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Bob Woodward called his biography of Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan Maestro for two reasons. First, Greenspan is a musician. He started out as a Julliard-trained jazz sax man. "He wasn't a good improviser," Woodward reports. And while the other guys got stoned all night, Greenspan "read economics and business books and eventually became the band's bookkeeper." He also cultivated powerful pals, like Ayn Rand, whose coterie dubbed the dour young man "The Undertaker."

More profoundly, Greenspan is a maestro, a conductor, exquisitely attuned to every instrument in the political and economic orchestra. He rules by consensus, but with a firm hand and notoriously inscrutable words. Marvelously, Woodward relates that Greenspan had to propose twice to his wife, the violinist-turned-TV news star Andrea Mitchell, before she understood: "His verbal obscurity and caution were so ingrained that Mitchell didn't even know that he had asked her to marry him." Woodward gives us the inside story of what Greenspan really thinks and how he outmaneuvered the most ruthless politicians on earth in some of the hairiest times imaginable, from the 1987 stock market crash to the 1994-95 Mexican crisis to the stomach-churning turn of the century. It turns out that for all his awesome knowledge of monetary minutiae, the Fed chief literally relies on "a pain in the pit of my stomach" to make decisions. "At times, he found his body sensed danger before his head," writes Woodward. The Fed chief also adapts Einstein's technique to economics, hunting for discrepancies as keys to deeper theories. Einstein made breakthroughs out of bent light; Greenspan deduced productivity gains that government statisticians had overlooked for years. (The gains appeared when Greenspan made the statisticians calculate productivity by business sector, the way it's done in the real world.)

Woodward's prose is cool and rational, not exuberant. But if you're into economics and politics, you'll find a rich gossip trove here. Who knew Reagan had a draft of a presidential order to shut down Wall Street trading at hand in 1987? Scary! Reading Maestro is better than sitting with Greenspan in his famous tub as he charts your future--it's like being right there inside his head. --Tim Appelo ... Read more

Reviews (71)

Star Struck
Bob Woodward doesn't know much economics and worships Alan Greenspan. These are the two main things that readers will learn from this book. If it wasn't apparent from the title, this book is essential a tribute to the wisdom of Alan Greenspan. Woodward presents an account where Greenspan's judgement is shown correct at every turn, and the doubters are all proven wrong. The result is the best economy in thirty years.

Unfortunately, the history (and economics) is a bit more complex than Woodward would have us believe. To take the most obvious example, it is not clear that the U.S. economy is presently the bright shining star that Woodward assumes. The low unemployment, rapid economic growth, and low inflation are all good news, but there are serious clouds on the horizon. Specifically, the over-valued stock market and the over-valued dollar threaten the economy with a double whammy which could leave the economy reeling for years to come.

Even with the recent decline in the stock market, price to earnings ratios are still close to double their historic average. The Congressional Budget Office (the agency that makes all the projections for the budget that everyone uses in political debates) projects that real corporate profits will actually shrink by about 10 percent over the next decade. This implies that the market is over-valued by 100 percent, or more. A decline of this magnitude would destroy approximately $10 trillion in wealth, or $70,000 for an average family.

Similarly, the United States is running a huge trade deficit which is leading it to borrow $450 billion a year from abroad. A trade deficit of this magnitude is no more sustainable than a budget deficit of $450 billion, as Alan Greenspan and every other economist knows. Reversing this deficit will inevitably require a large drop in the value of the dollar, perhaps by as much as 30 percent. A decline in the dollar of this magnitude will crimp living standards in the United States, as the price of imported goods rise, and also lead to more inflation.

While the fault for the over-valuation of the stock market and the dollar may not lie entirely at Greenspan's feet, he does bear a large share of the responsibility. Back at the end of 1996 (when the market was about half its recent highs), Greenspan did warn about the possibility that irrational exuberance had overtaken the stock market. But most of his subsequent comments were more oblique, leaving open the possibility that stock prices could make sense. Given the seriousness of the problem, it would have been entirely appropriate for Greenspan to use his bully pulpit at the Fed to warn of the consequences of a seriously over-valued stock market. He could have presented lectures on this topic in his Congressional testimony, in the same way that he has lectured about the dangers of budget deficits on numerous occasions. Given Mr. Greenspan's standing in financial circles, it is hard to believe that such lectures would not have had an effect. The same applies to the over-valuation of the dollar.

Woodward is almost completely oblivious to this set of issues. While the possibility of a stock bubble is mentioned at several points, it is never treated as though it were a serious problem. The history of the Great Depression and the current example of a Japanese economy left to stagnate for a decade after the collapse of its bubble in 1989 should have been sufficient to get Woodward's attention.

Similarly, Greenspan gets the final, and often only, word on the disputes of the past. For example, we get the account of his decision to raise interest rates in 1994-5 to head off inflation. Woodward tells us about the objections raised within the Clinton Administration to a policy which slowed the economy and cost jobs. However, at the end of the day, Woodward tells us that inflation remained under control, and the unemployment rate eventually fell to its current levels of close to 4.0 percent.

Woodward seems to feel that this history vindicated Greenspan's rate hikes, when the reality is the opposite. Greenspan raised interest rates because he accepted the prevailing view within the economics profession at the time, that unemployment rates below 6.0 percent would lead to higher inflation. The subsequent history showed that there was no necessary link between the unemployment rate and inflation, and that the unemployment rate could fall far below 6.0 percent without triggering inflation. Had Greenspan not raised interest rates in 1994 and 1995, the economy would have grown faster in these years and the unemployment rate would have dropped more quickly. Millions of people needlessly went unemployed in these years, and the economy lost more than $100 billion in output. History has shown that Alan Greenspan was wrong.

There are many other places where Woodward's naive hero worship and ignorance of economics lead him to go astray. The Greenspan story is certainly an interesting one which deserves to be told. It is unfortunate that this book could not have been written by someone with more understanding of the subject matter and a more open mind on the subject.

Greenspan's Firm Hand on the Wheel
Have you ever wondered who exactly the "Fed" is, and how they control the unseen levers of the American economy? Quick...what's the difference between the "Fed Funds rate" and the "discount rate?" What influence does partisan politics have on this whole process? Who exactly is Alan Greenspan, and why did we never hear about any Fed Chairman prior his tenure? Bob Woodward addresses these questions, and many more, in this compact, entertaining, and informative volume.

