'Persuasive, rigorous, creative and wise. Brilliant' TIM HARFORD'Kay is both a first-class economist and an excellent writer' FINANCIAL TIMESIt may feel paradoxical, but in business and in life, our goals are often best achieved when approaching them indirectly. In a traffic jam, the quickest route home might involve going the long way round. Those who deliberately seek love rarely find it and the endless pursuit of happiness often...

If this doesn't move you, I suggest you check your pulse.' –John Kay, frontman of Steppenwolf (born in East Prussia in 1944) Told by the children who survived, these stories could well be the last eyewitness report of the aftermath of the Second World War. As the land where they once lived was integrated into the Eastern Bloc, their accounts remained hushed until after the Iron Curtain fell. Now, in The Wolf Children of the Eastern Front, they break their silence. During the bitter winter ...

A radical reappraisal of the nature and activities of business—what it is for and how it works**“A characteristically acerbic analysis of the archetypal organisational unit of capitalism.”—Andrew Hill, Financial Times, “Best Books of 2024: Business”Shortlisted for the 2024 Financial Times and Schroders Business Book of the Year Award**In the world of Adam Smith and Karl Marx, capitalists built and controlled mills and factories. That relati...

SHORTLISTED FOR THE FINANCIAL TIMES AND SCHRODERS BUSINESS BOOK OF THE YEAR 2024A NEW STATESMAN BOOK OF THE YEAR 2024A FINANCIAL TIMES BEST BUSINESS BOOK OF THE YEAR 2024'Original and thought-provoking... A brilliantly erudite account of the major waves in the theory and practice of management' Financial Times'Instead of theory it has wisdom... an excellent ...

Much economic advice is bogus quantification, warn two leading experts in this essential book, now with a preface on COVID-19. Invented numbers offer a false sense of security; we need instead robust narratives that give us the confidence to manage uncertainty.“An elegant and careful guide to thinking about personal and social economics, especially in a time of uncertainty. The timing is impeccable." — Christine Kenneally, New York Times Book Review

'A brilliant new book'Daily Telegraph'Well written . . . and often entertaining'The Times'A sparkling analysis'ProspectWhen uncertainty is all around us, and the facts are not clear, how can we make good decisions?We do not know what the future will hold, particularly in the midst of a crisis, but we must make decisions anyway. We regula...

The follies of finance have threatened the stability of the global economy, and the world of finance has become increasingly complex and sophisticated, but also greedy, cynical and self-interested. The Long and the Short of It provides a guide to the complexities of modern finance and explains how to put your finances in the only hands you can confidently trust - your own.In this new, wholly updated edition of The Long and the Short of It, you will learn everything...

If you want to go in one direction, the best route may involve going in another. This is the concept of 'obliquity': paradoxical as it sounds, many goals are more likely to be achieved when pursued indirectly. The richest men and women are not the most materialistic; the happiest people are not necessarily those who focus on happiness, and the most profitable companies are not always the most profit-oriented as the recent financial crisis showed us.Whether overcoming geographical o...

This book provides a guide to the complexities of modern finance. It describes the basics of investment and the sophisticated innovations of the modern financial system. It explains how the follies of finance have threatened the stability of the world economy, and describes an environment that is complex and sophisticated, but greedy, cynical and self-interested. This book explains how to put your finances in the only hands you can confidently trust - your own.Readers will learn ev...

Capitalism faltered at the end of the 1990s as corporations were rocked by fraud, the stock-market bubble burst and the American business model – unfettered self-interest, privatization and low tax – faced a storm of protest. But what are the alternatives to the mantras of market fundamentalism?Leading economist John Kay unravels the truth about markets, from Wall Street to Switzerland, from Russia to Mumbai, examining why some nations are rich and some poor, why ‘one-size-fits-all...

Two of the UK's leading economists call for an end to extreme individualism as the engine of prosperity'provocative but thought-provoking and nuanced' TelegraphThroughout history, successful societies have created institutions which channel both competition and co-operation to achieve complex goals of general benefit. These institutions make the difference between societies that thrive and those paralyzed by discord, the difference...

Shortlisted for the Orwell Prize 2016We all depend on the finance sector. We need it to store our money, manage our payments, finance housing stock, restore infrastructure, fund retirement and support new business. But these roles comprise only a tiny sliver of the sector's activity: the vast majority of lending is within the finance sector. So what is it all for? What is the purpose of this activity? And why is it so profitable?John Kay, a distinguished ec...