putting together this biography - it is insightful and thought-provoking. People pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for the honour of lunching with Buffett - you can get to know him (inasmuch as he was ready to reveal himself, obviously) for much less so why not give it a try?

Great book, but terrible online content, 10 Sep 2008
I ordered this book as part of my Masters in Business Administration course. The book is neatly structured, mainly separating subjects in three main parts: Strategic Positioning, Strategic Choices and Strategy in Action.

I also found the case studies presented in this book to be of great help when studying for the Business Environment module of my MBA. A matrix table presents a guide for each case study in the book and what are their main focus. For example, if you want a case study that focus on Porter's five forces, then read the TUI case study on page 619, and so on.

The book also comes with an "student access kit" to access further content online, and claims that users would have access to more than 30 "classic case studies" within the companion website.

The book is good but I must say the so called online content is a joke. You can only find the case studies that came with the book, and there are no further "classic case studies" to be found. I was particularly interested on a given business case which is mentioned in the book as available in the companion website for my dissertation, and I can't help but to feel cheated about it.

I emailed support asking for advice but I never got an answer, and I tried to call Pearson's support line but I have never received a call back or a proper answer to my query.

The experience I had with Pearson's student access kit was terrible that comes with this book, and I would warn anyone who is thinking to buy one of their books or a standalone student access kit to stay away from them.

Essential Reading, 01 Sep 2008
I found this book captivating, in a "gallows humor" sort of way.

Although written many years ago, and recounting events in the distant past, it should be required reading for anyone in the markets today. More specifically, it should have been required reading a year ago (mid 2007) for those invested in finance and property sectors.

Whether the malaise in those sectors (some stocks down 90%) spreads eventually to the general indexes remains to be seen.

Tony Loton, author --
DON'T LOSE MONEY! (in the Stock Markets)
Financial Trading Patterns


An excellent book and highly recommended to anyone with any interest whatsoever in economics or the dark days of 1929. , 04 Jan 2007
One of the most surprising and delightful things that I found about the book, particularly in view of the potentially heavy subject matter, was how wonderfully readable Professor Galbraith is. There are not that many world renowned experts in any field who can write as well as they can understand their subject. It's a bit like finding that a world class footballer can also play first violin. This book reads like the work of a top drawer professional writer who has immersed him/herself in the subject for a period and, with ongoing expert guidance and hands-on editing, has brought the subject home in fine style. It reads to me a bit like Tom Wolfe (of the Right Stuff etc), wonderfully literate, sardonic prose. It really is quite unexpected. Marvellous. You will have more than one chuckle out loud which may raise one of the live-in's eyebrows. Chuckling at economics now? Hmmm.

Anyway, the stock market fell, measured by the Times Industrial Average, from 542 down to 224, from October through Nov 1929, and then more gradually to only 58, basically a tenth of its peak 1929 value, by July 1932. Drastic times indeed. This residual value that the market held, 58, in 1932, was roughly the same amount by which the market fell, in only one day, 28/10/1929, Black Thursday. The Professor's contention seems to be that the Depression and the Crash, while not totally unrelated, were less connected than popular opinion held then, or holds now. The contention is that prior to the crash, that the economy was not fundamentally sound. Although there were no glaring warning signs in the economic indicators reported in the first half of 1929, there were some red lights flickering. The Professor goes on to detail and explain those. Of course I am still no expert on what happened in 1929 and why. But due to this book I have a better idea. And it has encouraged me to read more about it. Which I intend to do shortly. And further works by the extremely readable Professor Galbraith will most certainly be on my list.





What Actually Happened in 1929?, 05 Jul 2004
Having recently lived through the crash of the dot-com stocks, I thought it was a particularly appropriate moment to reread John Kenneth Galbraith's famous history of the stock market crash of 1929 in the United States. Professor Galbraith's final words prove to be prophetic as he suggests that as soon as the lessons of 1929 are forgotten, the speculative excesses that led to that debacle will recur. I am sure that when the dot-bomb experience is forgotten, it will be repeated with some new class of speculation in some future generation.