Maestro starts off with Alan Greenspan assuming the Fed Chairman levers of power from Paul Volcker in 1987, shortly before the "Black Monday" meltdown, and takes us through his unprecedented appointment to a fourth term in early 2000 by a most unlikely soul mate, President Bill Clinton. With Maestro, author Bob Woodward continues to fill the literary niche that he has for his past several books: writing about subjects and events that are too topical and recent to be seen in a fully objective historical context, yet producing a volume that has much more depth and substance than day-to-day journalistic coverage. Woodward's access to the Washington elite is unrivaled, and this book, as many of his previous ones, relies heavily on the journalistic tradition of the unnamed source.

Maestro takes us into the meetings of both the FOMC, and the Fed Board of Governors. Woodward lets us be a "fly on the wall" in those meetings, and allows us to hear the discussion, interchange, and debate about the national and international economy that precedes a change in the Fed funds rate or discount rate. We see the Board of Governors, and Greenspan himself, as brilliant but fallible human beings who, like the rest of us, see their jobs and obligations through the prism of their own political viewpoints. Additionally, though, Woodward takes us into minds of the individual members, through what certainly were many off-the-record interviews, to see how the Governors feel about the process, and about Chairman Greenspan himself. Viewpoints range from admiration and deference to jealousy and envy, and Woodward lays it all down for us. In one scene, Woodward shares with us a somewhat frustrated President Clinton venting his emotions through an impersonation of the Fed Chairman, right in the Oval Office, to the side-splitting laughter of the President's advisors. Granted, this doesn't have the national importance of "seventeen minutes of missing tape," but it does make for good reading.

Woodward, as usual, maintains a laser focus on his subject, refusing to be diverted for more than a minute by the Clinton-Lewinsky fiasco, or even by areas of Greenspan's life that he doesn't deem as relevant. At first, I found myself hungry for more details about Greenspan as a person: what does he like to do in his spare time? What kind of a neighbor would he be? It doesn't take long to realize, however, that with Greenspan, the professional is the personal. He has no children that we know of, just married his longtime sweetheart (NBC correspondent Andrea Mitchell) in 1997, takes only one brief vacation a year, and has been absorbed in studying economic data since 1948. Greenspan truly exhibits the meaning of the old saying, "Do what you love and you'll never work another day in your life."

You don't need an MBA or a PhD in Economics to understand and appreciate this book. Woodward includes a helpful glossary in the back that I, even as the possessor of one of the two above-noted degrees, found myself referring to with some frequency. Not only does one not need vast empirical economic knowledge to appreciate this book, the reader may even get more out of this book without it. The most significant drawback of this book is the lack of a sense of completion. Greenspan's story is a work in progress, and this book with undoubtedly be regarded in the future as perhaps an interim analysis of his accomplishments. The book ends just when the tech stock slide is beginning. The most relevant questions are yet to be answered: how have perceptions of Greenspan been altered by the slowing economy? Will President Bush reappoint Greenspan to a fifth term in 2004? If not, how will the President replace the man that has become synonymous with the Chairmanship itself? Is any succession planning underway? One can only hope that Woodward stays in contact with his spiderweb of sources, and shares that information with us in a future work.

Far too superficial for its topic
Bob Woodward will probably go down in history as one of America's most influential journalists. In collaboration with Carl Bernstein, Woodward publicized the Watergate scandal and helped to bring down the Nixon presidency. His efforts to reveal the truth may have single-handedly changed the relationship between the media and politics.

Woodward has already been blessed with his 15 minutes of fame. His latest work, "Maestro: Greenspan's Fed and the American Boom," represents neither earth-shattering importance nor an erudite treatment of his subject, Alan Greenspan and his reign over the Federal Reserve.

To its merit, "Maestro" does shed a surprising amount of light on a once mysterious and self-consciously secretive organization. The inner-workings of the Fed and its policy-making are depicted with excellent detail, as Woodward takes the reader through the bumpy rides of setting interest rates from 1987-2000. And for non-economic types, Woodward does a pretty decent job explaining how monetary policy works and what the implications are for increasing interest rates or expanding the money supply.

Yet it is a shame Woodward is not an economist himself because his book suffers from a lack of depth on certain issues. The work's treatment of developments over the last decade, including the savings and loan scandals of the late '80s and the Asian financial crises of the '90s, is rather superficial.

What is most bothersome about Woodward's work is its failure to point out many of the negative conclusions the details of the work might necessitate. The author's editorial on his subject is one of pure praise, as he attempts to elevate the status of Greenspan to that of a modern hero. The truth is far more complicated than the rose-colored picture Woodward would like to paint.

One of the scariest points Woodward's book fails to make is that the position of chairman of the Federal Open Market Committee is perhaps the most powerful seat of economic policymaking in the United States. Many students of the Fed's operations grow up believing that interest rates are set by the democratic vote of a committee of economists. In reality, the monetary power of the last 13 years has rested in the judgement of one man.

Greenspan's career epitomized the struggle to push the envelope on limitations to power. The chairman was the master of the FOMC, and before each meeting, he polled and called every member to figure out each one's stance on whether to raise or lower interest rates. Since the chairman always speaks last at an FOMC meeting, Greenspan often could plea for the universal support of his decisions, and his careful rhetoric frequently was enough to achieve the policy outcomes he desired. There were even times from 1988-1999, when the committee voted to allow Greenspan to make minor adjustments in the Fed Funds rate between meetings, giving him complete monetary control.

We are all lucky that Greenspan has handled the responsibility of his power with such sobriety. What if Greenspan had not been so judicious? An America where the sovereign economic policymaker was a bumbling idiot would resemble the despair of 1929, when interest rates were raised even after the stock markets crashed. The very idea that determining the Fed Funds rate could rest in the hands of a moron is a scary thought.

Another frightening notion Woodward doesn't elucidate is the number of problems with the way our system allocates its human capital. Many of those on the FOMC were there simply because they had political ties and connections. If Greenspan were to resign tomorrow, party friendships and political allies could influence the new appointment.

Often when economic policymaking is submerged in politics, short-run prosperity is prioritized, and little thought is given to where things will head five or 10 years down the road. If we had a Fed chairman who - because he was a pawn of politics - strove for break-neck growth without regard to price stability, disaster could occur. Woodward strives to make the point that Greenspan always has tried to put his job above factionalism, but Woodward fails to recognize that future Fed chairmen may not behave the same way.

Overall, Woodward's "Maestro" gives a decent overview of the history of economic developments and monetary policy in the last decade. The book's flaws lie not in the display of facts but rather in its pure, unquestioning praise of its central figure, Alan Greenspan. I would not disagree with statements that Greenspan has done his job especially well. He, however, has been fortunate, as circumstances beyond his control contributed to the record expansion of our economy and our subsequent prosperity. Greenspan's ability as Fed chairman surely will be tested as our economy slows, and whether we continue to prosper will determine if he really has, as Woodward says, a "mastery of process."

