Odd Lots
Book Recommendations

Odd Lots

Bloomberg's Joe Weisenthal and Tracy Alloway explore the most interesting topics in finance, markets and economics. Join the conversation every Monday and Thursday.

Episodes 503
Books 65

Recently mentioned

Latest Recommendations

Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike cover

Shoe Dog

Phil Knight

Mentioned 4 months ago

Alison Roman's Plan to Conquer the Tomato Sauce Market

This autobiography was cited as a great example when discussing the difficulties of financial scaling and needing capital to take a business to the next level, such as securing bigger factories.

One of my favorite books I've read is the autobiography of the Nike founder, Phil Knight. Shoe Dog.

Buy on Amazon
How to Cook a Wolf cover

How to Cook a Wolf

M. F. K. Fisher

Mentioned 4 months ago

Alison Roman's Plan to Conquer the Tomato Sauce Market

The guest mentioned ordering this book, which was written during World War II, about how to eat frugally when supplies are limited, like during wartime rations.

I just ordered, what's that food book? It's like How to Eat a Wolf or something. Have you ever heard of that?

Buy on Amazon
Legal and Political Foundations of Capitalism (Economics as Social Theory) cover

Legal and Political Foundations of Capitalism (Economics as Social Theory)

Jamee K. Moudud

Mentioned 5 months ago

Jamee Moudud on the Intellectual Roots of Zohranomics

The book was introduced as the new work by the guest, Jamee Moudud, whose scholarship sits at the intersection of economics and legal theory.

Moby Dick (Chartwell Classics) cover

Moby Dick (Chartwell Classics)

Herman Melville

Mentioned 11 months ago

Joseph Torigian on Xi Zhongxun and Elite Chinese Communist Party Politics

The book was frequently referenced by one of the hosts to draw analogies with the relationship dynamics discussed in the biography of Xi Zhongxun and the Chinese Communist Party leadership. The host noted the complexity of the relationship between the captain (Ahab/Mao) and the first mate (Starbuck/Xi Zhongxun), who raised cautious objections but ultimately complied with the leader's dangerous pursuit.

Have I mentioned to you that I've recently read the book Moby Dick?

Buy on Amazon
The Party's Interests Come First: The Life of Xi Zhongxun, Father of Xi Jinping (Stanford–Hoover Series on Authoritarianism) cover

The Party's Interests Come First

Joseph Torigian

Mentioned 11 months ago

Joseph Torigian on Xi Zhongxun and Elite Chinese Communist Party Politics

This was described as the first English-language biography about Xi Zhongxun, the father of Xi Jinping. The author tried to tell the history of the Chinese Communist Party through the prism of Xi Zhongxun's life.

A new book from Joseph Torigian, a research fellow at Stanford's Hoover History Lab and an associate professor at American University, sheds light on the entity by examining the life of Xi Zhongxun, the father of Xi Jinping.

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A World Safe for Commerce: American Foreign Policy from the Revolution to the Rise of China (Princeton Studies in International History and Politics) cover

A World Safe for Commerce

Dale C. Copeland

Mentioned 11 months ago

How a Trade War With China Could Become a Hot War

This was the guest's most recent book, which specifically discussed the prospect for an outright US-China confrontation.

He's also the author of a recent book, A World Safe for Commerce, American Foreign Policy from the Revolution to the Rise of China.

Buy on Amazon
The Wages of Destruction: The Making and Breaking of the Nazi Economy cover

The Wages of Destruction

Adam Tooze

Mentioned 11 months ago

How a Trade War With China Could Become a Hot War

This book was mentioned as a source that provided a detailed discussion about Germany turning coal into synthetic oil during WWII.

I know you're going to bring it up in this conversation, but I really think it deserves more attention.

Buy on Amazon
Economic Interdependence and War (Princeton Studies in International History and Politics) cover

Economic Interdependence and War (Princeton Studies in International History and Politics)

Dale C. Copeland

Mentioned 11 months ago

How a Trade War With China Could Become a Hot War

The speaker mentioned studying Japan's growth and conflicts over several chapters in this book, analyzing periods of peace and conflict based on commerce and future expectations.

In my second book called Economic Interdependence and War, I study through two chapters, three chapters really, Japan's growth from 1880 onwards and the number of conflicts it did get into with Russia, for example, in 1904, and of course, with the US in 1941, but also the long periods of peace that Japan had.

Buy on Amazon
China’s Search for Security cover

China’s Search for Security

Andrew J. Nathan

Mentioned 11 months ago

How a Trade War With China Could Become a Hot War

This book was mentioned as arguing the opposite of aggressive China narratives, supporting the idea that China has a history of worrying about domestic borders.

It's called The Great Wall and the Empty Fortress. And it too had a red cover.

Buy on Amazon
Every Body Should Know This, Just Breathe Mastering Breathwork, The Cancer Code 3 Books Collection Set cover

Every Body Should Know This, Just Breathe Mastering Breathwork, The Cancer Code 3 Books Collection Set

Dr Federica Amati

Mentioned 11 months ago

What 300 Years of Firewood Prices Say About the Economy

This nonfiction book about cod was mentioned as an example of a single-commodity book, similar to the firewood research discussed.

