
As Gods Among Men
A History of the Rich in the West
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Narrated by:
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Peter Noble
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By:
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Guido Alfani
About this listen
The rich have always fascinated, sometimes in problematic ways. Medieval thinkers feared that the super-rich would act "as gods among men"; much more recently Thomas Piketty made wealth central to discussions of inequality. In this book, Guido Alfani offers a history of the rich and super-rich in the West, examining who they were, how they accumulated their wealth, and what role they played in society. Covering the last thousand years, with frequent incursions into antiquity, and integrating recent research on economic inequality, Alfani finds fundamental continuities in the behavior of the rich and public attitudes towards wealth across Western history.
Alfani argues that the position of the rich and super-rich in Western society has always been intrinsically fragile; their very presence has inspired social unease. In the Middle Ages, an excessive accumulation of wealth was considered sinful; the rich were expected not to appear to be wealthy. Eventually, the rich were deemed useful when they used their wealth to help their communities in times of crisis. Yet in the twenty-first century, the rich and the super-rich have been exceptionally reluctant to contribute to the common good in times of crisis, rejecting even such stopgap measures as temporary tax increases. History suggests that this is a troubling development-for the rich, and for everyone else.
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Delay Deny Defend
- Why Insurance Companies Don’t Pay Claims and What You Can Do About It
- By: Jay M. Feinman
- Narrated by: Pat Grimes
- Length: 8 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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The denial of valid insurance claims is not occasional or accidental or the fault of a few bad employees. It's the result of an increasing and systematic focus on maximizing profits by major companies such as Allstate and State Farm. Citing dozens of stories of victims who were unfairly denied payment, the book explains how people can be more careful when shopping for policies and what to do when pursuing a disputed claim. It also lays out a plan for the legal reforms needed to prevent future abuses.
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prolonged and dry
- By Robert Katuna on 05-20-25
By: Jay M. Feinman
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How Brands Grow
- What Marketers Don't Know
- By: Byron Sharp
- Narrated by: Daniel May
- Length: 6 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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This audiobook provides evidence-based answers to the key questions asked by marketers every day. Tackling issues such as how brands grow, how advertising really works, what price promotions really do and how loyalty programs really affect loyalty, How Brands Grow presents decades of research in a style that is written for marketing professionals to grow their brands.
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WARNING: "Empirical" Slight of Hand
- By M on 03-10-18
By: Byron Sharp
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Investing in U.S. Financial History
- Understanding the Past to Forecast the Future
- By: Mark J. Higgins CFA CFP®
- Narrated by: Fred Sanders
- Length: 19 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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Most people rely only on their life experience to make investment decisions. This causes them to overlook cyclical forces that repeatedly reshape economies and markets. Investing in U.S. Financial History fills this void by recounting the comprehensive financial history of the United States of America. It begins with Alexander Hamilton’s financial programs in 1790 and ends with the Federal Reserve’s battle with inflation in 2023. Investing in U.S. Financial History reveals that there is almost no financial event that is unprecedented.
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A treasure for finance and history lovers!
- By Businesswoman on 05-14-25
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Barbarians at the Gate
- The Fall of RJR Nabisco
- By: Bryan Burrough, John Helyar
- Narrated by: Eric Jason Martin
- Length: 22 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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A number-one New York Times best seller and arguably the best business narrative ever written, Barbarians at the Gate is the classic account of the fall of RJR Nabisco. An enduring masterpiece of investigative journalism by Bryan Burrough and John Helyar, it includes a new afterword by the authors that brings this remarkable story of greed and double-dealings up to date 20 years after the famed deal.
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Good book but too dense
- By Andrew M. on 08-01-21
By: Bryan Burrough, and others
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The Algebra of Happiness
- Notes on the Pursuit of Success, Love, and Meaning
- By: Scott Galloway
- Narrated by: Scott Galloway
- Length: 3 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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Scott Galloway teaches brand strategy at NYU's Stern School of Business, but his most popular lectures deal with life strategy, not business. The Algebra of Happiness: Notes on the Pursuit of Success, Love, and Meaning draws on Professor Galloway's mix of anecdotes and no-BS insight to share hard-won wisdom about life's challenges, along with poignant personal stories.
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Too bland and unmotivational for my taste.
- By tloco6 on 06-23-19
By: Scott Galloway
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I'm Thinking of Ending Things
- By: Iain Reid
- Narrated by: Candace Thaxton
- Length: 5 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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In this deeply scary and intensely unnerving debut novel, Jake and a woman known only as "The Girlfriend" are on a drive to visit his parents at their secluded farm. But when Jake leaves "The Girlfriend" stranded at an abandoned high school, what follows is a twisted unraveling of the darkest unease, an exploration into psychological frailty, and an ending as suspenseful as The Usual Suspects and as haunting as Misery.
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What a ride! This is a must read!
- By Elizabeth on 06-15-16
By: Iain Reid
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The Algebra of Wealth
- A Simple Formula for Financial Security
- By: Scott Galloway
- Narrated by: Scott Galloway
- Length: 8 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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Today’s workers have more opportunities and mobility than any generation before. They also face unprecedented challenges, including inflation, labor and housing shortages, and climate volatility. Even the notion of retirement is undergoing a profound rethink, as our lifespans extend and our relationship with work evolves. In this environment, the tried-and-true financial advice our parents followed is no longer enough. It’s time for a new playbook. In The Algebra of Wealth, Galloway lays bare the rules of financial success in today's economy.
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Great money/life advice to young people
- By Pat Rios on 04-30-24
By: Scott Galloway
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Capital in the Twenty-First Century
- By: Thomas Piketty, Arthur Goldhammer - translator
- Narrated by: L. J. Ganser
- Length: 24 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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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 to find for lack of adequate data and clear guiding theories.
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The Financial Times' Critique Doesn't Detract
- By Madeleine on 05-22-14
By: Thomas Piketty, and others
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Blood over Bright Haven
- A Novel
- By: M. L. Wang
- Narrated by: Moira Quirk
- Length: 15 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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For twenty years, Sciona has devoted every waking moment to the study of magic, fueled by a mad desire to achieve the impossible: to be the first woman ever admitted to the High Magistry at the University of Magics and Industry. When Sciona finally achieves her ambition and becomes a Highmage, she finds her challenges have just begun. Her new colleagues are determined to make her feel unwelcome—and instead of a qualified lab assistant they give her a janitor.
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Frustrating
- By Amazon Customer on 01-02-25
By: M. L. Wang
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How Countries Go Broke
- The Big Cycle
- By: Ray Dalio
- Narrated by: Jeremy Bobb, Ray Dalio
- Length: 9 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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How Countries Go Broke also shows how these debt problems are related to the other forces—political within countries, geopolitical between countries, natural (droughts, floods, and pandemics), and technological (most importantly, AI)—that together are causing what Dalio calls the “Overall Big Cycle” changes in the world order. By listening this audiobook, you will improve your understanding of what’s happening now and what to do about it.
By: Ray Dalio
Sympathy for the devil
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