Ford Library

Morgenson, Gretchen and Joshua Rosner. Reckles$ endangerment : how outsized ambition, greed, and corruption led to economic armageddon. Henry Holt and Co., 2011.

Why read another book on the housing bubble and financial crisis that led to the recent recession? If you have read the numerous other books released in the past several years and are not familiar with name James Johnson, then that is a reason enough.

The other accounts have understated the role of Johnson, the Chief Executive of Fannie Mae from 1991-1998. Gretchen Morgenson, a New York Times reporter, and Joshua Rosner, an adviser to the financial industry, target Johnson as the architect of the private-public partnership to promote the home ownership drive.

Interestingly, Johnson and the other players in the book draw strikingly familiar parallels to Ayn Rand’s characters a half century ago. Rand demonstrated what can happen if unscrupulous characters in the private sector and the government form an alliance. Although Rand’s characters are fictional, unfortunately Reckless Endangerment’s are not.
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Milbank, Dana. Tears of a clown : Glenn Beck and the tea bagging of America. Doubleday, 2010.

Casey Anthony was declared not guilty and released from prison in July.  People were outraged.  Crowds chanted outside the prison.  Facebook and Twitter exploded with emotion.  Celebrities vented their shock and disbelief.  Even Kim Kardashian said she was speechless, and it was her father who got O.J. Simpson off from his murder charge.

Many people enjoy being outraged, the intense emotion providing a rush, spiking excitement into an ordinary day.  If you enjoy raging against the atrocious, consider the book Tears of a Clown, by Dana Milbank.

Author and journalist Dana Milbank tells the story of how a self-confessed “recovering dirtbag” ends up as the deranged and/or brilliant Glenn Beck on Fox television, where he rants nightly, shouting, smiling and weeping.  Beck refers to himself as a schmo, yet he lives in a walled community in Connecticut and manages a business empire earning $32 million a year.  He calls his enemies Nazis, makes anti-Semitic remarks and lambasts the “evil SOB, Woodrow Wilson.”  Beck lies, exaggerates, and distorts the truth.  But Milbank says all the craziness is for show and Beck is a gifted performer.

Since this book was written, Beck lost his spot on Fox, because his ratings fell to rock bottom and ad revenues dried up.  His last show was on June 30.  Without a TV platform, Beck and his media business may fade into the woodwork.    But for now, Milbank’s book makes for entertaining reading.

© Reviewer: Meg Trauner & Ford Library – Fuqua School of Business.
All rights reserved.

Farewell, dear students.

We say goodbye to Fuqua students, and extend our best wishes to those graduating at the close the 2010-11 academic year.   We hope that in the coming months, you will discover quiet moments to enjoy reading something refreshing – in airport terminals, at the beach or before turning in for the night.

As a parting gift, below are quick summaries of 10 new books, covering topics from advertising to work.   You can download this list along with reviews of 10 additional titles in this PDF document. I hope you enjoy them.

Good luck, everyone!

The Age of Persuasion: How Marketing Ate our Culture
By Terry O’Reilly and Mike Tennant
Witty creators of the Age of Persuasion radio series explain why some ads work and some don’t; how marketing and advertising depend on each other;  and how they affect our everyday lives.

Being the Boss: The 3 Imperatives for Becoming a Great Leader
By Linda A. Hill and Kent Lineback
Becoming a  good boss takes years of learning and practice.  This book shows how to manage yourself, your network and your team.

Bought and Paid For: The Unholy Alliance Between Barack Obama and Wall Street
By Charles Gasparino
Fox News reporter Gasparino argues that the White House rewarded its most powerful campaign donors in the financial industry by structuring the bailout in a way that let the biggest banks earn massive profits.

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Selections from Library Journal’s list of the Best Business Books of 2010, with annotations edited by Meg Trauner, Ford Library Director. You can also download the full listing as an annotated PDF here.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY/BIOGRAPHY

Bennis, Warren with Patricia Ward Biederman. Still Surprised: A Memoir of a Life in Leadership.

Recounts Bennis’s early experiences as a World War II soldier and Antioch College student, as well as stories from his academic career with notable colleagues including Doug McGregor, Erik Erikson, Werner Erhard, and Tom Peters.

