TeralasersBookList
Well, I figured I wanted a favorite book list now that clausen had one (at link )
- Stuart Kauffman : Investigations .
If you ever read Penrose or Stephen Hawkings, prepare to levitate to a new level. Stuart Kauffman argues for a missing "complexity law" in connection with thermodynamics. After a "tour de force" through the systems of life and thermodynamics, Kauffmann argues for this missing law. For us #economists, Kauffman included a chapter on the econosphere as he calls it. It is certainly a very interesting way to view economics, as opposed to the (in my opinion) dull and "stone-age"-like theorem such as efficient market theorems etc., especially if you are interested in innovation.
- Kevin Phillips : Wealth and Democracy
Kevin Phillips' books can rightly be accused of being a bit repetitive and very detailed-oriented. Nevertheless, his account of bubbles and booms (from the 1500ths), taxes, rich people during the times and the impact on society is a very interesting story , and a source for endless quotes. For instance, who is the richest person in all history ? How much does the 1% of society pay in taxes of their income ? When was the top tax margin in the U.S. 90% ?
- Michael Christensen : The Innovator's Dilemma & Geoffrey A. Moore, Paul Johnson & Tom Kippola : The Gorilla Game
Another set of books for (technology) innovators. In these books the authors describe why often small companies can outdo big ones repeatedly in history. The "small innovators" take up new technologies. At first they have a limited market, so they don't have the attention of the big companies, because the big companies need to concentrate on how to grow 10% or so. They concentrate on this limited market, but eventually their technology slowly improves to the level where they outdo the bigger corporations. Christensen especially has many well-selected and simple examples of this phenonomen, while Moore et al. focuses more on identifying new "dilemmas" and what circumstances make them possible.
... if you liked the list so far, perhaps I include some more later on.