Engaging, Surprising, and Informative
I read this book wanting to be better informed about how The Fed and Greenspan operate, and wound up being thoroughly educated and entertained understanding how banks, the White House and Washington DC political appointments work. I never thought I would ever use the phrase "hard-to-put-down" in connection with an economics/banking book but this one did it. It was a real page turner and definitely one of Bob Woodward's most underrated and under-discussed books. (No caller mentioned this work during his 3-hour C-Span interview a few months back.) Get your hands on a copy of this book and prepare for an interesting and enjoyable ride. My one complaint: I wish it were longer. Although this book answered all my "Fed" questions, I wished its time track would continue to the present, or perhaps delve a little deeper into the past. But this complaint notwithstanding, the book was still an excellent and engaging read.

Maestro, Greenspan's "Biography"
This book was basically a miniature biography on the life of Alan Greenspan. Except this book does not really go into Greenspan's personal life, the only feature of this book that is not included about Alan Greenspan is his personal life. Although once or twice Greenspan's girlfriend, Andrea Mitchel was mentioned. For the most part this entire book solely focusses on Greenspan's work as an economist for the United States government. In my personal opinion Bob Woodward basically just stated facts and had no criticism whatsoever throughout this entire book this is the only part that bugged me. Woodward basically just wrote straight facts and tried a little too hard to make Greenspan look incredibly good in the end. ... Read more

Book Description

Don’t consider yourself deviant? Well, that just may be a career breaker. Odds are the idea or product that will transform your business or industry tomorrow is out there right now, hiding in the shadows of the Fringe, raw, messy, untamed, and just waiting to be exploited. Trapping, taming, and marketing it is the key to burying your competition and staying ahead of your market.

Deviance is nothing more than a marked separation from the norm and is the source of innovation, the kind of breakthrough thinking that creates new markets and tumbles traditional ones. Positive deviation is an inexhaustible font of new ideas, products, and services. It’s the source of all creative thinking and dynamic new market development and ultimately the basis of all incremental profit.

The Deviant’s Advantage describes how deviance proceeds along a traceable trajectory from the Fringe, where it originates but has zero commercial potential; to the Edge, where word of mouth creates a limited audience; to the Realm of the Cool, where the buzz and market momentum really start to build; to the Next Big Thing, where demand is honed and intensifies; finally landing at Social Convention, the heart of the mass market.

Ryan Mathews and Watts Wacker, two of America’s most respected futurists, trace the “Path of the Devox” (the voice, spirit, or incarnation of deviant ideas, products, and individuals), using it as a way to explain how and why:
* Christian fundamentalism morphed from college Bible studies to Republican party king-making
* Reebok cares more about what’s on the feet of kids in Detroit and Philadelphia than what the so-hip-it-hurts set is wearing in New York or on Rodeo Drive
* Napster exploded from an idea germinating inside a sixteen-year-old to a movement with 60 million subscribers that very nearly destroyed the music industry
* Hugh Hefner went from America’s most public pornographer to a cultural icon with decidedly Puritan sensibilities

Mathews and Wacker also look at what happens to formerly deviant products and ideas after they are replaced bythe next wave from the Fringe—how they morph into Cliché (where their commercial potential may actually increase), become Icons or even Archetypes, or fade into Oblivion, and how you can profitably manage even a fading concept.

Looking for the next big idea for your business? Then it’s past time to quit staring at the Social Convention for inspiration and start scouring the Fringes of society. Tomorrow’s breakthrough concept is lurking out there right now, in the mind of a deviant individual. Your choice is simple: find it and exploit it, or be buried by those who do. ... Read more

Reviews (12)

Somewhat interesting, but weak thesis and sloppy editing
My goal is to become a professional pundit. So when other "pro-puns" like Watts Wacker (what a name!) write a book, I usually read it. Maybe I can pick up some pundit trick-of-the-trade. Personally, it has more to do with the scraggly beard and the Pundit Uniform (like Bran Ferrin's fishing vest) than with anything you say and do.

This book distracted be because of dozens of factual errors, from people, to products, to ideas. The errors range from small, like getting the name of the Cue:Cat bar-code scanner wrong, to major errors, like stating in several places that the book of "Genesis" starts with "In the beginning was the word". (Of course, this is how the Christian bible begins, and is not in the Jewish book of Genesis/B'reishet.) I tried to contact the authors directly about these errors, but they didn't answer my mail.

Given the poor editing, it makes me wonder about the rest of his conclusions. For example he suggests that Kodak reinvent itself by becoming the world's photo storage solution. It'll be easy for Mr. Wacker and Mr. Mathews to say in a few years---when Kodak gets in further trouble--See! You should have listened to me!

This book was an entertaining read, but really just a rehash of the old-dot-com "Viral Marketing/Let's shake things up" philosophy that died with the dotcoms. I didn't learn anything new about marketing, and the only thing I learned about punditry is I need a cool name like "Watts Wacker" to let people listen to *my* wacky ideas!

Who is Normal, Who is Not.
I read the three reviews on this book and they are all correct to some extent. It is a refreshing book but presented without a clear thread to their proposition; it does formalise how new ideas move from the cult fringe to mainstream everyday but does not provide a model of how this can be used; it does provide "outside the square" thinkers with a purposeful justification of their right to want to implement new ideas, but it does leave a lot of insights short of the "so what" end point.

If you are someone who likes working in the unclear world of the creative ground breaker, this is a book worth having. If you are afraid of losing or quiting your job for an idea, then leave this alone - it is not your cup of tea at all.

The creative will find the layout challenging but will probably ignore the dead ends and enjoy the journey through the ideas and examples. Worth the money if you are the deviant thinker in the team - you know who you are because all the other people are normal and just want to do the job that the boss wants and you want to deliver what the boss (and the customer) really needs.

From Oddity to Conventional Wisdom to Obscurity
The Deviant's Advantage is primarily a sociological look at where new ideas and trends come from. The book goes on to make a linkage to how businesses can better monitor and apply the emerging inputs to make existing and new products and services more successful.

The authors are usually speaking about deviants and deviance in the positive sense of "something or someone operating in a defined measure away from the norm." In our quest for the "new" and "authentic," such deviances sometimes attract a wider audience. In the process of attracting that audience, the deviance is "cleaned" up to be acceptable to a broader group of people until a majority find it appealing . . . at least until the novelty wears off or something more "authentic" shows up.

To understand this process, readers will probably benefit from also reading The Tipping Point and The Anatomy of Buzz.