BUSINESS/CORPORATE HISTORY

Carey, David & John E. Morris. King of Capital: The Remarkable Rise, Fall, and Rise Again of Steve Schwarzman and Blackstone.

Presents the world of private equity and buyouts by focusing on the Blackstone firm and its principal, Steve Schwarzman. Also available as an audiobook.

ECONOMICS/U.S. ECONOMY

Gwartney, James D. & others. Common Sense Economics: What Everyone Should Know About Wealth and Prosperity.

Explains basic economic ideas and theories, and discusses the interplay of politics and economics, while making suggestions for practicing personal financial responsibility.

2007–08 FINANCIAL CRISIS

Johnson, Simon & James Kwak. 13 Bankers: The Wall Street Takeover and the Next Financial Meltdown.

Explores the historical background in the Founding Fathers’ debate on banking and financial institutions and assert that the bailouts of America’s largest banks have made them bigger, more powerful, and more dangerous. Read our full review here.

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Three engaging new books capture the success and significance of larger-than-life businessmen, Sir Thomas Lipman, Albert Lasker and Felix Rohatyn.

D’Antonio, Michael. A full cup : Sir Thomas Lipton’s extraordinary life and his quest for the America’s Cup. Riverhead Books, 2010.

A self-made man and millionaire tea baron became the first celebrity CEO through endless self-promotion.  In the last half of his life, he allowed his business to erode while he sought fame in yachting.

Cruikshank, Jeffrey L. The man who sold America : the amazing (but true!) story of Albert D. Lasker and the creation of the advertising century. Harvard Business Review Press, 2010.

A portrait of the man who took the concept “Advertising is salesmanship in print,” and created the most powerful advertising agency in the world, turning brands like Sunkist, Kleenex and Lucky Strike into household names.

Rohatyn, Felix G. Dealings : a political and financial life. Simon & Schuster, 2010.

A personal account of a Jewish boy who escaped Nazi-occupied France in 1940 and grew up to become CEO of Lazard Freres, which transformed the entertainment industry through M&A.  Later in life he saved NYC from bankruptcy and then returned to France as US ambassador.

© Reviewer: Meg Trauner & Ford Library – Fuqua School of Business.
All rights reserved.

Today (April 20) is the one year anniversary of the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the worst oil disaster in American waters in history. The catastrophe began with a series of explosions on the drilling rig, Deepwater Horizon, which killed 11 crew members and caused an massive eruption on the wellhead on the ocean floor. The oil gushed for 10 weeks, releasing 20 times more oil than the Exxon Valdez, killing wildlife and ruining the livelihoods of thousands of people who make their living in and around the Gulf.

The two books below provide clear accounts of the disaster, detailing what actually happened and why. BP is one of the largest and most profitable oil companies in the world and promotes its green efforts. Yet corporate policies for cost cutting and for rushing to pump oil led to shortchanged safety features that protect both drilling employees and the environment. Routine maintenance was shoddy and safety improvements were postponed. Federal regulators also share in the blame for not noticing.

BP has paid billions of dollars to victims, yet management has admitted nothing that would lead to a reform of corporate culture. This disaster is ripe for repeat.

Steffy, Loren C. Drowning in oil : BP and the reckless pursuit of profit. McGraw-Hill, 2011.

Business journalist from the Houston Chronicle provides a clear, thorough and readable account of the disaster, analyzing its roots and implications.

Freudenburg, William R. Blowout in the Gulf : the BP oil spill disaster and the future of energy in America. MIT Press, 2011.

Two environmental scholars provide insights into BP, industrial risk-taking, and the histories of oil exploration and US energy policy.

© Reviewer: Meg Trauner & Ford Library – Fuqua School of Business.
All rights reserved.

Turkle, Sherry. Alone together : why we expect more from technology and less from each other. Basic Books, 2011.

When Duke’s Bostock Library was dedicated in 2005, the speaker from EDUCOM noted that the current generation of students used technology constantly to communicate. Students with cell phones and email were far more “connected” than students from the past. Yet while walking to the ceremony, I had passed a dozen students talking on their cell phones, and not one made eye contact as they passed by. They were oblivious to everything happening around them, as they gave their attention to someone far away.

