The blog is going away but the reviews are not. You can find them here in the online print edition.

Home > ATLarts > Archives > 2008 > October > 10 > Entry

Any recommendations for economic self-help books?

I just looked on Amazon’s best-seller list, and was a little surprised there were hardly any books there that might help people — or even purport to help them — with the current economic crisis.

The only thing I found was “Crash Proof: How to Profit From the Coming Economic Collapse” by Peter D. Schiff and John Downes, which was of course written before this collapse, but seems pretty nuts and bolts advice-driven.

There were a couple of books I think folks may be buying because of general anxiety, including “The Snowball,” a biography of Warren Buffett, and “The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression” by Amity Shlaes, but I don’t think those are going to be of any real assistance.

I’m thinking maybe books are not our best resource for figuring out what, if anything, to do as we watch our 401(k)s crater, but maybe I’m wrong. Can anyone recommend a good book that helps readers with this mess?

Here’s additional information on coping with the financial crisis

Permalink | Comments (6) | Post your comment | Categories: Books

Comments

By geekboy

October 10, 2008 9:53 AM | Link to this

“The Richest Man in Babylon” by George Clason should be required reading in every public school in America. Read it, live by it and make your kids do the same.

By JB

October 10, 2008 10:01 AM | Link to this

“Basic Economics” by Thomas Sowell - a good primer on everything that social democracies (think rent control, anti-gouging statues, income redistribution, etc.) get wrong about econ, and unfortunately the exact direction in which this bailout points us

By jakesdad

October 10, 2008 10:30 AM | Link to this

knowing WHAT to do is the easy part (spend less than you make - DUH!) - having the discipline to DO it is the trick and no book is going to fix that for people.

By mark

October 10, 2008 11:42 AM | Link to this

The Collapse of the Dollar and How to Profit from it by James Turk

By Another point of view

October 10, 2008 12:21 PM | Link to this

I read Crash Proof and he spelled all this out. The only part that has confused me is he recommends putting your money in the euro or yen yet they’re having major problems too. I guess the mattress is the only safe haven.

By Peter Knox

October 14, 2008 3:14 PM | Link to this

Schiff has a new book out now, “The Little Book of Bear Moves in Bull Markets” and it couldn’t have been better timed. It explains, in simple language and manageable format, how to protect your assets, stay liquid, and actually make money during all of this. Check it out.

Commenting is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. M-F

Post a comment



Remember me?

You may use the following formatting:
Bold: **this text will be bolded** = this text will be bolded
Italic: *this text will be italic* = this text will be italic
Link: [text to be linked](http://www.ajc.com) = text to be linked



There will be a delay of up to 5 minutes before your comment appears.


*HTML not allowed in comments. Your e-mail address is required.

 

Kudzu Services » Find the right people for the job