The authors go on to point out why this process operates more rapidly than in the past. They primarily focus on language becoming more ambiguous, science making reality less objective, and the impact of a more visually stimulated culture. The point about language is particularly well done.

Finally, the authors look at how corporations, those models of conformity, can incorporate deviance by becoming aware of it and incorporating more external perspectives. Hire differently, get new stakeholders involved, and use creative brainstorming techniques to look for potentially more valuable core competencies). This last section is filled with examples of the authors' consulting experiences with major corporations. They end up with an entertaining use of social archetypes to discuss how to disseminate ideas (trickster, clown, wizard, shaman, seer, provocateur, fool).

The authors are unusually well read and very into the latest "new, new" thing. As a result, they make many allusions that are constructive and interesting for their case.

The book does, however, (as my 3 star rating suggests) have substantial weaknesses.

First, the prose is often hard to comprehend due to allusions that are incomplete. This is the fourth sentence in the introduction. "Our simple answer is that deviance happened, and our simple bet is that the barbarians haven't even begun to party." To make matters worse, the authors like to add new terms to spice things up (devox -- "the voice, spirit, or incarnation of deviant ideas, products, and individuals"). When these terms are applied, meaning can become obscure. "Deviants seek out other deviants -- this is how 'scenes' are formed and 'scenes' eventually birth markets. The neotribe . . . ."

Second, the authors claim too much for their point. "Innovation -- all innovation, positive and negative -- begins as a deviant idea germinating in the mind of a person dwelling on the Fringe of society." You can translate that into someone who is not an average person with average behavior thought of it first. Does that amaze you? Almost no one is an average person with average behavior. Further, the importance of major innovations (such as electronics, biotechnology, new sources of energy) comes from developing concepts into reality. What difference does it make who thought of these concepts first? If you look at the important, lasting innovations, these were mostly developed within some large organization (Bell Labs for the transistor, major universities for biotechnology, Boeing for modern jet transportation and so on). Yes, the early conceptualization started with a few individuals . . . but until we develop a Borg-like mind that will happen by definition. Most of what the authors are talking about are "trendy" happenings in social situations. Even those trendy new things are often stimulated by major companies (for example, most of those trendy drinks mentioned in the book start out in the market research departments of some liquor company . . . and are then seeded into trendy bars with corporate promotional efforts). In other words, the authors are ascribing behavior to everything that only applies to some things.

Third, the authors also draw unnecessarily on shock value. Early on there is a detailed description of how HBO portrayed the new torture chic (involving intimate parts of the anatomy). How is that a positive deviation?

Fourth, in describing the application to businesses over a third of the material comes across sounding like an ad for their consulting services. That wouldn't be so bad, except that the examples mostly seem to be ones that the companies didn't use very long . . . or never started with. Those examples don't even seem to add credibility to the process.

Fifth, the authors are very interested in businesses creating new business models, usually through focusing on a new core insight into what will reward stakeholders (customers, end users, employees, shareholders, lenders, distributors, partners, etc.). But they make almost no attempt as to how to take the new core insight and apply it into making a new business model for that organization. In other words, the hard part is left out. That is surprising, because the authors describe many continuing business model innovators like Richard Branson, Dell Computer, Red Hat, and Harley-Davidson. Most companies will need a lot more guidance than this book provides for how to apply these lessons.

Ultimately, the book seems flawed more by a lack of editing than anything else. It's almost as though the editors did not have the right knowledge of business and organizations to make the material both comprehensible and relevant.

After you finish this interesting book, I suggest that you think about how you can listen more carefully to what those who are different from you are saying. Who are you ignoring now? How can you start understanding them better? If you do those things, this book will be a winner for you.

Embrace Risk
The Deviant's Advantage-Ryan Mathews and Watts Wacker

What I love about this book is that while it makes a strong case for the importance of deviant thinking in the world of business, it simultaneously explains why so little exists there, and how unlikely it is to ever appear in great abundance. It's just not the way most of the people in the corporate world have been conditioned to behave. Despite all the exhortations to "think out of the box", the vast majority of executives are simply out of their element anywhere else but inside one.
However, as the authors deconstruct the emergence of new and valuable ideas, those things destined to become the next "new" thing, they offers many pointers on how to identify these developing trends before they become mainstream. In so doing, they also coin an especially inelegant term for the originators of these ideas, the "devox" is what they call them. But this is a minor blemish on what is otherwise a truly important book. At the end of the day, what the authors argue brilliantly and illustrate repeatedly is that businesses that embrace risk may be far safer than those that avoid it.

beware consultants gushing over their patrons.
Here's an idea: go back to all your clients with big budgets and write a book that vomits viscous, sickening praise all over them. CEOs, especially wanna-be celebrities like Branson just LOVE to be feted. This isn't a book, it's a direct-mail piece.

I got through about 50 or so pages when I realized that life was too short. Interesting how the great geniuses of our time can't seem to cover the basics. Here's a clue-- everyone has wacky ideas-- they're written down on cocktail napkins everywhere. "Thinking out of the box" and all of its related concepts contributes to success about as much as regular bowel movements. Just once, I'd like to see someone write about "committment to follow through" or "excellence in implementation", but I suppose such ideas are too vulgar to be considered by high thinkers. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

A wonderful resource
Mark Graham Brown has produced another useful, direct, and informative business book. I found the checklists and interview questions especially helpful in my executive coaching and consulting practice.

A couple of clients dampened my enthusiasm with concerns over terminology and level of sophistication for implementation, but the material actually helped me to pinpoint their concerns and address their questions. If you're doing Scorecards, get this book.

First Ask: Are You Competing in the Right Game?
Zarate has written an first-rate review of this excellent book but may unintentionally suggest that the value of the book will be greatest for "mature" organizations when, in fact, small-to-midsize organizations also have an urgent need to "design and implement scorecards" by which to obtain accurate measurements of various kinds. My own opinion is that their need is indeed greater because they have fewer resources available and narrower margins for error. Therefore, organizational waste and incompetence can have much greater impact. Aphorisms which endure express an essential truth. For example, "You can't manage what you can't measure." There may be some exceptions but not many. What Brown accomplishes in this book is to provide and then explain a cohesive, comprehensive, and cost-effective system which accommodates most organizations' needs for operational metrics and plans, for strategic metrics and plans, and then for implementation of the "scoreboard" after it has been devised. He identifies ten "Mistakes" which create barriers to addressing these separate but related needs:

1. Tracking output/outcome metrics that cannot be influenced or controlled

2. Gathering data that tells you what you already know

3. Gathering data for its own sake

NOTE: Brown and I apparently disagree about "data" which I consider a plural.

