Summer Readings
Vincent's Corner is taking a few weeks off, I hope you are too. In this edition, I am sharing a selection of the books I read over the years and that had a lasting impact on me.
The Lessons of History, by Will and Ariel Durant
Without exception, this is the one book I always recommend first. It is mind-blowing. The book was published in 1968 but it couldn’t be more relevant today. The authors summarized in a short book thousands of years of human history. What is brilliant about this book is that the authors identified patterns that repeat themselves over long periods of time and sorted them by theme (religion, politics, wealth inequality). We always think that what we are going through is new, but very little is new. It all happened before. Amazon link.
Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder, by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Someone once wrote about Nassim Nicholas Taleb “The problem with Taleb is not that he's an asshole. He is an asshole. The problem with Taleb is that he is right.” Most people have heard about the Black Swan, which he wrote before Antifragile. The two books are part of a 5-book series called The Incerto. In The Black Swan, Taleb showed that highly improbable and unpredictable events underlie almost everything about our world. In Antifragile, Taleb stands uncertainty on its head, making it desirable, even necessary, and proposes that things be built in an antifragile manner. Very useful book to design a life, or a portfolio of investments! If you have time, the five books of the Incerto are worth reading. Amazon link.
Bullshit Jobs: A Theory, by David Graeber
If you are reading this newsletter, you are about 30% likely to have a bullshit job. Sorry! This book was the sequel to an essay published by the author (you can read it here). In this book, the anecdotes alone are worth it! You will recognize yourself if you have a bullshit job, or you will recognize many, many people around you. Once you start paying attention, you will realize bullshit jobs are everywhere. Have fun reading it! Amazon link.
The Fourth Turning: An American Prophecy
This book was published in 1997 and predicted pretty much everything that has happened ever since: terrorist attacks using planes, a financial crisis before 2010, a global pandemic, and what the author called the great devaluation of 2020-2025. I am warning you: You will be telling yourself “No way he saw that coming!?” How did the author do it? He analyzed hundreds of years of history and realized that human history went through 80-year cycles that repeated themselves, with each cycle ending with a Fourth Turning. The whole book is long, so you can just read the intro and go straight to the chapter on the Fourth Turning, it’s the chapter relevant to what is happening now. It will give you a glimpse of what to expect for the rest of the decade. Amazon link.
Principles for Navigating Big Debt Crises, by Ray Dalio
Many politicians and decision makers could benefit from reading this book. In it, the founder of the world’s largest hedge fund explains what he learned about debt crises, how to resolve them, what works, and what doesn’t. You don’t have to read all the case studies in the book, the summary at the beginning is sufficient. You can buy the book online or download it for free here.
Debt: The First 5,000 Years, by David Graeber
If you have the stomach for it (because it’s big), this book looks at 5,000 years of history of debt. Debt crises aren’t new. They have been happening for thousands of years. On average, there has been a debt jubilee every 50 years or so. The last time the US defaulted on its debt was in 1971, when it decided that the US Dollar was no longer convertible in gold and that the US Dollar was from this point on a fiat currency. This was 51 years ago… When it comes to debt, history repeats itself. Amazon link.
The Bitcoin Standard: The Decentralized Alternative to Central Banking, by Saifedean Ammous
You keep hearing about Bitcoin, but you never took the time to understand it? Read this book! It’s the reference when it comes to Bitcoin. In this masterpiece, you will learn about the history of money, all the forms it has taken over the years, and why the author believes Bitcoin is the next iteration. A must read if you want to understand Bitcoin. Amazon link.