With the recent experience of seeing a market mania, I came away more impressed with this book than before. Professor Galbraith does a fine job of capturing the psychology that builds into and sustains a mania. He also writes like a novelist rather than like an economist. That talent makes the message easy to grasp and appreciate.

I was also impressed by how our popular perceptions of 1929 are so often wrong. For example, most people believe that many "broken" speculators committed suicide. Although some did, there was no significant rise in the suicide rate compared to a general trend in that direction.

Economists often like to fault the Federal Reserve for the crash. That blame seems somewhat misplaced when you learn that there was very little government debt that the Fed could repurchase to create liquidity. Had the Fed acted differently, the crash might have come a little sooner and not been quite so severe . . . but the fundamentals would probably not have changed too much.

Another misperception is that everyone was speculating. By even the most generous measures, the speculators probably never numbered over a million people.

Although this is a history, Professor Galbraith takes on the economic question of how the crash contributed to the Depression. Although we know very little about the economic details of 1929, I was impressed by the point about how much consumer spending was concentrated in the wealthiest people. As they lost vast sums, both spending for consumer goods and savings for capital were decimated. With the broader income distribution of today, such a cataclysm would not be so harmful (as we saw in the aftermath of the dot-com crash).

There is an excellent parallel discussion of the land boom in Florida earlier in the 1920's that is very rewarding. I was intrigued by the ways that ever increasing ways of extending leverage were created so that both bubbles could climb higher. In Florida, people didn't actually buy the land. They bought options to buy the land, and traded those. In the stock market, holding companies sold stock and then floated new holding companies. These were capitalized with common stock, preferred and debt so that all of the appreciation would accrue to the common holders. Naturally, the opposite occurred on the way down. Many stocks fell by over 99 percent, as a result.

Everyone who is tempted to buy any item primarily because it is thought to represent an opportunity for a quick buck should read this book.

Look for true value in all that you do!

What Actually Happened in 1929?, 10 Apr 2004
Having recently lived through the crash of the dot-com stocks, I thought it was a particularly appropriate moment to reread John Kenneth Galbraith's famous history of the stock market crash of 1929 in the United States. Professor Galbraith's final words prove to be prophetic as he suggests that as soon as the lessons of 1929 are forgotten, the speculative excesses that led to that debacle will recur. I am sure that when the dot-bomb experience is forgotten, it will be repeated with some new class of speculation in some future generation.

With the recent experience of seeing a market mania, I came away more impressed with this book than before. Professor Galbraith does a fine job of capturing the psychology that builds into and sustains a mania. He also writes like a novelist rather than like an economist. That talent makes the message easy to grasp and appreciate.

I was also impressed by how our popular perceptions of 1929 are so often wrong. For example, most people believe that many "broken" speculators committed suicide. Although some did, there was no significant rise in the suicide rate compared to a general trend in that direction.

Economists often like to fault the Federal Reserve for the crash. That blame seems somewhat misplaced when you learn that there was very little government debt that the Fed could repurchase to create liquidity. Had the Fed acted differently, the crash might have come a little sooner and not been quite so severe . . . but the fundamentals would probably not have changed too much.

Another misperception is that everyone was speculating. By even the most generous measures, the speculators probably never numbered over a million people.

Although this is a history, Professor Galbraith takes on the economic question of how the crash contributed to the Depression. Although we know very little about the economic details of 1929, I was impressed by the point about how much consumer spending was concentrated in the wealthiest people. As they lost vast sums, both spending for consumer goods and savings for capital were decimated. With the broader income distribution of today, such a cataclysm would not be so harmful (as we saw in the aftermath of the dot-com crash).

There is an excellent parallel discussion of the land boom in Florida earlier in the 1920's that is very rewarding. I was intrigued by the ways that ever increasing ways of extending leverage were created so that both bubbles could climb higher. In Florida, people didn't actually buy the land. They bought options to buy the land, and traded those. In the stock market, holding companies sold stock and then floated new holding companies. These were capitalized with common stock, preferred and debt so that all of the appreciation would accrue to the common holders. Naturally, the opposite occurred on the way down. Many stocks fell by over 99 percent, as a result.

