Mike

I you personally guide any of your investments, this book is worth reading. There are no direct investment ideas, but it gives great insight into the mental mind-set of those who win in the market. I found it humbling and it has already saved me money by changing my mindset on when to cut bait and when to keep fishing.

A good read to help understand actions of the Obama administration. He also givesvery direct, and accurate, critique of Bush policies. His disdain for Bush helps explain the money he has spent, through his endowments, to effect the political process. If not clear earlier, he makes his overall goal quite clear near the end of the bood wishing for "a new world order" and that "all will produce to the extent of their ability and receive to the extent of their need". He makes it clear the purpose of his political spending is a socialist one world government.

From the investment side, I have never read a book by a successful trader that I didn't like because theyalways offer some pearls on trading philosopy. This book is no different. He does a good job of defending his reflexivity theory. If you find this idea interesting, I suggest reading "Human Action" by Mises. He does a much better job of explaining this relationship. Soros' explantion of the crash is good, his plans for the future are less well thought out. Mises again deals with the pitfalls of Soros' ideas for different interventions.

Overall, a worthwhile read. It becomes clear that Soros' talent was understanding the world's central banks monitary policy and the implications. He made his forturnes by always being a step ahead of them. That makes him brilliant in central bank monitary policy and investing, his understanding of overall economics is less gifted and mostly dictated by Keynes.

Don't expect many direct investment ideas. This is more of an introduction to what opportunities exist in the commodity space. A worthwhile listen for anyone not familiar with commodity investing.

Likely the greatest economic book ever written. I had never been able to finish the written book, but the audio book made me look forward to hours of business travel. Few writers have ever linked macro economic events back to the purchasing decisions of individuals so well. The first few chapters are a bit dry, but they lay the ground work in the psychology and philosophy of the individual that that make the rest of the book brilliant. He describes the future of the next 50 years after the book was written as a pure thought experiment on the consequenses of Kensian and socialist economics. His thought process makes the ongoing actions of the worlds central bankers almost predictable when you take into account the individual and group motivations of the monitary power structure. Strongly recommended with Currency Wars and Endgame as the best economic books in the Audible collection.

Provides interesting insight into the development of the derivatives mania. The autor's biases as an FT reporter are obvious, but do not overly distract from the book. As an example, she refers to Greenspan as a ardent believer in the free market on multiple occassions when he was one of the greatest proponents of government intervention and coersion of the capital markets in history. Still worth the price off the sales rack.