My Book Reviews

ISBN:  978-0-300-12223-7 Verdict :  👍👍 The book, quite rightly so, starts with a nice definition found on page 6 of what is to follow i.e. " A nudge, as we will use the term, is any aspect of the choice architecture that alters people’s behaviour in a predictable way without forbidding any options or significantly changing their economic incentives . " It is an enjoyable read and does not disappoint, it takes a basic concept from parts of human behavioural  science  and expands with some good examples of “Choice Architecture” to reinforce the concepts. My one  criticism  is that it is written with an American, as all case studies and examples are US centric and, in some cases, not relevant to a British reader, hence my 2 thumbs - but still a good read.  Here are my favourite snippets from the book;         “If an option is designated as a “default”, it will attract a large market share. Default options thus act as power...

ISBN:  978-0-00-842109-0 Verdict :  👍👍 👍 👍 I really enjoyed this book from Mark Carney, a former G7 central banker, governor of the Bank of Canada and more recently the Bank of England, so he brings a wealth of financial experience and insights into this book. This book address  values and the value  using past economic crisis, cryptocurrencies, covid and the net zero goals / initiatives and brings some advice with a very much financial lens.   The book does make one and reflect on things e.g.  the value of Amazon (the company) in relation to the Amazon Region where Amazon has a $1.5 trillion equity valuation, whilst the Amazon Region does not appear on any ledger yet the costs to both climate and biodiversity of destroying the rainforest has greater value to the planet – Makes you think! This example and others set the tone. Here are some of favourite bits – however unless you read the book the context is lost but worthy of mention. 1.  ...

  ISBN: 978-1-292360836   Disclaimer:   I must  highlight  bias on my part, as the author is someone I know personally, and I am quoted ( p64-65) as an independent voice. Hence I have awarded no thumbs  But would  recommend reading. I consider myself a seasoned freelance consultant, one who has worked independently for near three decades, after reading this book I am pleased to say I derived value and re-evaluated some of our practices regarding selling professional services.   Whilst the book is targeted at those considering freelancing or in the early stages of their journey it is equally of value to those, who like me, have worked independently for several years serving as a prompt to reinforce best practices.   The book is organised, in four parts, providing some great context from the basics, the design , the selling and the developing of your service offering and even goes into the management of payments and along the journey yo...

ISBN:  978-0-241-44529-7 Verdict :  👍👍 I bought this book primarily because the author is a British Asian ( like myself ) and I like to support where I can. The book did not disappoint, it was well written, had several  interesting  facts which I was not aware of resulting in  added value to my knowledge base.  My only criticism is that a few more pages wouldn’t have gone a miss , could have read some more. However, at 216 pages I consider it as good value for the  golden nuggets found within the book.   I would probably disagree with the author on some of his stereotypical points e.g.  “ Sikhs did relatively well out of empire ”  (p18) – not all, Jallianwala Bagh ?  “Private   numberplate  on BMWs   “ (p23), " Front gardens paved over to make space for Audis ” p 23 - hmmm maybe in Wolverhampton !   “ you can’t apply modern ethics to the past ”  (p40) yet we do with Nazi Germany?   “ the kindest thin...

  ISBN:  978-0-547-391407 Verdict :👍👍 👍 What a great way to start the new year , finishing this great read which gave me great pleasure with its little antidotes wrapped around brief stories, explaining how we as humans create stories to connect, justify and ‘ how authors trick readers into doing most of the imaginative work ’.   Some amazing nuggets ( Sherlock Holmes, Hitler etc) within this book that make one ponder on actions of others that creep into our lives spinning yarns of lies through our journeys- here are a few; You’ll recall a few key characters and the basic gist: sadly, almost all of the granular detail will be lost in an amnesiac fog       ( p64 ) Everyone poops, but this is not the point of eating. Defecation is a side effect of our need to eat. In the same way-according to Flanigan and many other researchers – a dream is just brain waste        ( p73 )  In short, the storytelling mind is a factory that churns ou...

ISBN: 978-1-118-97221-2 Verdict:  👍👍   Note : Ive given this book 2 thumbs, primarily because its not for everyone and domain specific but this does not reflect the value I derived from it.    If you work for a US🇺🇸 Regulated organisation or one that undertakes operations in the US and is thus subject to some of the strict US regulatory Controls  ⚖️ then this is a book you should read. Some parts are very technical and go into detail around the creation and delivery of legislation but all in all its a well written book that delivers value and explains the role and capabilities (enforcement / fines) for some of the organisations e.g. Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). I picked up this book as currently I am consulting for a Global bank with vast operations in the US and needed to understand the role of the SEC , FINRA etc  and the book helped by starting  in the forward with something that hits the nail on the head i.e. "Compliance is...

I SBN :  978-1786 494566 Verdict :  👍👍   A nice short read, with some great facts, that make one think about the general perceptions we have a bias for  about 'stuff' across the globe. I think this is a good follow on read from FACTFULNESS by Hans Rosling  (See previous review) - it builds upon the same outcomes i.e. the world is not as bad as we all think it is . The reference to recent events (Brexit/Trump etc) adds great value and below are my favourite bits  over 90 percent of the data on the internet was created in the last 2 years;44 billion gigabytes of data were created on the internet every day in 2016 ( p10 ). My favourite quote in the book was on p43 ; A story is most important to us in how it ends, and thus the ending effects how we remember it and its lessons for future decisions. ( p43 )  A lot of our fear is driven not by the unknown, but by an apparent misunderstanding of the facts ( p96 )   we've known for a long...

I SBN :  978-1781259658 Verdict :  👍👍   Financial fraud, a derivative of a financial crime, is an interesting topic - For someone who has spent quite a bit of time researching this topic from a regulatory and systems perspective ( transactional monitoring and pattern recognition) this book was on my reading list. The book does not disappoint it is a nice read and I did enjoy it - although chapter 8 was a bit of  curve ball in the sense the author went all  biblical side in terms of crime - which did not interest me , but others may find it useful to read. My highlighter did get used quite a bit and the following are just some of the bits I enjoyed seeing ;   You can tell more about the structure of any industry by looking at patterns of payments than you can from any ‘five forces’ or SWOT analysis (p29) People don’t check upon things which they believe to have been ‘signed off’. The threat is now inside the perimeter . ...

ISBN: 978-1-78125-055-6 Verdict:  👍👍   👍   👍     The story of the Hongkong Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) is a truly remarkable one in which the transformation from a small bank located in a small fishing village, on the Hong Kong waterfront 155 years ago, to that of one of the largest financial global businesses and hence worthy of a understanding in terms of development , ethos and culture – This book covers some of the years from 1970 to 2014ish.   The book charts the history and key decisions surrounding some major global events in history e.g. the transfer of the island of Hong Kongs sovereignty back to China when the lease expired and the subsequent decisions made to ensure the associated risks were mitigated from political and economic forces.   The 622 pages of banking history is not for everyone and mapped to major economic events which makes it an interesting read and my highlighter 📝 was fully used ! – There are several pearl...