Another recommendation, this one from Peter Weston, and another vacation read, was this thoroughly enjoyable review of just how far up the creek we are in the financial canoe.
Peter is one of those friends who manages to have an intelligent and often violently funny opinion on virtually any topic. This leads to hugely enjoyable, but all too rare (he lives in the UK) face to face meetings, and occasional trading of observations, gossip, and jokes by text.
This book covers many of those news items that, if you're like me, just prove that first reactions like "how on earth did someone with that little experience get catapulted into a position where they could influence the spending of billions of dollars on worthless junk?" are so often proved worryingly accurate.
Topics include:
Wall Street on The Tundra. The stock market rennaisance, and bomb, in Iceland, by a nation of fishermen who were absolutely convinced they were ideally placed, and possessed of divine right to set up a market, and sell slices of what proved to be suicidally bad investments in futures, derivatives, and other toxic financial instruments.
And They Invented Math. The similarly ill-advised positions taken by a nation of tax dodgers - i.e. Greece - and the swift plunge they consequently experienced into the European financial toilet.
Ireland's Original Sin. On the back of newly-minted European Community investment in what became the largest road network in the most pointless of locations - Ireland, this nation of hod carriers have built a countryside full of housing estates, office blocks, and pubic buildings that no-one wants or can afford to buy. Includes reference to that fabulous quote from Bertie Ahern, Irish prime minister: "Lehmans was a world investment bank. They had testicles everywhere".
The Secret Lives of Germans. The curious case of the Germans, who despite their financial probity and - maybe because of - their predilection for fecal rather than fiscal debate, now find themselves having to fund the mistakes of other EC members.
Too Fat To Fly. An examination of the parlous state of the State - and City - finances in the USA. The fact that I live in the number one financially buggered State, California, fills me with nothing but dread.
Ah well, it was fun being able to laugh at this excellently written situation report.
No comments:
Post a Comment