4. Relying heavily [too heavily] on customer satisfaction surveys

5. Executives focusing on detailed metrics

6. Measures that are not linked to the strategic plan

NOTE: Kaplan and Norton have much of great value to said about this in their most recent book, The Strategy-Focused Organization: How Balanced Scorecard Companies Thrive in the New Business Environment

7. Failing to define Practical Correlations between [and among] key metrics

8. Reporting data that is difficult to read and analyze

9. "Superstitious" process metrics

10. Measures that drive the wrong performance

Brown explains how and why such "Mistakes" are made, how to correct them, and also how to avoid repeating them. For purposes of illustration, let's say your organization needs to improve performance in these three areas: Cycle Time, First Pass Yield, and On-Time Delivery. Although separate, they are also interdependent. Obviously there are problems which need to be solved. More often than not, a corrective action responds to symptoms rather than to root causes. We all know that many (most?) of those involved in any organizational process (regardless of nature and extent) fear change, resent what they perceive to be criticism of their performance, and will therefore resist (perhaps sabotage) efforts to transform the status quo. Hence the importance of formulating the correct metrics, applying them where they will generate the data needed, and -- meanwhile -- ensuring that the "score" kept is appropriate to whatever "game" is being played.

Essential for mature organizations
This book goes a long way towards helping organizations actually implement balanced scorecards instead of giving them lip service. It also shows what to measure and why, and gives a list of measurement mistakes that render many company's balanced scorecard efforts meaningless.

Unlike Kaplan's and Norton's seminal (and decade old) book, "The Balanced Scorecard", this book is short on theory and heavy on practical applications. This is not a criticism of "The Balanced Scorecard" - just recognition of the fact that in the ensuing decade since that book was first published there have been lesson's learned about what does and does not work. The author distills these lesson's learned into this slim, content-filled book.

What I like most is the author clearly links metrics to vision, mission and strategy. This is what a balanced scorecard is supposed to be about, but this is not always so in practice. He also sorts out the difference between basic business indicators and critical success factors, which is augmented by an outstanding discussion (throughout the book) on top measurement mistakes, and a liberal sprinkling of tips throughout the book.

Probably the most valuable parts of the book are Part 3, where step-by-step procedures are given to implement an *effective* scorecard, and the appendices which contain case studies drawn from real organizations and actual scorecards. The examples given are worth their weight in gold and elevate this book from the theoretical to realistic and practical. My highest recommendation and 5 solid stars. ... Read more

Book Description

Originally developed to reduce drug trafficking, national and international efforts to reduce money laundering have broadened over the years to address other crimes, and most recently, terrorism. These efforts now constitute a formidable regime applied to financial institutions and transactions throughout much of the world. Yet few assessments of either the achievements or consequences of this regime have been made. Reuter and Truman (1) explore what is know about the scale and characteristics of money laundering, (2) describe the current anti–money laundering regime, (3) develop a framework for assessing the effectiveness of the regime, and (4) use that framework to assess how well the current system works and make proposals for its improvement. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A discussion of methodologies used to hide revenues
Written by a senior economist and criminology professor along with a former director of the Division of International Finance of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Chasing Dirty Money: The Fight Against Money Laundering is a no-nonsense discussion of methodologies used to hide revenues gained from a wide variety of crimes and how to block such assets from being transferred and perpetuated. Chapters clarify laundering mechanisms, from simiply smuggling cash out of the country to using casinos, lotteries, and horse races to lose a little betting but receive clean payoff in issued checks, to taking out single premium insurance policies for which the premium is paid in an upfront lump sum rather than annual installments - then later redeeming these policies at a discount. Further chapters discuss protecting the integrity of financial systems, combating predicate crimes connected to money laundering, confronting such global evils as terrorism and kleptocracy or corruption that rely heavily on money laundering, and much more. A sober, serious-minded resource, an absolute must-read for all economic students and professionals, and an eye-opening revelation for lay readers.
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Book Description

In this book, two of America's leading economists provide the first integrated treatment of the conceptual, practical, and empirical foundations for credit risk pricing and risk measurement. Masterfully applying theory to practice, Darrell Duffie and Kenneth Singleton model credit risk for the purpose of measuring portfolio risk and pricing defaultable bonds, credit derivatives, and other securities exposed to credit risk. The methodological rigor, scope, and sophistication of their state-of-the-art account is unparalleled, and its singularly in-depth treatment of pricing and credit derivatives further illuminates a problem that has drawn much attention in an era when financial institutions the world over are revising their credit management strategies.

Duffie and Singleton offer critical assessments of alternative approaches to credit-risk modeling, while highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of current practice. Their approach blends in-depth discussions of the conceptual foundations of modeling with extensive analyses of the empirical properties of such credit-related time series as default probabilities, recoveries, ratings transitions, and yield spreads. Both the "structura" and "reduced-form" approaches to pricing defaultable securities are presented, and their comparative fits to historical data are assessed. The authors also provide a comprehensive treatment of the pricing of credit derivatives, including credit swaps, collateralized debt obligations, credit guarantees, lines of credit, and spread options. Not least, they describe certain enhancements to current pricing and management practices that, they argue, will better position financial institutions for future changes in the financial markets.

Credit Risk is an indispensable resource for risk managers, traders or regulators dealing with financial products with a significant credit risk component, as well as for academic researchers and students. ... Read more

Reviews (5)

Poor writers
The book covers all the relevant topics and provides a slightly different presentation of their own models. However, the book glosses over the mathematics and is written in a very stiff style. The authors have never been known as good writers but in this case they are not presenting anything new. Rather disappointing from two rather strong academics.

Unsatisfying compromise
It seems the authors attempted a compromise between theoretical and practical aspects - and failed at both. From a theoretical point of view, this book is missing the rigorous exposition these authors have been known for in their previous work. From a practical point of view, this book will be of no help to someone trying to implement any credit risk models. The numerous figures - probably added by the authors in a attempt to banish their reputation for texts that are extremely hard to read - do not help in this respect. Detailed descriptions or real examples that could be used for practical purposes are completely absent. There are better choices of credit risk books for both the theoretically and practically inclined.

Disappointing - Bits and pieces jotted together
This book is obviously a quick shot. It's bits and pieces taken from various articles: not one topic is covered right. If the authors had at least selected the most relevant results and formulas from the respective articles, but no, they chose to spray the text with the occasional formula, often irrelevant and seemingly arbitrarily selected, while formulas representing important results are completely missing. The authors might be famous - this book is not going to be.