Now we are in a world of texting, IMing and Facebook messaging through mobile devices 24/7. In a new book Alone Together, a faculty member at MIT says that young people monitor their smartphones constantly, at home, at school and when out with friends. They live in a world of continual partial attention. Instead of a personal and immediate contact of a telephone call, these young people text, making a connection when and where they want, with total control of their message. Texting allows them to keep in touch and keep at bay at the same time, substituting a quick message for connecting with each other face-to-face or voice-to-voice.

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Explaining how our brains work is a new preoccupation among economists, marketers, investors and professors. Three new books in the Ford Library help explain why we act as we do, and teach us better ways of thinking and deciding.

Mauboussin, Michael J. Think Twice: Harnessing the Power of Counterintuition. Harvard Business Press, 2009.

Deciding “from the gut” may work in static environments, but complex dynamic situations require deliberate analysis, where thinking twice often leads to counter-intuitive and better solutions.

Medina, John. Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home and School. Pear Press, 2008.

A molecular biologist explains what scientists know about the workings of the human brain and shows how to improve its performance for ourselves and our daily lives. Also available as an audiobook.

Eisold, Ken. What You don’t Know You know: Our Hidden Motives in Life, Business and Everything Else. Other Press, 2009.

A practicing psychoanalyst shows how the unconscious mind shapes our thinking and behavior.

© Reviewer: Meg Trauner & Ford Library – Fuqua School of Business.
All rights reserved.

Underhill, Paco. What women want: the global market turns female friendly. Simon & Schuster, 2010.

The author of the classic best seller Why We Buy describes the new economic and social power that women now bring to the market, influencing product design, marketing and service. With record numbers of women entering professions such as law, medicine and business, women control a significant percentage of household purchasing power and it is good business to cater to their preferences.

So what do women want? At the base level, Underhill says that women want cleanliness, and also control, safety and consideration. Products that address those desires will be successful and those that do not will lose sales. He discusses a range of topics including kitchens, bathrooms, home offices, hotel rooms, cosmetics and food, providing meaningful insights and clever observations about women’s preferences. The book is an entertaining and lively read into one man’s opinion about women and their values and desires, with occasional lapses into stereotypes.

Sometimes the writing is overwrought – Underhill describes newer bathrooms as the “space where hedonism, fantasy, luxury… collude in a miasma of mist, steam, fragrance, occasional candlelight, and a sense of delicious, unhurried aloneless.” And sometimes the associations seem forced. According to Underhill, McMansions are the “penultimate guy dwellings” and are on the way out. By contrast, the megakitchen, a woman’s showroom of gadgets, fixtures and appliances, such as a $30,000 stove, is a developing trend. Other observations and insights ring true. Bottom line, this book presents adaptations that companies can make to win female customers.

© Reviewer: Meg Trauner & Ford Library – Fuqua School of Business.
All rights reserved.

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the first Indianapolis 500 race. I grew up down the street from the Speedway track and I can still remember the great drivers from my childhood, Mario Andretti, A.J. Foyt, Parnelli Jones, the Unsers. .

Beyond entertainment and transportation, the automobile was central to the lives and livelihoods of people from the industrial Midwest. Family destiny was entangled in the ups and downs in Detroit. My father felt that the industry was the ticket to the middle class and he pushed his children into automotive engineering. Only one child followed his advice, my younger sister, but by then the world changed and her experience has been laced with disappointment.

So goes the entire American auto industry. Here are five excellent new books in the Ford Library talk about the industry, in good times and bad.

Crash course : the American automobile industry’s road from glory to disaster, by Paul Ingrassia.

Pulitzer Prize winning author takes a deep look into the turning points in the history of the U.S. auto industry, highlighting the self-destruction of the automakers, their dysfunctional corporate culture and perverse union practices.

At the crossroads: middle America and the battle to save the car industry, by Abe Aamidor and Ted Evanoff.

The story of the auto industry crisis and its mark on small towns in Indiana, on the people who work in an industry in economic decline and who live in communities that are fading.

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