Working Through the Book Log

The Savers-Spenders Theory of Fiscal Policy

2009-05-29T09:12:00.000-07:00

The Savers-Spenders Theory of Fiscal Policy[pdf]

Mankiw creates a simple heterogeneous theory - positing that some people have very high discount rates and some people have very low discount rates, then cranks through the math. Most of his conclusions seem to fit my intuitions, although I suppose that doesn't actually mean anything.

The value of not being sure

2009-05-27T07:16:00.000-07:00

The value of not being sure

A two page article, originally published in Value Investor Insight, is a terse, deeply insightful look at the current market thought a value investor's eyes. I have just been turned on to the author Seth Klarman; if this is his usual manner of thinking, I feel certain I will not be disappointed in the future.

Duffer's Drift

2009-04-28T09:55:00.001-07:00

Duffer's Drift

This is a fun little book about small unit tactic - some basic lessons that anyone who is an armchair tactician should keep tucked in the back of their heads.

MauMauing the Flak Catchers

2009-01-30T03:32:00.001-08:00

MauMauing the Flak Catchers

Nice essay by Tom Wolfe. It's a nice dose to counter (unwarranted) idealism.

Biohazard

2008-07-15T03:00:00.000-07:00

This is one of the most frightening books I have ever read. Ever.

Biohazard is the memoirs of Dr. Kanatjan Alibekov (Kenneth Alibek), one of the chief scientists and administrators of the Soviet bioweapons program. He was instrumental in the creation of a number of bioweapons including Smallpox, Anthrax and Bubonic Plague. The book mainly covers the political aspects of the programs, who was in charge, who supported what, what the fallout from various accidents like the Anthrax leak at Sverdlosk and how the Soviet Union dealt with inspections from the US. Towards the end of the book, Alibekov talks about some of the issues that caused him to defect to the US in 1992 as well as political issues facing the world, relating to bioweapons, caused by the fall of the Soviet Union.

The Design of Everyday Things

2008-07-11T23:36:00.000-07:00

One of the truly great books about design. This book mostly focuses on designing things so that they are easy to use by people.

The main thrust of the book is thinking about where information about how to do things "lives". The book claims that this information lives in one of three places - in the mind, in the world, and in constraints in the world. The book goes on to make a very convincing argument that moving as much knowledge as possible out of the mind and into the world, or constraints in the world is a good idea as it saves human cognitive capacity - people don't have to learn how to do things, they just do them naturally.

There are a number of suggestions as to how to accomplish this:

Appearances should reflect reality

People can become superstitious easily - combat this by giving them good mental models

Make feedback immediate and unambiguous

Make it easy to analogize new activities to ones that people are already familiar with

Precision is only needed to distinguish between choices - make them look different from each other

Design Multi-functionality carefully, it is difficult to predict users' actions

Easy decisions are either narrow or shallow. Don't make users play chess

The book goes into these principles in a great deal of detail with some lovely examples that make these principles quite obvious. All in all an excellent book. I can't wait to read the others in the series.

101 Things I Learned in Architecture School

2008-07-11T23:25:00.000-07:00

An amazing introductory book about architecture. Each idea is layed out in a very straightforward manner with a minimum amount of text and a well done picture. The design of this book is fabulous. You should be able to work your way through this book in an hour or so, but the lessons will last you a lifetime.

The main lessons of the book were on two general subjects: the management of space and ways to give people an experience.

When managing space, be aware of the difference between positive and negative space, how asymetry affects buildings and the people in and around them, and strive for "emergent simplicity" over complexity.

When giving people an experience, deviate from norms only with a good reason, what is hidden can be as important as what is shown, particularly when framing views, etc., and contrast accentuates statements.

There is no way that I could accurately summarize the contents of this book - it is about as concise as possible while transmitting a good amount of knowledge. Go out and read it, you won't regret it.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time

2008-06-29T05:56:00.000-07:00

A fantastic book by Mark Haddon, written as if authored by the main character in the book, in this case a young boy with Asperger's Syndrome. Since the entire point of the book is that one gets into the mind of the protagonist as one reads the book, it is quite difficult to adequately describe. The main salient point is the lack of emotional competency of the main character. He spends most of the book either not actively experiencing emotion or being overwhelmed by it, presumably as a real autistic child would.

Beyond that, the story is simply a well-written children's story about a boy who deals with some difficult discoveries in life.

Flowers for Algernon

2008-01-03T17:47:00.000-08:00

This book is amazing.

First of all, there is the literal story. Amazingly poignant. The story is about a retarded man who agrees to be part of an experimental surgery to try to make him more intelligent. The book is about that man's life as he tries to deal with the life that unfolds before him - all of the parts of life that were hidden to him because of his low intellect are suddenly burst open in very rapid order.

What makes this book stand apart, though, is its form: it is written as a series of journal entries. All throughout the book, the entries match Charlie's (the man) mental state - one can observe Charlie's growing mental acumen, not just be told about it. One can observe Charlie's moods, the differing speeds at which he matures intellectually and emotionally, and the amazing ending of the book.

This has easily become one of my top ten novels of all time.

Atlas Shrugged

2007-10-16T15:50:00.000-07:00

After reading The Fountainhead, I head to hit up Rand's other books. They just make so much sense.

Atlas Shrugged is Rand's Pièce de résistance. It is both a very similar novel to The Fountainhead and very different. One of the things that I noticed right away was the vague disdain for architecture that permeates Atlas Shrugged. This makes sense to a certain extent - a person can only specialize in a few aspects of life - but it was jarring after reading The Fountainhead so recently.

If you are a big fan of Objectivism, the famed speech at the end of Atlas Shrugged, made my John Galt is nearly a complete defense of Objectivism. As a reader of literature, however, I found that the speech was quite overdone. Showing instead of telling is one of the primary attributes that makes great literature, great literature. Rand does an excellent job of showing people how to live a great life and what it means to both be alive, and to prosper. The length of the ending speech detracted from the rest of book in that it seemed superfluous, and almost distracting in its depth and scope.

Be that as it may, Atlas Shrugged is a true masterpiece. If nothing else, it will help to change the way you think about industry and capitalism. Highly recommended.

FMFM 1A, Fourth Generation Warfare

2007-10-08T00:03:00.000-07:00

FMFM 1A, Fourth Generation Warfare[pdf]

A quick primer on fourth generation warfare by the Defense and National Interest website, as well as other types of warfare and how they differ from each other. If you've heard of fourth generation warfare, but don't really understand what it means and how it differs from the others, this is a nice intro text.

The Fountainhead

2007-10-08T00:00:00.000-07:00

Easily one of my favorite books. It is hard to describe what I felt the first time I read this book - it was as if the world crystallized; thousands of ideas were shown to be mere facets of a single central idea. The closest example I can think of is the feeling the Ancient Greeks would experience if introduced to Newtonian Physics by some intrepid time traveler.

A Random Walk Down Wallstreet

2007-10-07T23:55:00.000-07:00

Quite possibly on of the greatest books on investing in stocks and bonds. The author, Burton Malkiel, is a legend - on the board of Vanguard. He generally comes out with a new version of the book every few years. If you only read one investment book ever, this is the one to read.

The Bridge to Teribithia

2007-10-07T14:59:00.000-07:00

I've read it so many times I've lost count. Very well written for a children's book. The movie does not do it justice.