So have you read cod?

Buy on Amazon
Turning Oil Into Salt: Energy Independence Through Fuel Choice cover

Turning Oil Into Salt

Anne Korin

Mentioned 11 months ago

What 300 Years of Firewood Prices Say About the Economy

This book, written by the same author as the book about cod, was brought up as another example of a single-commodity study.

And then the same author wrote a book called salt.

Buy on Amazon
Regional Energy Transitions in Australia (Routledge Studies in Energy Transitions) cover

Regional Energy Transitions in Australia (Routledge Studies in Energy Transitions)

Gareth A. S. Edwards

Mentioned 11 months ago

How to Prepare for a Post-Dollar World with Inigo Fraser Jenkins

The book was mentioned in the context of suggesting that major transitions often take longer than expected and happen in stages.

I'm going to pull a page out of Bob Brackett's Commodities Energy Transition book and say that these types of transitions often take longer than people expect. You shouldn't expect everything to happen all at once. It's going to happen in stages.

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Most Recommended

Good Night Paris (Good Night Our World) Cover

Adam Gamble

Good Night Paris (Good Night Our World)

This 19th-century book by a French economist was cited as an inspiration for Friedman, used to illustrate how price signals efficiently distribute goods, like food to Paris, through a complex system rather than centralized control.

"

There's this great book from the 19th century, which is inspiration for Friedman. I'm not a Friedmanite, but like it's an interesting story, which is called Feeding Paris, which is by Bastiat and a Fr...

— Episode: The Greatest Ever Panel on the World's M...

Listen on Audible 7-day free trial

Episode: The Greatest Ever Panel on the World's Most Import...

This 19th-century book by a French economist was cited as an inspiration for Friedman, used to illustrate how price signals efficiently distribute goods, like food to Paris, through a complex system rather than centralized control.

"

There's this great book from the 19th century, which is inspiration for Friedman. I'm not a Friedmanite, but like it's an interesting story, which is called Feeding Paris, which is by Bastiat and a French economist.

And he was saying if one person was responsible for Feeding Paris, everyone would die because it's impossible to feed a million people if you're making all these decisions on your own.

The Insect Crisis: The Fall of the Tiny Empires That Run the World Cover

Oliver Milman

The Insect Crisis

The Fall of the Tiny Empires That Run the World

The speaker found this book about the lack of insects in the natural world too depressing and stopped reading it after only three chapters.

"

I tried to read a book on insects once and the lack thereof in today's natural world, I guess. And it was called The Insect Crisis. And it's one of the few books that I had to stop re...

— Episode: The Biotech Start-Up Making Vaccines for...

Listen on Audible 7-day free trial

Episode: The Biotech Start-Up Making Vaccines for Bees and...

The speaker found this book about the lack of insects in the natural world too depressing and stopped reading it after only three chapters.

"

I tried to read a book on insects once and the lack thereof in today's natural world, I guess. And it was called The Insect Crisis. And it's one of the few books that I had to stop reading after like three chapters because I just found it too depressing.

There's Nothing in the Middle of the Road but Yellow Stripes and Dead Armadillos: A Work of Political Subversion Cover

Jim Hightower

There's Nothing in the Middle of the Road but Yellow Stripes and Dead Armadillos

A Work of Political Subversion

This book by the left-wing Texas populist was mentioned in association with armadillos that jump when frightened.

"

It reminds me of the famous sort of left-wing Texas populist Jim Hightower wrote a book, There's Nothing in the Middle of the Road but Yellow Stripes and Dead Armadillos, a work of po...

— Episode: The Biotech Start-Up Making Vaccines for...

Listen on Audible 7-day free trial

Episode: The Biotech Start-Up Making Vaccines for Bees and...

This book by the left-wing Texas populist was mentioned in association with armadillos that jump when frightened.

"

It reminds me of the famous sort of left-wing Texas populist Jim Hightower wrote a book, There's Nothing in the Middle of the Road but Yellow Stripes and Dead Armadillos, a work of political subversion.

How to Cook a Wolf Cover

M. F. K. Fisher

How to Cook a Wolf

The guest mentioned ordering this book, which was written during World War II, about how to eat frugally when supplies are limited, like during wartime rations.

"

I just ordered, what's that food book? It's like How to Eat a Wolf or something. Have you ever heard of that?

— Episode: Alison Roman's Plan to Conquer the Tomat...

Listen on Audible 7-day free trial

Episode: Alison Roman's Plan to Conquer the Tomato Sauce Ma...

The guest mentioned ordering this book, which was written during World War II, about how to eat frugally when supplies are limited, like during wartime rations.

"

I just ordered, what's that food book? It's like How to Eat a Wolf or something. Have you ever heard of that?

How to Cook a Wolf by MFK Fisher.

Note: The book recommendations on this page are discovered automatically from podcast transcripts, and may be incorrect or incomplete.