Brett

Irritating narration, vague writing

Revisado: 02-09-18

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

Can be very thought provoking at times

If you’ve listened to books by Joshua Cooper Ramo before, how does this one compare?

I've seen him speak in person and he's much better in an hour long format.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Joshua Cooper Ramo?

Normally, I like when an author reads their own work. Perhaps this was Ramo's first time? He.speaks.as.if.there.is.a.period.between.every.word and it is maddening. Like having a debate with Captain Kirk. His. narration. drove. me. nuts.

Could you see The Seventh Sense being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

No

Any additional comments?

Can be exceptionally thought provoking at times, but thoughts are only vaguely connected and can be lost in the long winded stories.

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esto le resultó útil a 1 persona

Ok. Could have been half the length.

Revisado: 01-31-18

What did you like best about Who Gets What - And Why? What did you like least?

There are some fascinating insights in the book.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

Meh

Was Who Gets What - And Why worth the listening time?

Not sure. There ARE some fascinating insights, but the book is terribly long winded and filled with unnecessary detail which exhaustingly drags out the points being made. It's almost as if the author wanted it to be part memoir. Like a Russian novel, the material/story could/should have be made in a fraction of the length.

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Excellent! Important perspective.

Revisado: 08-24-17

Would you listen to The Demon-Haunted World again? Why?

Yes, it is a brilliant way to reinforce logical thinking.

What do you think the narrator could have done better?

Talk smoothly instead of so choppy. Pretty sure the English accented narrator was inserting pauses and commas where none exist.

Any additional comments?

Seth McFarlane read chapters are ex excellently read. If only he read the whole book.

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Meh

Revisado: 02-16-17

What would have made The Ascent of Money better?

More understanding of economics by the author. If you don't know anything about the evolution of money, then this is an ok start. But the author (a historian) makes a lot of assertions and implications that simply aren't so. His hindsight bias is so strong, it is laughable (he always saw things coming, but others don't). He extrapolates into the future and is dead wrong. As a history professor, he should have stuck to history and not veered so far into economics.

Would you ever listen to anything by Niall Ferguson again?

Probably not

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First Level Thinking

Revisado: 09-28-15

What would have made The Era of Uncertainty better?

Famed investor Howard Marks refers to "first level thinking" as the obvious- what everyone sees. It is obvious and unsophisticated. This book encourages simplistic first-level textbook driven macroeconomics. And it is particularly not worth anyone's time since it really doesn't offer any useful strategies, only vague warnings.The author's owe anyone who took their warnings and ideas at face value their money back and then some. Nearly everything predicted in this book turned out wrong. We're still waiting for inflation, the dollar is at new highs, gold, oil and commodities are down.

Would you ever listen to anything by Francois Trahan and Katherine Krantz again?

Probably not but I'd love to know what rationalizations they are using to comfort themselves with? I'd read their explanation of how they could be so ruinously wrong.

What do you think the narrator could have done better?

Pronounce finance words/terms correctly, like REIT is "reet" not "right".

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Meh. Not worth the time.

Revisado: 01-25-14

What did you like best about Mass Flourishing? What did you like least?

The performance is excellent. The case is disjointed.

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

The author occasionally provides a thought provoking idea or observations, but none that can't be gleaned from other sources.

Did Mass Flourishing inspire you to do anything?

Write this review to save others from this diatribe.

Any additional comments?

I read a lot of economic books and am fairly well versed in this area and found this book not worth the time. The first half is yet another lesson in laissez faire libertarianism. As if anyone reading this book needs another lesson on the subject. The second half of the book is a long-winded diatribe that never seems to sum anything up. Concepts are fuzzy and policy prescriptions are seemingly at odds with the author's view. For example, he proposes a hands off government approach AND NEW GSEs or direct government involvement in banking in some cases. Some things in the book appear outright intellectually dishonest, such as his claim that mutual fund managers hold CEOs hostage to meet the quarterly numbers. This simply does not happen because MF managers don't have that kind of power! In almost the same breath, the author praises hedge fund managers as efficiently allocating the country's capital! Apparently, the author lives in some sort of academic bubble, preferring to apply what he thinks is the real world to his arguments. Both of these assertions couldn't be further from the truth.He goes so far as to criticize the younger generation for being too consumed with social media, for not knowing solitude and thus not being creative and having original thoughts. As if creativity and original thought hasn't exploded on the web! I picture an old curmudgeon writing that section while yelling out the window at kids to get off his lawn and proceeding to say "in my generation...". For someone supposedly writing on "progress", his own bias against modern technology is truly astounding.My review is already too long. Just get one of the many other books on the subject instead.

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Great book; terrible performance and editing

Revisado: 10-09-13

What didn’t you like about Adam Zink’s performance?

Sounds like a high school senior is reading the book. In addition, the editing is worse than amateur- a lot of sentences have clear demarcations where an edit was inserted at a different volume!

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Great book; poor reading

Revisado: 08-22-13

What made the experience of listening to Market Wizards the most enjoyable?

The concept and the content are excellent. The performance is irritating. I'm shocked no one caught two things in particular: First, "Keynesian" is pronounced "Cane-see-an" not "Kensianism"! Anyone with some economics would know that. Second, there are several places where the studio conversation is not edited out and you can hear things like "reading the interview answers now, go".

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esto le resultó útil a 6 personas