Another summary of articles put together
Duffie and Singleton are the masters of the reduced-form credit risk modeling approach. Although well-written, their book does not add anything new. It's just another review of the state of the art in credit risk. One can get the original papers and learn much more without having to read a short summary on each work. You will not be able to learn how to model a credit risky instrument by reading this book.I would have liked to see fewer references and more worked-out examples with derivations and detailed numerical applications.

Gold Standard for Credit Risk Pricing and Management
Duffie and Singleton may be the best thinkers in the world on this subject. While one might try other approaches, this is the starting point, the reference, and the benchmark for understanding any approach to credit risk pricing, measurement, and management. Duffie and Singleton are the gold standard referred to in any other work on this subject.

This book is well supplemented with more on the various new products. The gold standard for those products is Tavakoli's book "Credit Derivatives".

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Reviews (5)

Its a start: you must know what you are encountering
The format of this book is not "10 quick things you can do". It is mostly a discussion, from different people, attacking different subjets. It is not uniform. There is a lot of repetition. However, being a lawyer, I find that it is a good start for people who have little concept of technical aspects of the art market.

Author recounts book's success
When I was Special Assistant Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, visual artists had few ways to support themselves except for grants. Apart from the special few, little hope existed for selling their art, and most artists had no idea of how to "go about it." I assembled an internationally respected group of artists, dealers, art lawyers and accountants and put them in front of tens of thousands of artists nationwide. Through questions and answers, speeches and demonstations, a distilled book's worth of unique knowledge and advice came into being. Unlike any other books that give one artist's opinion, or one "art advisor's advice" this book does something different: the straight story comes directly from the most outstanding and respected authorities in the field. No other book does this. No other authority can provide this knowledge in a single volume. The Business of Art is now the basis for college level courses on the business side of art. There is also a companion video sold by Phoenix Flms at 800-221-1274. Used together, they provide artists and art groups with a wealth of learning material for either immediate use or continuing education of artists worldwide.

Not so good
There is a lot of info in this book. However, the information seems jumbled. I say that because, one chapter seems to be more for the emerging artist and the next for the established artist. I did not care for the chapters about the dealers (ex. one chapter in New York dealer, one is Houston dealer, etc.)
I would recommend other business of art books first and save this one for last if your starting a reference collection of art business books.

Money Wasted on the Business of Art
I'd have to say I was very disappointed in this book. The title lead me to believe that there would be plenty of nuts and bolts information, when, in fact, there is very little indeed. There is one long-ish chapter on photographing artwork that contains a great deal of technical information on film, cameras,lenses, and lighting. (Most artists would be better served by hiring, or bartering work with, a competent photographer.) The rest of the book consists largely of personal reminiscences, rambling essays and opaque monologues.

Emerging artists want to know: how do you approach gallery owners successfully? how do you approach museums successfully? how do you prepare your portfolio? how does my work get seen? Well, emerging artists shouldn't expect to find useful answers in this book. The answers compiled in The Business of Art are mostly of the "If you're good enough you'll be found". "Get a magazine to write about you", "I got lucky", "Enter lots of competitions and hope someone notices you", and "Stop whining" variety.

There are a few mildly interesting, though not enlightening, personal stories about the New York art scene "back in the day", but don't look for much practical help here. I consider this as money wasted - both mine and the NEA's.

Lots of info
This book has a variety of information. Some info seems to be for the emerging artist, other info is for the more established artist. It's a good reference but I'd suggest other business of art books first. ... Read more

Book Description

This classic text has remained a market leader for over 30 years because it covers all the conventional areas of international economics in an easy-to-understand manner.The 11th edition has been thoroughly revised and it continues to be accessible, flexible, and interesting to economics and business majors alike.Like earlier editions, it also places international economics events within an historical framework.The overall treatment continues to be intuitive rather than mathematical and is strongly oriented towards policy. Peter Lindert was recently awarded the University of California-Davis' Prize for Undergraduate Teaching and Scholarly Achievement. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

GREAT BOOK
Doesn't get too technical, but explains everything clearly. This book is one of the best economic books that I ever used.

Good Intro to International Economics
I used this book for my international economics undergraduate course and found it easy to understand; it doesn't use lengthy mathematical formulas but utilizes basic macroeconomic theories. The authors organized this book well; the later chapters build upon the beginning ones. However, it would be best to have taken Intermediate Macroeconomics before using this book because the last few chapters rely heavily on a good understanding of intermediate level material.

Paperback is not the same as hardcover
Hello, If you are looking for a paperback version for the hardcover book with the same name, this is not it. Actually the ISBN Number belongs only to the Study Guide to that book. I got it shipped and I am really upset about that.

It's economics....but, I've read better
I had to read most of this book for my International economics class... I think the book tells you what you need to know but it was very difficult to understand. I usually had to read over the same thing 2 or 3 times before I actually started to grasp it. If I was a professior of this class I would seriously consider changing textbooks. ... Read more

Book Description

Authors James D. Gwartney, Richard L. Stroup, Russell S. Sobel, and David Macpherson, believe that a course on principles of economics should focus on the power and relevance of the economic way of thinking.It is this belief and corresponding writing approach that has made ECONOMICS: PRIVATE AND PUBLIC CHOICE one of South-Western's most solid and enduring texts.Throughout this text, the authors integrate applications and real-world data in an effort to make the basic concepts of economics come alive for the reader. ... Read more

Book Description

". . . competition, we see now, is destructive. It would be better if everyone would work together as a system, with the aim for everybody to win. What we need is cooperation and transformation to a new style of management."

In this book W. Edwards Deming details the system of transformation that underlies the 14 Points for Management presented in Out of the Crisis. The system of profound knowledge, as it is called, consists of four parts: appreciation for a system, knowledge about variation, theory of knowledge, and psychology. Describing prevailing management style as a prison, Deming shows how a style based on cooperation rather than competition can help people develop joy in work and learning at the same time that it brings about long-term success in the market. Indicative of Deming's philosophy is his advice to abolish performance reviews on the job and grades in school.

previously published by MIT-CAES ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Highly Recommended!
Critique W. Edwards Deming's work at your peril. After all, he probably set whatever standard you're using. This volume - revised by the author before his death in 1993 and partially based on his 1950s work with the Japanese - may strike the contemporary reader as a curious mixture of seminal process thinking and idiosyncratic ruminations on education. Portions read like an artifact of the early 1990s, but in this regard, however, his volume offers a unique perspective on a turning point in American economic history: the shift to the knowledge-based economy. We [...] recommend Deming's volume to any serious student of management thought, and all human resources professionals should familiarize themselves with his work, which set the foundations for many of the transformations now underway in the corporate world.

