Book for hs kid possibly interested in business?

Parent Cafe
1

<p>My hs junior sounds like he might be interested in studying business in college, but he’s really never been exposed to economics/finance/. . . . I’d like to buy him a book that would introduce him to some of the topics an undergraduate business major would encounter but that also isn’t duller than dirt.</p>

<p>Any suggestions?</p>

2

<p>For a fun read, I like the authorized biography of Warren Buffet, The Snowball. It’s not a how to book, but will introduce one to the world of top level corporate investments. I think a text on finance would be dull. One caveat, the book is long, but it is interesting.</p>

<p>There are always the classic econ authors, Keynes (of recent revival in the current economy) or my own favorite, Milton Friedman.</p>

3

<p>Those books Donald Trump wrote are pretty neat. </p>

<p>Russel Simmons wrote a book on business I believe and that man is worth a pretty penny. </p>

<p>A nice “reader” would be any book which is a compilation of the writings of different economists and folks in finance, but that is none too boring. Amazon would be your pal in that, OP.</p>

4

<p>My son liked Freakonomics when he was in 11th grade.</p>

5

<p>The “…duller than dirt” part is the key. To get a fascinating picture from the bottom up, I would recommend: “A Colossal Failure of Common Sense: The Inside Story of the Collapse of Lehman Brothers”
by Lawrence G. McDonald and Patrick Robinson</p>

<p>Written like a thriller (financial), the author writes about his life as a bond trader at Lehman’s and how the company fell into bankruptcy. The book is a clearly written for a general audience and gives you a real sense of what life is like at one of the great banking houses in the world.</p>

<p>See: [Lehman</a> Brothers: Wall Street’s Titanic - BusinessWeek](<a href=“Businessweek - Bloomberg”>Businessweek - Bloomberg)</p>

<p>[Lawrence</a> McDonald’s Insider Account of the Last Days of Lehman Shows Deep Division in the Ranks - Deal Journal - WSJ](<a href=“http://blogs.wsj.com/deals/2009/07/21/revealing-the-secret-coup-against-lehman-brothers-dick-fuld/]Lawrence”>http://blogs.wsj.com/deals/2009/07/21/revealing-the-secret-coup-against-lehman-brothers-dick-fuld/)</p>

6

<p>Thanks for the responses. Mildred–I’d normally start poking around Amazon (I do find their personal reviews helpful) but thought I might save some time if a CC-er was already aware of something that fills the bill.</p>

<p>I’ll look into the suggestions. Others welcome.</p>

7

<p>P.S. I just remembered that my sis-in-law sent Freakonomics to this particular kid thinking he might be interested, but DH grabbed it first. (The one chapter I read seemed like it was aimed more toward statisticians–cause and effect vs. simple correlation, mostly having to do with concomitant variables.)</p>

8

<p>I’m giving my S the latest freakonomics book this Christmas. He read the first one in HS and is now an econ major…He loved the first one!</p>

9

<p>Freadonomics is a good one. Another good one for teens is Undercover Economics.</p>

10

<p>Has anyone read Wealth of Nations? And Kajon–you mean “The Undercover Economist”? Sounds good–here’s an excerpt of an amazon review:</p>

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</p>

11

<p>The Running of the Bulls: Inside the Cutthroat Race from Wharton to Wall Street - Ridgway</p>

<p>Must read for anyone considering business school. It focuses on MBA, but gives you an idea of what the “desired” career is actually like. Great book and fun read.</p>

12

<p>Final Cut by Steven Bach is about the business of big studio movie making, specifically the making of Heaven’s Gate–terrific. Also, if he likes mysteries, the mystery books by Emma Lathen are all about various busnesses, kind of like whodunits for MBAs.</p>

13

<p>To follow up on michuncle’s theme, here are a couple about spectacular business collapses:</p>

<p>Smartest Guys in the Room: The Amazing Rise and Scandalous Fall of Enron (they made a movie out of this one)</p>

<p>Street Fighters: The Last 72 Hours of Bear Streans, the Toughest Firm on Wall Street</p>

14

<p>Actually, if he likes mysteries, there are a couple of terrific ones by “Marshall Jevons” (a pseudonym for two academic economists). The detective-hero is a Harvard economics professor, who solves the mysteries by resort to basic economics concepts. Very much in the Freakonomics vein, but with more explanation of the ideas, more dialog, and more faculty politics.</p>

15

<p>I am a high school senior and want to major in economics,
here a list of some books I liked:</p>

<p>Easier/ more accesible ones:

  • Freakonomics
  • The Economic Naturalist (sort of a freakonomics)
  • Niall Fergusons book ‘The Ascent of Money’, it is basically a history book about the rise
    of the concept of money. Easy, yet really interesting, read.
  • If he wants to pursue an MBA in the future, I can recommend ‘What they teach you at Harvard Business School’. Self-explanatory title.
  • Albeit a bit older already, Alan Greenspans autobiography is fun, although of course more written from a policy perspective than a business one.
  • I can’t remember the title right now, but the book about Goldman Sachs was nice!</p>

<p>If he wants to read some more theoretic books, Pigou has become relevant again, Keynes…
More of the usual suspects, though those texts are obviously a lot drier. </p>

<p>Good luck! :D</p>

16

<p>My d has enjoyed both Freakonomics and the sequel Superfreakonomics.</p>

17

<p>I’m finally getting to my holiday shopping and wanted to thank everyone for their input. I’m ordering several!!</p>