The best books on the world economy, finance trends, and options

Why am I passionate about this?

Since completing my PhD in political economy (dissertation: ‘International Integration and Foreign Policy Decision-making’) I have gone deeper into economic origins of change (eg. Modern Inflation, coauthored with well-known economist Wilhelm Hankel in Bologna, Italy at Johns Hopkins SAIS) and find the interactions between economic, politics, and psychology fascinating—presenting an infinite number of ‘Sherlock Holmes-like puzzles’. We are all now confronted with political, economic, and psychological uncertainties, put on high speed due to the war in Ukraine and great power tensions. So it is time to learn about the origins of our problems and their trends in order to better cope and find a basis for individual, if not collective, peace.


I wrote...

Brave New World Economy: Global Finance Threatens Our Future

By Robert Isaak, Wilhelm Hankel,

Book cover of Brave New World Economy: Global Finance Threatens Our Future

What is my book about?

Unrestrained global finance and the massive credit and debt crisis call for a radical restructuring of the world monetary system with more stringent banking rules both domestically and internationally. Political economists Wilhelm Hankel and Robert Isaak describe how capitalism can be tamed to lead to economic stability and job creation. They describe the risks and rewards of borrowing from future generations to save the current generation—in the US, Europe, and the developing world; detail how money became separated from government control and why the interbanking credit system threatens western nations with bankruptcy, undermining pensions, and the human right to work; point out why nation-states need to go back to helping themselves for sustainable job recovery and not rely on the false promises of regional integration and globalization.

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The books I picked & why

Book cover of Mass Flourishing: How Grassroots Innovation Created Jobs, Challenge, and Change

Robert Isaak Why did I love this book?

I invited Edmund Phelps to speak at Pace University in New York the week before he received the Nobel Prize in Economics.

His thesis, captured in detail in this book, is that state welfare economies in Europe have become too disconnected from the prerequisites for the entrepreneurial economic growth and innovation necessary to create jobs and to pay for the social benefits. Given the huge debt overhang in most of these countries, not to mention developing countries, his controversial thesis then could not be more timely now!

All people need to be motivated to become entrepreneurial in order to provide human health, comfort, and self-actualization for themselves, their families, and fellow citizens. Have you been taught this at school?!!!

By Edmund S. Phelps,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Mass Flourishing as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In this book, Nobel Prize-winning economist Edmund Phelps draws on a lifetime of thinking to make a sweeping new argument about what makes nations prosper--and why the sources of that prosperity are under threat today. Why did prosperity explode in some nations between the 1820s and 1960s, creating not just unprecedented material wealth but "flourishing"--meaningful work, self-expression, and personal growth for more people than ever before? Phelps makes the case that the wellspring of this flourishing was modern values such as the desire to create, explore, and meet challenges. These values fueled the grassroots dynamism that was necessary for widespread,…


Book cover of Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy

Robert Isaak Why did I love this book?

Schumpeter’s book is not only a classic, but explains what we are experiencing and need to focus upon.

He argues that in the ‘creative destruction’ of capitalism, the entrepreneurs are the vanguard of economic growth. But the late stages of capitalism lead to so much focus upon efficiency that leisure overwhelms the motive to work (French society where less than a third in polls believe work to be important and there are mass protests against pension reform??).

This, in turn, leads to social movements against capitalist efficiencies which inevitably result in socialism replacing capitalism and undermining sustainable democracy.

By Joseph A Schumpeter,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

“Joseph Schumpeter’s classic Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy explains the process of capitalism’s 'creative destruction' — a key principle in understanding the logic of globalization." — Thomas L. Friedman, Foreign Policy

In this definitive third and final edition (1950) of his prophetic masterwork, Joseph A. Schumpeter introduced the world to the concept of “creative destruction,” which forever altered how global economics is approached and perceived. Now featuring a new introduction by Pulitzer Prize-winning Schumpeter biographer Thomas K. McCraw, Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy is essential read­ing for anyone who seeks to understand where the world economy is headed.

“If Keynes was the…


Book cover of Capital in the Twenty-First Century

Robert Isaak Why did I love this book?

Piketty uses tax receipts of past decades in developed economies to show that wealth increasing comes from capital, not labor, greatly increasing the gap between the rich and the poor (I anticipated this argument in my 2005 book).

His analysis demonstrates the importance of regulating the clearly unrestrained risks of capitalism. But whether his solution of a global wealth tax is realizable is an open question.

By Thomas Piketty, Arthur Goldhammer (translator),

Why should I read it?