Straightforward, Realistic & Practical
I have recommended this book in my previous review of "Out of the Crisis" to managers who are new to Deming's ideas, being a manual that will be easier and more effective to comprehend and follow. At the final stages of his life, Deming (1900-1993) wrote this epilogue of his career with an honest attitude and sincerity that I, along with many of my colleagues, admire. The frankness of his opinions regarding the (lack of) essentially fundamental leadership traits in today's modern global societies, in all vital areas at all organisational strata, are both valid and brave; the information voiced is made possible only through his previous experiences and status in the field.

If all managerial leaders of this world were to listen, be able to understand and follow Deming's ideas and underlying philosophies, societies will be enhanced beyond recognition in many aspects.

However, if you are a lone crusader in your organisation or even country, then you are in for hell... but do hang on tight, as the world generally hates challenges in any forms and situations... Implementing Deming's philosophies (as with any corporate strategy) involves innovation by the introduction of new ideas into an organisation, which includes rearrangements from jobs and roles to structures and systems; which people generally hate. Even within the book, Deming had already highlighted the various problems to that, and had always emphasised on EDUCATION of the organisation, rather than decreed training to extinguish corporate flames, for he had said:

"Knowledge is theory. We should be thankful if action of management is based on theory. Knowledge has temporal spread. Information is not knowledge. The world is drowning in information but is slow in acquisition of knowledge. There is no substitute for knowledge."

- W. Edwards Deming 12th September 1993

This is my humble tribute to a great man.

An excellent book on systems and whole systems thinking.
This is the last book written by Dr. Deming before his death in 1993 at the age of 93. Dr. Deming is perhaps best known for the work he did in Japan at the end of World War II, and his famous 14 points. In this book Dr. Deming introduces his System of Profound Knowledge, which consists of: An understanding of Systems,A Theory of Knowledge, An understanding of Variation and Psychology Dr. Deming defines a system as: "A series of interdependent components that try to work together to achieve the aim of the system." The system must have an aim, without an aim there is not system. Dr. Deming explains variation as follows: All systems have some variation in them. The secret is to know what kind of variation is occuring and to respond accordingly. Common cause variation is the random variation tha occurs in any system. Special cause variation is a result of something outside the system acting on the system. An example would be that it normally takes you 25 minutes to drive to work, give or take a few minutes, but this morning, because of an accident the commute required 50 minutes. The normal drive time, with variation represents common cause variation, while the accident represents special cause variation. A theory of Knowledge is a way of doing experiments, or defining a mind set. According to Dr. Deming without theory no learning takes place. He give an example of a rooster that has a theory that he causes the sun to rise because he gets up early and crows. One morning he forgets to crow. The sun rises anyway. While the rooster's theory is blown out of the water he has learned that he is not responsible for causing the sun to rise and in the future he can sleep in. Dr. Deming's discussion on psychology has to do with the difference between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. His basic theory is that people enter the world motivated to learn and do well and that the excessive use of extrinsic motivation kills the intrinsic motivation. In this book Dr. Deming also discusses in some detail his famous Red Beads Experiment which he uses to demonstrate the power of systems and how they victimize the people working in them. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Excellent guide to Real Estate and Urban Economics
This is an excellent introduction to understanding many of the economic forces which drive urban economics and real estate markets. The book is designed for a graduate-level course, but should be understandable by anybody with a rudimentary knowledge of economics and a desire to learn more. Certainly a 'must' for understanding these important topics and it certainly has some good 'ah ha' points where you 'get' something new and important.

High Price
It is an excellent book, a little pricy, but of high quality. It is not for someone that has not studied or worked in real estate, planning or land economics before though; it is a graduate level course book. ... Read more

Book Description

Advanced International Trade is the first major graduate textbook in international trade in a generation. Trade is a cornerstone concept in economics, taught in all departments both in the United States and abroad. The past twenty years have seen a number of new theoretical approaches that are essential to any graduate international trade course, and will be of interest in development economics and other fields. Here, Robert Feenstra steps beyond theory to consider empirical evidence as well. He covers all the basic material including the Ricardian and Hecksher-Ohlin models, extension to many goods and factors, and the role of tariffs, quotas, and other trade policies; recent material including imperfect competition, outsourcing, political economy, multinationals, and endogenous growth; and new material including the gravity equation and the organization of the firm in international trade.

Throughout the book, special emphasis is placed on integrating the theoretical models with empirical evidence, and this is supplemented by theoretical and empirical exercises that appear with each chapter. Advanced International Trade is intended to bring readers to the forefront of knowledge in international trade and prepare them to undertake their own research. Both graduate students and faculty will find a wealth of topics that have previously only been covered in journal articles, and are dealt with here in a common and simple notation. In addition to known results, the book includes some particularly important unpublished results by various authors. Two appendices describe empirical methods applicable to research problems in international trade, methods that draw on (i) index numbers and (ii) discrete choice models. Thoroughly up-to-date and marked by clear, straightforward prose, this book will be used widely--and enthusiastically.

Professors: A supplementary Solutions Manual is available for this book. It is restricted to teachers using the text in courses. For information on how to obtain a copy, refer to: http://pup.princeton.edu/class.html

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Reviews (2)

The current standard
In my opinion this is the best book currently available for a graduate course in real-trade theory. I have already used it twice in class and my students have invariably preferred it to other recent works available, e.g., K.Y. Wong or Bhagwati et al. Compared to these, this book is better written and focuses judiciously on the models that yield the sharpest conclusions and most relevant insights. Discussions of the significance of gravity models, foreign investments, political economy, free trade areas, and institutional factors in trade (e.g., ethnic networks) are particularly clear and up to date compared with other texts.

The required mathematical apparatus (e.g., envelope and duality results) is introduced naturally, intuitively, and only as and when it is needed. The English flows easily, and the interweaving of theoretical and empirical material is especially novel and welcome.

This book should set the standard for writing graduate texts.

Advanced International Trade: Theory and Evidence
I really expected far more from this textbook. It adds very little to already existing graduate textbooks on trade. It is not useful for graduate students that want to understand the literature of the 2000s. It assumes you already know the material. It debotes a lot of space to the old literature at the expense of the new one. This is a field that has changed significantly. Frankly, I find hard to see its value added. ... Read more

Reviews (5)

Insightful!
Motorola invented Six Sigma. This concise handbook promises to introduce readers to the history of Six Sigma, to explain Six Sigma's leadership requirements and to point the way for Six Sigma practitioners to go forward. It delivers admirably on these promises. Many Six Sigma books offer dense diagrams and mind-numbing descriptions of all of the minutiae that goes into the process improvement program. This book provides a broader perspective. It necessarily sacrifices much of the operational detail in order to present a good general introduction to the subject. This is not the book for managers who need a field-guide or an instruction manual to forge ahead with implementing a Six Sigma program. But for those who have heard of Six Sigma, wonder what it is about and want a good, basic, elementary explanation, we believe this book will serve nicely.

