Germany's top 10 books on money and success
What’s the best book on money and economics to read this year? "Silicon Germany" by Christoph Keese was just awarded the German Book Prize of Economics. Here's what it is about plus some of the runners-up.
The Winner - Digi-what?
Welcome to Germany, welcome to a country of engineers, welcome to the digital stone age! Christoph Keese's "Silicon Germany. How we'll manage the Digital Transformation" is an attempt to find out how Germany could get its act together innovation-wise and avoid becoming a tech museum in the long run.
It's the market, stupid!
Free markets provide material well-being, right? Wrong! Markets are filled with tricks and traps trying to fool us, George Akerlof and Robert Shiller argue in "Phishing for Fools." Rational people making rational decisions? More like: If you don’t watch out, you'll get ripped off!
Oddballs make it happen
Your browser indicates whether you're an innovator or not (default Internet Explorer or Safari means you like your comfort zone). AdamGrant's "How Non-Conformists Move the World" reveals those who explore may also be happier! He makes a case for procrastination and finds out why oddballs excel in some areas, while failing in others.
Digi-what?
Welcome to Germany, welcome to a country of engineers, welcome to the digital stone age! Christoph Keese's "How we'll manage the Digital Transformation" is an attempt to find out how Germany could get its act together innovation-wise and avoid becoming a tech museum in the long run.
The big C
What if capitalism were done? In Paul Mason's "PostCapitalism: A Guide to our Future," state-owned banks would print as much money as they need. He thinks it would lower global debt and result in the redistribution of wealth. Sounds like socialism? Yes, a bit, except in his world, there is no centralized planning. Instead big data will rule the decision-making process.
Robotopia
He wrote a book on innovation for Barack Obama's first presidential campaign. Now, he wants to dispel our fears of an ever more digitalized world where daily chores will be done by machines. Alec Ross' "The Industries of the Future" asks how we prepare our children for a world of robots, genetics, cybercriminals and digital warfare.
More than a game (theory)
Alvin Roth has "Who gets What and Why" for us. If you're wondering how to get your kid into that popular school, this book is for you. Roth uses game theory to get the best out of markets not determined by price. He's also worth a read for those in the digital dating market and plays the match-maker for organizations and hospitals for example, looking for the right employees - or kidney donors.
Economists are overrated
What really happened that dramatic night when Greece faced financial doom? "Anders gemeinsam" comes straight from the quill of the French and German finance ministers. Both Sapin and Schäuble don't trust economists in general (and Alexis Tsipras in particular). On everything else, they fight.
Volkswagen scrutinized
Power struggles, cheating devices and a failed race to become the world's top carmaker have put Volkswagen into crisis mode. What role management played and how the company's corporate culture brought the auto empire to its knees - plus what's typically German about it, Mark C. Schneider dissects in "Volkswagen: Eine deutsche Geschichte."
Cut it out!
His provocative, sometimes even polemic statements in public have made Hans-Werner Sinn a controversial figure in German economics. Now, he has fired up an analysis of the euro crisis. In "Von der Friedensinsel zum Zankapfel," Hans-Werner Sinn blames the euro itself for many of the problems peripheral euro area nations are confronted with today.
New way of doing business
Critics hail her book as a rare (and readable) gemstone written by a politician. The head of Germany’s Left party isn't afraid of taking the bull by the horns: Misguided state intervention, erratic central banks, mega-mergers and greedy investment bankers all feature in Sahra Wagenknecht's "Reichtum ohne Gier" (Wealth without Greed)."