Everyone who is tempted to buy any item primarily because it is thought to represent an opportunity for a quick buck should read this book.

Look for true value in all that you do!

a must read for any investor, 21 Feb 2001
following the "sudden vanishing" of approximately USD 5 trillion dollars of market capitalization in the NASDAQ since march 2001, this book comes as a somewhat "refreshing" read - especially considering that it was published back in 1954! i have never been one to put too much weight on comments such as "history always repeats itself", but this book was rather scary in that it could have easily been written in 2001. for those of you have been following the "irrationally exhuberant" technology equity markets of the last 3 years, this book shows that the will to participate in "easy money opportunities" lives in all of us.

Management and Organisational Behaviour ..., 19 Mar 2008
This is an outstanding book to have in any executive library. It covers so much more than most other books, and I'd go so much as to say it is a must have / read for anyone studying management, or is on an MBA program, or is going into an executive post.

Well writen, covers topics clear and succinctly.

Money well spent.

Yuck, 03 Oct 2008
Even though it was valuable for me to learn what is really going on, I read this book with a mixture of revulsion and horror. I was certainly shocked to learn about the tripartite economic recipe - privatisation, deregulation, and cutbacks in social welfare spending - repeatedly used around the world by a so-called democracy via highly non-democratic means.

In the early years, the primary shock vehicle was dictatorial military force and accompanying fear of - and actual mass use of - arrest, torture, disappearance, or death. Over time, new organisations such as the IMF and the World Bank were employed instead, deliberately creating impossible debt burdens to force governments to accept privatisation, removal of trade barriers and tariffs, and widespread layoffs. In more recent years, these policies have been used on peoples already shocked by terrroism or natural disasters like hurricanes and tsunamis.

And more and more information along the lines revealed by this book continues to show up - only recently, for example, "New Scientist" (23 July 2008) carried an article stating that, for each year of a country's involvement with the IMF, the TB death rate increased by four per cent on average. This was not because countries with worsening TB attract more IMF attention since the TB rates had been falling, or at least steady, before receiving IMF "help".

Finally, for a more personal view of the same story, read "Confessions of an Economic Hit Man".


Complex, Compelling, Horrifying, an Important Book, 29 Sep 2008
"The Shock Doctrine" is a thoroughly good read in which Naomi Klein sets out to illustrate the spread of the economic doctrine of the late economist Milton Friedman and of the Chicago School of Economics; to illustrate the use of force (backed by U.S government in a number of cases) by right-wing governments and exploitation of natural disaster and conflict to push through unpopular economic reforms (based on Friedman's doctrine), and how such governments are putting big business first to line their own pockets and those of the corporate sector, leaving the public sector to deteriorate and their nation to grow poorer and poorer.

The book opens with an introduction of Milton Friedman's view of disaster as an opportunity for the practice of free-market economics; how he longed for the chance to test out his theories and how he finally got the chance. Klein discusses research into the effects of psychological shock and then moves onto how this research was then used and abused by the CIA for interrogation purposes. We are then cited a number of case studies in which right-wing governments have used repressive measures to pursue with their economic policies, and the concept of 'planned misery' is developed.

It is when Klein turns onto the subject of shock therapy in the U.S., of the homeland security industry and U.S. management of Iraq vis-a-vis shock therapy becomes slightly inconsistent, something she appears to seek a remedy for, in the case of the latter, with the concept of "pre-emptive shock". This inconsistency itself, however, isn't particularly important because the message is clear enough: with all the back-scratching and dirty dealing going on under Bush, the corporate world has never had it so good.

The penultimate chapter looks at how conflict has benefited the Israeli economy and stock markets, and the final chapter is Klein's hope-inspiring conclusion is that capitalism is finally coming to its end as left-wing governments turn their backs on the U.S and on free-market economics ideas and practices, etc.

"The Shock Doctrine" is a complex book, but Klein's style of writing is ever-refreshing and there's not a dull word in the text, one of the great things about her work. She brilliantly portrays why right-wing big government and big business can be so dangerous. It's a relief to know both have a thorn in its side like Naomi Klein. This is an important book, one not to be missed. I'd definitely recommend it.

