Splendid Exchange



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Hardcover
467 pages
ISBN 9780871139795 Published April 2008
Atlantic Monthly Press
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Splendid Exchange
How Trade Shaped the World
By William J Bernstein 

Related Blog Posts
The Best Books of 2008 - The Economist Edition
Posted Dec. 16, 2008 3:07 a.m. by dylan
In Uncategorized - 800 CEO Read Blog

The Economist has chosen their books of the year in a variety of categories. You can go through the entire list here, but I've listed the choices in the Economics & Business category for quick review below.

Other notable choices that could've been placed in the business category are A Splendid Exchange by William J. Bernstein, which was chosen in the History category (and we chose as the best book of the year on globalization), and Richard H. Thaler and Cass R. Sunstein's Nudge from the Science and Technology category.



The 2008 800-CEO-READ Business Book Awards - Globalization
Posted Dec. 10, 2008 3:00 a.m. by 800-ceo-read
In Book Awards - 800 CEO Read Blog

The books on our 2008 shortlist for the Globalization Category are:

  • A Splendid Exchange: How Trade Shaped the World
    by William J. Bernstein (Atlantic Monthly Press, April 2008)

    In this astonishingly erudite book, William J. Bernstein chronicles the history of world trade, clearly expelling any myths one might have that globalization is a recent phenomenon. Starting in Sumer around 3000 BC with an account of a tribe of herders attacking a community of farmers at harvest time, and ending in the streets at the Battle of Seattle (the 1999 WTO protests), this book entertainingly covers centuries of human economic activity and progress.

  • Africa Rising: How 900 Million African Consumers Offer More Than You Think
    by Vijay Mahajan with Robert E. Gunther (Wharton School Publishing, September 2008)

    Vijay Mahajan went on a "consumer safari" to explore the market potentials of Africa and lays them out in great detail in this book. While not ignoring the many obstacles and challenges the continent faces, he paints a vivid picture of a continent that he believes is, economically, where China and India were 20 years ago--on the brink of a great transformation.

  • The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World
    by Niall Ferguson (Penguin Press, November 2008)

    With his latest book, historian Niall Ferguson adeptly charts the role of money throughout the history of an as well as the role of man in the history of money. From the rise of money and credit to the bond and stock markets, and the rise of insurance and real estate markets to, more recently, international finance, Ferguson demonstrates that financial knowledge is, in many ways, historical knowledge.

  • Bad Money: Reckless Finance, Failed Politics, and the Global Crisis of American Capitalism
    by Kevin Phillips (Viking Books, April 2008)

    Kevin Phillips paints a dire picture in his latest book. A sharp observer of large trends for several decades, Philips authored the classic The Emerging Republican Majority in 1969, one of the most prescient and influential books in political science. In this book, he looks at America's economic future and foresees further crisis as the results of bad policy and loss of international prestige.

  • The Post-American World
    by Fareed Zakaria (W. W. Norton, May 2008)

    Despite its provocative title, this book is not about a world without America, or even a decline of America. Rather, it is about the rise of the rest of the world. With the rise of international finance, free trade agreements, and organizations like the WTO and European Union, companies and capital are free to move from place to place in search of the location most friendly and best suited to its needs, spreading economic power to sometimes unexpected locations around the world.



    strategy + business Best Books of 2008
    Posted Dec. 4, 2008 5:07 a.m. by dylan
    In Uncategorized - 800 CEO Read Blog

    Always anticipated, strategy + business has published their Best Business Books 2008. What makes this list special is that they assign each category to an expert in that field for review, and each reviewer delivers a lengthy and in depth essay on the books chosen. I've linked each category to it's reviewer's essay at the top of each section. The books starred are those selected as the category's best, what is referred to as s+b's top shelf.

    Strategy: Fast Competition and Flat Denial by Phil Rosenzweig

    Life Stories: A Masterclass in Leadership by Nell Minow

    Marketing: The Brand's New World by Catharine P. Taylor

    Rhetoric: The Art of Influence by Michael SchrageInnovation: Chasing Breakthroughs by Jon GertnerGlobalization: Asia As It Is by Marc Levinson

    Human Capital: Talent Unleashed by Sally HelgesenCapitalism and Community: In Search of Entrepreneurial Spirit by Margaret Wheatley & Carole SchwinnManagement: Narratives and Paradigms by David K. HurstMiscellany: Uncategorical Insight by James O'Toole

    We've been following this list since 2003. The previous years' lists are below.

    2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007



    Best Books of 2008 From the FT Management Blog
    Posted Dec. 3, 2008 3:48 a.m. by dylan
    In Uncategorized - 800 CEO Read Blog

    If you follow business books, you no doubt know that The Financial Times and Goldman Sachs award one book each year The Financial Times and Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year. What you may have escaped your business book radar is The Financial Times Management Blog and their picks of the 2008 crop. Most of the books that made the FT/Goldman Sachs shortlist made this list as well (I'll point them out below), the sole exception being William J. Bernstein's A Splendid Exchange. (Quick note: The FT.com Management Blog is based in the UK, and some of the books' publishers and subtitles are different than they are here in the States. I've gone with the US information below. If you're reading this overseas and need the UK information, head on over to the original post.) Without further ado, the list is:

    One more book was good enough to stop press, being added after the initial post. That book was Grown Up Digital: How the Net Generation Is Changing Your World by Don Tapscott, published by McGraw-Hill.



    Financial Times and Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year
    Posted Oct. 15, 2008 9:06 a.m. by dylan
    In Book Awards - 800 CEO Read Blog

    The Financial Times and Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year was announced last night at a Gala Dinner in New York, and congratulations are in order for Mr. Mohamed El-Erian. He has won the prize for his book When Markets Collide: Investment Strategies for the Age of Global Economic Change.

    Editor of the Financial Times, Lionel Barber, said of the book:

    When Markets Collide brings together the world of modern finance and macro-economics. It is lucid and prescient in its diagnosis of the present financial turmoil and offers important prescriptions for the way forward. A worthy fourth winner for our annual book prize.

    Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Goldman Sachs, Lloyd C Blankfein, said:

    Mohamed El-Erian provides invaluable context for the global financial crisis and does so in an extremely accessible and compelling way. When Markets Collide deserves to be this year's winner.

    El-Erian beat out a strong shortlist this year, including:

  • A Splendid Exchange: How Trade Shaped the World

    by William J. Bernstein, April 2008, Atlantic Monthly Press

  • Cold Steel: The Multi-billion-dollar Battle for a Global Industry

    by Tim Bouquet & Byron Ousey, Little Brown Book Group UK (not yet available in the US)

  • McMafia: A Journey Through the Global Criminal Underworld

    by Misha Glenny, April 2008, Knopf

  • Remix: Making Art and Commerce Thrive in the Hybrid Economy

    by Lawrence Lessig, April 2008, The Penguin Press

  • The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life

    by Alice Schroeder, September 2008, Bantam

    • 2007's winner was The Last Tycoons: The Secret History of Lazard Freres & Co. by William D. Cohan, which we recognized as the top industry book of the year in our first annual awards.

    The winner in 2006 was China Shakes the World: A Titan's Rise and Troubled Future--And the Challenge for America by James Kynge. You can find Jack's review of that book here.

    Thomas Friedman's The World is Flat won the very first award in 2006.






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