5 authors picked Capital in the Twenty-First Century as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A New York Times #1 Bestseller
An Amazon #1 Bestseller
A Wall Street Journal #1 Bestseller
A USA Today Bestseller
A Sunday Times Bestseller
A Guardian Best Book of the 21st Century
Winner of the Financial Times and McKinsey Business Book of the Year Award
Winner of the British Academy Medal
Finalist, National Book Critics Circle Award

What are the grand dynamics that drive the accumulation and distribution of capital? Questions about the long-term evolution of inequality, the concentration of wealth, and the prospects for economic growth lie at the heart of political economy. But satisfactory answers have been hard…


Book cover of Irrational Exuberance

Robert Isaak Why did I love this book?

Shiller predicted both the dot-com crisis (2001) and the financial crisis stemming from real estate (2008) in advance in two editions of this book.

Since receiving the Nobel prize in economics he published his book Narrative Economics: How Stories Go Viral which together with the book recommended will help the reader predict the timing of coming economic trends.

By Robert J. Shiller,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Irrational Exuberance as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In this revised, updated, and expanded edition of his New York Times bestseller, Nobel Prize-winning economist Robert Shiller, who warned of both the tech and housing bubbles, cautions that signs of irrational exuberance among investors have only increased since the 2008-9 financial crisis. With high stock and bond prices and the rising cost of housing, the post-subprime boom may well turn out to be another illustration of Shiller's influential argument that psychologically driven volatility is an inherent characteristic of all asset markets. In other words, Irrational Exuberance is as relevant as ever. Previous editions covered the stock and housing markets--and…


Book cover of Megathreats: Ten Dangerous Trends That Imperil Our Future, and How to Survive Them

Robert Isaak Why did I love this book?

‘Dr. Doom’ (he prefers ‘Dr. Realist’) gives a lucid summary of major threats confronting the global economy and possible policy changes to alleviate them.

This book is well written and hits the nails all on the head with his diagnosis and possible corrective policies. His YouTube interview on his book is brilliant, so I need not say more.

By Nouriel Roubini,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Megathreats as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A Financial Times Economics Book of the Year
A Times Business Book of the Year
A Sunday Independent (Ireland) Book of the Year

'People who like horror films will love this book' Financial Times

'Forewarned is forearmed. Read and pay attention' Martin Wolf

'Not only will the reader be better off after reading this book, but the world will be a better place' Nassim Nicholas Taleb

We are heading towards the worst economic catastrophe of our lifetimes - unless we can defend against ten terrifying threats.

World renowned economist Nouriel Roubini was nicknamed Dr. Doom until his warnings of the…


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American Flygirl

By Susan Tate Ankeny,

Book cover of American Flygirl

Susan Tate Ankeny Author Of The Girl and the Bombardier: A True Story of Resistance and Rescue in Nazi-Occupied France

New book alert!

Why am I passionate about this?

Susan Tate Ankeny left a career in teaching to write the story of her father’s escape from Nazi-occupied France. In 2011, after being led on his path through France by the same Resistance fighters who guided him in 1944, she felt inspired to tell the story of these brave French patriots, especially the 17-year-old- girl who risked her own life to save her father’s. Susan is a member of the 8th Air Force Historical Society, the Air Force Escape and Evasion Society, and the Association des Sauveteurs d’Aviateurs Alliés. 

Susan's book list on women during WW2

What is my book about?

The first and only full-length biography of Hazel Ying Lee, an unrecognized pioneer and unsung World War II hero who fought for a country that actively discriminated against her gender, race, and ambition.

This unique hidden figure defied countless stereotypes to become the first Asian American woman in United States history to earn a pilot's license, and the first female Asian American pilot to fly for the military.

Her achievements, passionate drive, and resistance in the face of oppression as a daughter of Chinese immigrants and a female aviator changed the course of history. Now the remarkable story of a fearless underdog finally surfaces to inspire anyone to reach toward the sky.

American Flygirl

By Susan Tate Ankeny,

What is this book about?

One of WWII’s most uniquely hidden figures, Hazel Ying Lee was the first Asian American woman to earn a pilot’s license, join the WASPs, and fly for the United States military amid widespread anti-Asian sentiment and policies.

Her singular story of patriotism, barrier breaking, and fearless sacrifice is told for the first time in full for readers of The Women with Silver Wings by Katherine Sharp Landdeck, A Woman of No Importance by Sonia Purnell, The Last Boat Out of Shanghai by Helen Zia, Facing the Mountain by Daniel James Brown and all Asian American, women’s and WWII history books.…


5 book lists we think you will like!

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