Scandal: Sometimes people profit when bad things happen. Film at eleven!, 21 Sep 2008
First, disclosure: I enjoyed No Logo a great deal, it informed a lot of the way I think about corporations and changed the way I bought clothes. I read the Guardian when I get a chance, and am addicted to the Daily Show. So please don't think that my review is based on having a radically different philosophy to Ms Klein.

I didn't like this book. The main thrust of the book is that there are theorists who believe that you can only change things when a big shock to the system happens; an earthquake, 9/11, Katrina, etc. In the aftermath the populace are too shocked and confused to notice free marketers running in to privatize public assets like security or schools. Now in individual cases, I agree this is something to keep an eye on, particularly with companys like Blackwater. But where the author loses me is in tying this together with a history of torture methods of the CIA around electroshock. I didn't really see the relevance of the comparison and it's a thread that weaves its way through the book. There's also a hint of the paranoia seen in conspiracy theorists, throughout, and here is my fundamental problem with that: most people are not evil. They go about their business, try to be good people, and that's that. If a corporation sees an opportunity to make money it's hardly surprising they will do, it doesn't always need to be interepreted as part of an agenda. Sometimes it's just business.

Personally I found the entire topic much less relevant to me than No Logo; what am I supposed to do about the issues explored here other than gripe about them to other lefties to show off how well read I am? At 550 pages this could also have done with being a lot more concise. Overall I'm disappointed that I didn't like this more.

The second colonial pillage and the essence of dehumanization, 30 Aug 2008
Naomi Klein unveils in this hard-hitting book (naming names) extremely clearly the economic utopia and the shameful realities resulting from the neo-liberal policies of the Chicago School of Economics, also called `The Washington Consensus'.

What
Its defenders claim that the free market is a perfect scientific system, in which individuals acting on their own self-interested desire, create the maximum benefit for all.
But, as no country or city wanted to implement deliberately their policies, its powerful fundamentalist defenders, together with their long arm, the IMF, used and created shocks (wars, military coups, political upheavals, natural disasters, terrorist attacks, epidemics, energy and resource shortages) to force a second shock of radical social and economic engineering on traumatized populations.

Where
Naomi Klein analyzes brilliantly a long list of victims of the shock doctrine of which the most important are: Chile, Argentina, Bolivia, Iraq, Russia, Indonesia, Poland, South-Africa, former Yugoslavia and its republics, Lebanon, Sri Lanka, Thailand, New Or leans and the US as a whole.

How
This radical economic cure consisted intentionally in eliminating the public sphere, in giving total freedom to private interests and in providing only skeletal social spending. Sometimes with the help of the IMF as their obedient mediator, State and corporate wealth was cut into pieces and sold of for a trifle in debased currencies to private, mostly foreign, interests: airlines, phone and water systems, oilfields, all kind of corporations and factories (sometimes direct competitors), mineral deposits or farmlands.

Private bonanza, public hell
Those policies created a formidable bonanza for transnational corporations, oligarchs and investment banks.
For the majority of the population, the results were less than bleak, rather hellish:
Not democracy, but dictatorship
Not peace, but war, tortures or simply assassinations (the essence of dehumanizing)
Not freedom for the populations, but for the corporations
Not hiring, but mass unemployment (putting people in a starvation position)
Not civil liberties, but aggressive surveillance
Not clean commerce, but rampant corruption
Not broadly based wealth, but turning 25 to 60 % of the population into a permanent underclass
Not clean air and water, but environmental degradation

US
In the US, the core of the governmental tasks (the military, the police, fire departments, power, covert intelligence, disease control, public schools) was subcontracted to private interests.

Future
But the tide is turning against disaster capitalism. The IMF is nearly out of business.
Democratic socialism, always regarded by those in power as a greater threat than totalitarian communism, is clearly on the march, especially in South-America.

Naomi Klein's formidable book is a must read for all those who want to understand the world we live in.