Revisionist and Vague
I read this book this morning over coffee. It's a quick read, but unfortunately I cannot say that it's worth anyone's time. The title makes it seem like it's appropriate for Six Sigma leaders, when in fact it's not. It's about half history and about half the "future of Six Sigma."

Let's start with the history. No where do the authors mention the Six Sigma Research Institute or Six Sigma Management Institute. Dr. Harry nor many of the key individuals associated with the program (Mario Perez-Wilson, the key individuals from any of the five companies that contributed to Six Sigma, etc.). If half of the purpose was to document the true history, it failed miserably. It appears revisionist to me since it leaves out so much of the history. There are other sources on the web that I've read that are better.

Regarding the "future of Six Sigma," it's ok. It throws out a bunch of different vague ideas that you (the leader) will need to figure out how to do. Most of the "future" ideas are in fact being used today by many, many companies. For instance, using a balanced scorecard idea with Six Sigma -- hello...many, many companies have been doing this for 5 years already. There were some other ideas concerning Black Belts, but they're not even worth mentioning.

All in all, it was a quick read but provided little benefit. I wish the authors would have applied a Six Sigma process to their topic selection and research for the book.

Great Balance of Business Case and Detail
I really enjoyed this book. I thought McCarty did an outstanding job of presenting a business case for six sigma with a clear, straightforward discussion of how and why businesses should implement it. Barney's detailed explanation of the statistical nitty-gritty of six sigma provided an excellent follow-up to McCarty's piece. Barney's level of detail was just right for the book - enough to show the reader the "meat" of six sigma statistical foundations without the weighty specifics.

The New Six Sigma
I really enjoyed this book. I thought McCarty did an outstanding job of presenting a business case for six sigma with a clear, straightforward discussion of how and why businesses should implement it. Barney's detailed explanation of the statistical nitty-gritty of six sigma provided an excellent follow-up to McCarty's piece. Barney's level of detail was just right for the book - enough to show the reader the "meat" of six sigma statistical foundations without the weighty specifics.

I

A Quick Read
This is a very informative book that can be read in a about one to two hours. It isn't as in-depth as I thought it would be but it certainly provides some updated and interesting information on Six Sigma. My advice for people who may buy this book is to purchase this book along with 'Leading Six Sigma', 'Lean Six Sigma', and if you are new to Six Sigma, 'Sailing Through Six Sigma with CD' for an overall appreciation of Six Sigma. This is not a book that discusses the DMAIC model or the actual statisitics involved in Six Sigma in any great length so if that is what you're looking for you need to look elsewhere. However, if you're looking for some of the most up to date information on Six Sigma this book is well worth the price. ... Read more

Book Description

Last year's headline-grabbing stories of the notorious bailout of Long-Term Capital Management and the 1.4 billion credit loss for BankAmerica opened the eyes of the investment world. These turbulent times have meant increased awareness of risk management and have lead to late breaking developments in new research, techniques, and theories in the field. Given the high stakes in today's business world with financial dealings in the billions (e.g., derivatives), it's easy to see why risk management has become the key buzzword on Wall Street. While Jorion focuses strictly on market risk, today's financial professionals are also evaluating credit risk and operational risk. Managing Risk provides a comprehensive description and analysis of modern risk management, including the regulatory aspects, organizational issues, potential problem areas, and tools to control and manage the many different kinds of risks: market risk, credit risk, and operational risk. It also discusses: structuring and managing the risk management function in a firm; practical measurement issues in the field; risk management in both financial and non-financial institutions. ... Read more

Reviews (7)

Vast but uneven coverage
I did like this book for its ambition to touch all the bases of risk management, and it does well on that score. It doesn't cover all the bases well, however. Once again, the kick-off is VAR, but the limitations of VAR aren't spelled out as well as they should be. Current products and their risks are not explained. There are virtually no practical examples of the strengths and weaknesses of various approaches, and that is a significant flaw for a risk book, albeit it is true of most of them.

Risks of many products such as credit derivatives cannot be adequatley measured by conventional methodology.

The subject of practical examples of risk (and hdeges) introduced by credit derivatives is comprehensively - and well- covered in "Credit Derivatives and Synthetic Securitization" by Tavakoli. Highly recommended for this subject and the treatment of ambiguity of conventional methods in general.

Comprehensive and excellent
This book is the most comprehensive treatment I've seen of financial risk management, particularly from a banking perspective. It covers both the regulatory and practitioner perspectives of modern risk management -- it's a veritable encyclopedia.

It's drawn from the wealth of experience of the authors, who are well known in both the academic world and on Wall St.

I guess what I like most about the book is the inside look it provides at the various aspects of financial risks -- no other book does it better, and I found the discussion enthralling.

While mainly geared toward banks, the book also includes a fascinating chapter on risk management in regular corporations. I think the book would serve equally well as a textbook for a risk management course or a handbook for the risk management practitioner.

Important stuff but hard slogging
This is an encyclopedia, and reading such things is not what most people, even when deeply interested in the subject are likely to do. It does provide a fair reference for specific topics, but this is not a subject one can really pick and choose.

VAR is the ususal starting point, and its famous authors (one of whom I hired for his skill in these matters) cover most of the bases in an interesting way.

Good book on risk management, February 4, 2002
I bought this book because some readers highly recommended it. I'm a financial derivatives strategist and risk management consultant. When a reviewed the book I disappointed in five main particular points: 1) The chapter on VaR is unsatisfactory and insufficient. The authors discuss this subject in a general approach. From my view point I have a preference for Jorion's Value At Risk. 2) There is no discussion about GARCH models, which decrease the importance of this book. I recognise "Risk Management" is a great book. It's a vast encyclopaedia of risk. 3) There's a great discussion of all types of risk, but without any practical solved case. This particular point demerit the seriousness and greatness of the book. 4) The level of mathematics in the book is a little advanced and without any support en practical cases, these poor numerical exercises and calculus tools are useless. 5) Montecarlo simulation approach is bad. There is a great discussion on this subject in Hull's Options, Futures and other derivatives, where the theme is practical, objective and concise. Finally and taking into account these five particular disadvantages, I'll give my rating to this book: 3 stars.

Don't miss it
I think it the best book about Risk management I read so far. I was impressed even by the way they treat market risk although it does not seem their main interest. The chapter on VaR is much better than a whole book on it. Great!!! Everyone should have a copy... ... Read more