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TitleAuthorDateSubjectRelevance Level (1-10)OwnerPresently Held ByDate Borrowed
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The Holy Grail of Macroeconomics, Lessons From Japan's Great RecessionR. Koo2009EconomicsMy favorite analysis of what's going on in the economy today, viewed from the perspective of what happened in Japan (and viewed from within the framework of capitalism) (for how we got in this mess, see N. Roubini)8James Y.
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How to Change the World: Social Entrepreneurs and the Power of New IdeasD. Bornstein2007Community, EconomicsWhere social awareness meets economics. This is one of the few books that I read and thought, "this HAS to be the future."8James Y.Susan12/16/2011
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Crisis Economics: A Crash Course in the Future of FinanceN. Roubini2010EconomicsA fairly thorough explanation of how we got to the mess we're in (as viewed from within the framework of capitalism), and how better to prevent future disasters (for how to fix the one we're in, see R. Koo).6James Y.
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Rules for RadicalsS. Alinsky1971CommunityHow to organize a community, but devoid of compassion. Lots of good points to take from this, but in my opinion, I would take some of it with a grain of salt.6James Y.
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The End of the Free Market: Who Wins the War between States and Free MarketsI. Bremmer2010EconomicsBefore you get excited, it's not about how to end free markets and corporations. It explains international economies in terms of their relative levels of state control and free markets, mostly in light of where state-capitalism has taken china and where "free" markets have taken the US.3James Y.
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Slow MoneyWoody Tasch2010Economicspossible concepts for a 'ground up' model for our working group, based on the slow food movement in Europe. It talks about structural ideas for investing as if farms, soil, and fertility mattered.If 10 is the most relevant, 6Apple Center
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When Corporations Rule the WorldDavid C. Korten2001EconomicsDetails the ascent of corporations as rulers of our global economy and society and offers some solutions. It's ten years old, but still a classic.8Gary G.
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The Value of NothingRaj Patel2010Economics, Politics, Social ChangeWhen I first read this, I was excited to see something I'd long been looking for: a good clear explanation of how conventional economics is more a very skewed ideology than an objective science. Rereading it, I'm just as impressed by the second half, which could almost be a blueprint for the Occupy movement.8Eric Tomb
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The Theory of the Leisure ClassThorstein Veblen1899The 1%, and their emulatorsWho, how, and why, throughout history and prehistory.10Edward Cherlin
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Wealth of NationsAdam Smith1776Real wealth and fantasy wealthHow countries grow rich or poor. Hint: financial shenanigans fail, but creating real production, trade, _and_ distribution systems works. Know-how, and thus education, are also critical.10Edward Cherlin
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Development as FreedomAmartya Sen1999Positive economic freedomCivil libertarians have focused for centuries on negative freedoms, that is, freedom from government interference. Sen argues for positive freedoms, the freedom to engage in economic activities.10Edward Cherlin
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Republic, Lost: How Money Corrupts Congress--and a Plan to Stop It Larry Lessig2011Diagnosis and suggested remediesMore than ever before, Americans believe that money buys results in
Congress, and that business interests wield control over our legislature. How did people with good intentions allow our democracy to be co-opted by outside interests? Lessig offers clear explanations, plus 4 ideas for solving the problem		Edward Cherlin
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This Changes Everything: Occupy Wall Street and the 99% Movement
Sarah van Gelder and the staff of YES! Magazine2011Us!Occupy Wall Street...may represent the best hope
in years that “we the people” will step up to take on the critical
challenges of our time.		Edward Cherlin
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You Can't Say You Can't PlayVivian Gussin Paley1993No exclusionAll I need to know I learned in kindergartenEdward Cherlin
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Shaking the Gates of Hell: Faith-Led Resistance to Corporate GlobalizationSharon Delgado2007Global economy & corporate power, rising up, faith responseAnalyzes major threats facing humanity that are exacerbated by economic globalization. Provides an overview of the interlocking network of institutions that make up the global empire. Presents a vision for resistance based on faith and hope for transformation.Sharon Delgado
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The Real Wealth of NationsRiane Eisler2007Toward a humane and sustainable economic systemThe "formal economy," supported by the "government economy," rests upon the "unpaid Community Economy," the "Household Economy," and the "Natural Economy." How to acknowledge and value caregiving and the value of nature as part of economics.Sharon Delgado
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Agenda for a New EconomyDavid Korton2006Framework for transition to a new economyA practical guide to transforming the current dysfunctional economic system into a just and sustainable, decentratlized system that works.Sharon Delgado
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The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster CapitalismNaomi Kline2007How crisis can bring economic repressionA "secret history of the free market." It exposes the "free trade and globalization ideologies that disguise a conspiracy to privatize war and disaster and grab public property for the rich few." Deep understanding of where we are and how to move forward.Sharon Delgado
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Alternatives to Economic GlobalizationJohn Cavanagh, Jerry Mander, eds.2004Just what the title saysA book that critiques economic globalization, examines its ideological underpinnings, and details its negative economic and environmental effects, then lays out alternatives.Sharon Delgado
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The Big ShortMichael Lewis2010The criminal antics of Wall Street that caused the crashThe best detailed narrative/explanation to date how Wall Street's finaciopaths created the circular firing squad that cratered the economy through their completely unregulated, black box casino of CDO's and Credit Default Swaps. And the smart money that had the wit to see it all happening and went short on the looming catastrophe while they tried to sound the alarm bells to no avail.Stephen Pizzella
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One Market Under GodThomas Frank2000The perverse "populist" makeover of corporate America during the Clinton yearsA scathing critique that lambasts corporate America's laughably perverse attempt- largely successful- to rebrand itself as a transformative, user friendly, democratic player in the new "populist", hip and happening consumer/investor zeitgeist. Think Wired Magazine.Stephen Pizzella
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BoomerangMichael Lewis2011The emerging third world landscape of developed nations made bankrupt by the crashLike all his books this a concise informative read. But I recommend it principally for the last chapter which is devoted to California and its status as yet another premier example of a bankrupt developed state that,despite the illusion of prosperity, is facing the hard reality of an emergent civil and economic landscape that is as chaotic, bleak and dysfunctional as any in the third world.Stephen Pizzella
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Other People's Money And How the Bankers Use ItLouis Brandeis1914How big money got to be too big, and what to do about it, from Woodrow Wilson's Progressive advisor.Our Financial Oligarchy; How the Combiners Combine; Interlocking Directorates; Serve One Master Only!; What Publicity Can Do; Where the Banker is Superfluous; Big Men and Little Business; A Curse of Bigness; The Failure of Banker-Management; The Inefficiency of the OligarchsEdward Cherlin
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The Rise of ChristianityRodney Stark1997Starting a MovementThere are a lot of cues Occupy should take from the first Christians on how to start a movementJames Y.10
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