A common-sense volume on personal finance, written for men who take responsibility for their families’ fiscal well-being.
An enthusiastic guide to financial planning focuses on the highly masculine.
In this debut business book, Carpenter makes his target audience clear in the opening pages: “So if you have a wife and kids but you hate their guts, stop reading. If you’re single with no kids, stop reading. If you’re a player, a hoochie, a cougar, a badger, an international playboy, or a party girl—STOP.” “Family Men,” in the author’s view, “have taken on the responsibility of supporting, sustaining, and protecting the lives of others.” Readers who appreciate that approach will find that the volume is filled with standard, sensible financial advice, from managing spending and saving regularly to diversifying across asset classes and hiring a professional adviser. In a tone that will appeal to fans of Esquire, Deadspin, and The Billfold, Carpenter encourages readers to cut back on luxuries until all basic financial needs are met, to engage in estate planning, and to take sensible risks in allocating assets. The majority of the advice is general and philosophical, but it includes some unique elements among the more concrete tips, such as how to find out if complaints have been filed against a financial planner. On the whole, the work is a collection of sensible and practical advice, distinguished from other personal finance literature primarily through its hypermasculine narrative voice. That voice may draw in some readers, but the active exclusion of others limits its potential market. While the writing brings a welcome enthusiasm to a potentially dry topic, the book is not without shortcomings: a few references that were accurate earlier in the decade (gas prices of $4 per gallon, a Dow Jones index several thousand points below its current level) seem out of place in a recently published work, and the idea that the Declaration of Independence provides “all the knowledge you’ll ever need to be a successful investor” is cause for a raised eyebrow.
A common-sense volume on personal finance, written for men who take responsibility for their families’ fiscal well-being.Pub Date: Nov. 25, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-595-50889-1
Page Count: 114
Publisher: iUniverse
Review Posted Online: July 22, 2016
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Occasionally wonky but overall a good case for how the dismal science can make the world less—well, dismal.
“Quality of life means more than just consumption”: Two MIT economists urge that a smarter, more politically aware economics be brought to bear on social issues.
It’s no secret, write Banerjee and Duflo (co-authors: Poor Economics: A Radical Rethinking of the Way To Fight Global Poverty, 2011), that “we seem to have fallen on hard times.” Immigration, trade, inequality, and taxation problems present themselves daily, and they seem to be intractable. Economics can be put to use in figuring out these big-issue questions. Data can be adduced, for example, to answer the question of whether immigration tends to suppress wages. The answer: “There is no evidence low-skilled migration to rich countries drives wage and employment down for the natives.” In fact, it opens up opportunities for those natives by freeing them to look for better work. The problem becomes thornier when it comes to the matter of free trade; as the authors observe, “left-behind people live in left-behind places,” which explains why regional poverty descended on Appalachia when so many manufacturing jobs left for China in the age of globalism, leaving behind not just left-behind people but also people ripe for exploitation by nationalist politicians. The authors add, interestingly, that the same thing occurred in parts of Germany, Spain, and Norway that fell victim to the “China shock.” In what they call a “slightly technical aside,” they build a case for addressing trade issues not with trade wars but with consumption taxes: “It makes no sense to ask agricultural workers to lose their jobs just so steelworkers can keep theirs, which is what tariffs accomplish.” Policymakers might want to consider such counsel, especially when it is coupled with the observation that free trade benefits workers in poor countries but punishes workers in rich ones.
Occasionally wonky but overall a good case for how the dismal science can make the world less—well, dismal.Pub Date: Nov. 12, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-61039-950-0
Page Count: 432
Publisher: PublicAffairs
Review Posted Online: Aug. 28, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2019
SEEN & HEARD
Career and business advice for the hashtag generation. For all its self-absorption, this book doesn’t offer much reflection...
A Dumpster diver–turned-CEO details her rise to success and her business philosophy.
In this memoir/business book, Amoruso, CEO of the Internet clothing store Nasty Gal, offers advice to young women entrepreneurs who seek an alternative path to fame and fortune. Beginning with a lengthy discussion of her suburban childhood and rebellious teen years, the author describes her experiences living hand to mouth, hitchhiking, shoplifting and dropping out of school. Her life turned around when, bored at work one night, she decided to sell a few pieces of vintage clothing on eBay. Fast-forward seven years, and Amoruso was running a $100 million company with 350 employees. While her success is admirable, most of her advice is based on her own limited experiences and includes such hackneyed lines as, “When you accept yourself, it’s surprising how much other people will accept you, too.” At more than 200 pages, the book is overlong, and much of what the author discusses could be summarized in a few tweets. In fact, much of it probably has been: One of the most interesting sections in the book is her description of how she uses social media. Amoruso has a spiritual side, as well, and she describes her belief in “chaos magic” and “sigils,” a kind of wishful-thinking exercise involving abstract words. The book also includes sidebars featuring guest “girlbosses” (bloggers, Internet entrepreneurs) who share equally clichéd suggestions for business success. Some of the guidance Amoruso offers for interviews (don’t dress like you’re going to a nightclub), getting fired (don’t call anyone names) and finding your fashion style (be careful which trends you follow) will be helpful to her readers, including the sage advice, “You’re not special.”
Career and business advice for the hashtag generation. For all its self-absorption, this book doesn’t offer much reflection or insight.Pub Date: May 6, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-399-16927-4
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Portfolio
Review Posted Online: June 22, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2014
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