What's really going on, 29 Aug 2008
Read and weep - Klein exposes the real power behind the world throne and the shoddy, extraordinary greed of the few who are happy to make money from the world's poor. Oh actually - BY making the rest of the world poor. The compelling story of how Milton Friedman's Chicago Boys realised that catastrophe gave them a vital window of opportunity in which to snatch and grab, in countries worldwide, starting with some "experiments" in Latin America. It's no news to economists, but it is to the rest of us - governments in "transition", such as Poland under Solidarity, were forced to seek help from the World Bank and IMF, only to be told that essential loans came with unbearable hardship and economic ruin for their citizens. Forced privatisations of state companies, all price controls lifted, so that essentials like bread and milk became unaffordable, and massive layoffs/unemployment. But the deal was always: accept our terms, or forget about securing loans - which these countries (like S.Africa, like Russia) needed to deal with the inherited debts of previous dictatorships. A rock and a hard place indeed. And guess who was controlling the IMF? And making all the money from buying up ex-state companies, only to sell them on for huge profit, or close them down so there'd be no competition for the American companies coming in? And that's before Klein even gets to discussing Iraq. Essential reading. Especially in the Big Brother age, when politicians would like us all to be looking the other way.

The only authentic Buffett, 04 Mar 2008
Too many books contain the word Buffett in their title but only this book comes from the annual letters to shareholders. Truly authentic Buffett in his own words is much better just because he dosen't need any interpretation.
Domenico De Salvo


Prominent name, bad book, 30 Jan 2008
This book tells about company strategy of Berkshire Hathaway and the history of it. Very boring, nothing interesting to learn and badly written. Complicated and confusing, skipping from one story to another and back again to first story.
Waste of money.

Wisdom from the great investor, 08 Dec 2007
I admire Warren Buffett and love reading what he writes. Not only is he probably the wisest investor ever but he is also very articulate and witty.

Some of the chapters, e.g. "An Owner-Based Approach to Corporate Charity", "Berkshire's Recapitalization", "Distribution of the Corporate Tax Burden", etc were not of any interest to me. Excluding such chapters, this slim volume would be even slimmer. However, the book is worth it just for the remainder.

His basic investment goal is simple: He tries to buy businesses that he can understand that have favourable, long-term prospects and are operated by honest and competent people at an attractive price. This is easier said than done, but there is some guidance in his essays as to how he does this.

Some examples of his way with words, taken at random from the first few pages:
"At too many companies, the boss shoots the arrow of managerial performance and then hastily paints the bullseye around the spot where it lands."
"A horse that can count to ten is a remarkable horse - not a remarkable mathematician."
"Should you find yourself in a chronically-leaking boat, energy devoted to changing vessels is likely to be more productive than energy devoted to patching leaks."

Essence of sage, 16 Mar 2007
Cunningham has done us a great favour. Buffett doesn't talk to the press and most books claiming to be Buffett bibles are re-hashes and interpretations, so this book of essays is the closest you will get to hearing it straight from the horse's mouth. This is Buffett's wisdom distilled from annual letters to shareholders in his company, which Cunningham has strung together seamlessly. Although that means alot of passages refer to Buffett's own firm and its shareholdings, the lessons for investors are universal, and the "value investing" philosophy shines through. If that was all there was to recommend the book it would still be a must-have for anyone interested in making money. But it is also a great read.
Buffett comes across as the most genial, honest and no-nonsense guy in the financial world. He also has a wonderfully impish sense of humour and had me chuckling out loud (and then trying in vain to explain the joke to my girlfriend...) The only bits where he slightly lost me was when comparing investing with baseball, but I think I got the gist of it. Anyway, Buffett writes as clearly as he thinks and is as modest and self-deprecating as he is authoritative. He treats his readers like the investors they are, so this is not an "entry level" book and it might be a struggle if you don't know the difference between a fixed asset and a preference share, but otherwise it is a book that you won't regret buying.
I can't recommend it highly enough.

Brilliant, 26 Jan 2007
This is such a good read, I can't recommend it enough. It has short punchy chapters and is full of Warren Buffetts wit and expertise. His ideas on business management are refreshing and his investing technique is unsurpassed. This has a wonderfully informal style and shows Buffets unique skill, as well as his outlook on other issues. A great read with much to teach. If you like this I highly recommend 'The Warren Buffett Way' By Robert Hagstrom.