The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas J. Stanley and William D. Danko

January 10, 2019 by Christina

Nonfiction – print. Longstreet Press, 2001. Originally published 1996. 258 pgs. Borrowed from my dad. I grew up with the term “millionaire next door” in my vernacular. My mom (and, to a lesser extent, my dad) pontificated on the value of becoming an under-the-radar millionaire throughout my childhood. (Why buy new books when you can get them from the library from free?!?) Now that I’m an adult, I see how their understanding of this term has shaped how I approach […]

Categories: 2019 Reads, Economics, Nonfiction, North America, United States • Tags: Thomas J. Stanley, William D. Danko

Dark Money by Jane Mayer

July 17, 2018 by Christina

Nonfiction — Kindle edition. Anchor, 2016. 464 pgs. Library copy.  Subtitled “The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right”, Mayer expands on her 2010 article for The New Yorker on the Koch brothers’ “war against Obama” and follow how the Kochs and other billionaire families in the United States, including the family of the current Secretary of Education, have reshaped the political landscape of America through campaign financing. “Presidents might surround themselves with Secret Service agents […]

Categories: 2018 Reads, Chunkster, Economics, Nonfiction, North America, United States • Tags: Jane Mayer

Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance

January 30, 2017 by Christina

Nonfiction – print. Harper, 2016. 263 pgs. Library copy. Subtitled “A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis”, Vance recounts his childhood raised by an often deride segment of America — the “hillbilly”, Scots-Irish living in the Appalachia region of the United States. Vance’s mother — a nurse — struggled with drug addiction throughout his life, and that coupled with the constant cycle of stepfathers and boyfriends in Vance’s life meant he often took refuge in the home of his grandparents, Mamaw […]

Categories: 2017 Reads, Economics, Nonfiction, North America • Tags: J.D. Vance

Our Lot by Alyssa Katz

June 15, 2014 by Christina

Nonfiction — print. Bloomsbury, 2010. Originally published 2009. 304 pgs. Received from PaperBackSwap. Subtitled “How Real Estate Came to Own Us”, Katz’s book attempts to explain the explosive growth of the United States real estate market and the development of mortgage-backed securities leading to the housing bubble and the economic crisis of 2008. Starting right at the start of the Great Depression, Katz explains how President Roosevelt saw construction of homes — not just the bridges and tunnels history books […]

Categories: 2014 Reads, Economics, Nonfiction, North America, United States • Tags: Alyssa Katz

The Price of Politics by Bob Woodward

October 16, 2012 by Christina

Nonfiction — Kindle edition. Simon & Schuster, 2012. 380 pgs. Borrowed from family member. Woodward’s twelfth book covers the 2011 debt ceiling crisis in the United States, a particularly partisan time in American politics where neither the Republicans nor the Democrats were willing to compromise to reach an agreement over raising the debt ceiling. Meanwhile, neither party had enough votes to ram their own bill through both the House of Representatives and the Senate since control was held by the Republicans […]

Categories: 2012 Reads, Economics, Honors Project, Mountain West, Nonfiction, North America, United States • Tags: Bob Woodward

The Cartoon Introduction to Economics by Grady Klein and Yoram Bauman (Volume One)

September 26, 2012 by Christina

Nonfiction — print. Hill and Wang, 2012. 212 pgs. Library copy. I spotted this book back in July when I was still living in Seattle and had run out of reading materials. I was tempted to buy it but settled on a different book and noted the title down for future reference. It wasn’t until I was at the local public library on Saturday that I spotted the book and remembered my prior interest. Klein and Bauman introduce readers to […]

Categories: 2012 Reads, Comics, Economics, Honors Project, Nonfiction • Tags: Grady Klein, Yoram Bauman

Big-Box Swindle by Stacy Mitchell

August 15, 2012 by Christina

Nonfiction — print. Beacon Press, 2006. 318 pgs. Library copy. Subtitled “The True Cost of Mega-Retailers and the Fight for America’s Independent Businesses”, Mitchell traces the growth of mega-retailers — from big boxes like Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Target, and Old Navy — and the precipitous decline of independent businesses. She goes on to explain the impact these companies and the big-box mentality on everything from increases in gasoline consumption to rising poverty rates, failing family farms, and decimated small towns. […]

Categories: 2012 Reads, Economics, Food, Honors Project, Nonfiction, North America, United States • Tags: Stacy Mitchell

On the Brink by Henry M. Paulson Jr.

July 23, 2012 by Christina

Nonfiction — Kindle edition. Grand Central Publishing, 2010. 496 pgs. Purchased. Subtitled “Inside the Race to Stop the Collapse of the Global Financial System”, Paulson’s book details the three years he served as the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury during the world’s most cataclysmic financial crisis since the Great Depression. Major institutions like the government-sponsored enterprises of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and private corporations including Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers, AIG, and Citigroup teetered on the edge of collapse – […]

Categories: 2012 Reads, Chunkster, Economics, Honors Project, Nonfiction, North America, United States • Tags: Henry M. Paulson Jr

Overhaul by Steven Rattner

July 20, 2012 by Christina

Nonfiction — Kindle edition. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2010. 315 pgs. Purchased. Subtitled “An Insider’s Account of the Obama Administration’s Emergency Rescue of the Auto Industry”, Rattner explains the events behind the splashy headline (“Car Czar”, anyone?) and partisan politics of the auto bailout. I like to think of myself as politically aware but even I was stunned at what”Team Auto”, as Rattner called his group, was doing in the background, cutting through the government bureaucracy and making decisions without the […]

Categories: 2012 Reads, Economics, Honors Project, Nonfiction, North America, United States • Tags: Steven Rattner

The Community Development Quota Program in Alaska

June 1, 2012 by Christina

Nonfiction — print. National Academies Press, 1999. 228 pgs. Borrowed. In case you need any more evidence that I am one giant nerd, this book will probably solidify your estimation of me. It’s not actually a book — just one very long, white paper published by the National Academies Press. The purpose of the book is to review the performance and effectiveness of the Community Development Quotas (CDQ) programs created as a result of the Sustainable Fisheries Act of 1996. […]

Categories: 2012 Reads, Economics, Nonfiction, North America, United States

Comeback America by David M. Walker

May 14, 2012 by Christina

Nonfiction — Kindle edition. Random House, 2010. 240 pgs. Borrowed from my uncle. I downloaded this book from my uncle’s Kindle account. He has a whole slew of “fixing” America how-to books and I’ve always been intrigued by his selections. This book, subtitled “Turning the Country Around and Restoring Fiscal Responsibility”, was the title I found my finger hoovering over time and time again. One of my biggest pet peeves is when people complain about paying taxes. Nobody likes paying […]

Categories: 2012 Reads, Economics, Honors Project, Nonfiction, North America, United States • Tags: David M. Walker

Cities After Socialism by Gregory Andrusz, Michael Harloe, and Ivan Szelenyi

April 23, 2012 by Christina

Nonfiction — print. Blackwell Publishers, 1996. 340 pgs. Borrowed from a professor. I’m not very good at visiting my professors during office hours unless I’ve received a bad grade or I’m asking for a recommendation letter. Visit a professor for advice on a paper? Never! Yet this book has me completely rethinking my refusal. I had hit a wall with my final paper for my social justice class because, while I did have an idea, it was so grandiose and […]

Categories: 2012 Reads, Economics, Europe, Hungary, Nonfiction • Tags: Gregory Andrusz, Ivan Szelenyi, Michael Harloe