What Sticks

One of the best books I've read in the past few years' has to be Michael Lewis' Moneyball. On the surface, it's a story about how the General Manager of the Oakland A's has kept the team near the top of baseball despite a budget that's near the bottom. In that sense, it's fantastic business book, with a focus on how one team uncovered hidden value. Of course, it wouldn't take much to stand apart from the typical, jargon-filled business book. But Moneyball also stands apart as a story, filled with fascinating characters like the GM (Billy Beane -- a failed first-round draft pick) and Bill James (the genius behind the movement, who works out of his home in Kansas). This is one of only a few non-fiction books that I found it difficult to put down.

posted by utilitylawyer @ 5:51 PM 0 comments

The Value of Competition: Not Just Low Prices I don't believe that people read Will Durant much anymore. His books no longer reflect the latest scholarship, assuming they ever did. And his history barely conceals assumptions about the progress of Western Civilation that went out of style long ago. But he expresses ideas well. One of my favorites explains, in a single sentence, how science and philosophy were stimulated by trade in ancient Greece:

"The crossroads of trade are the meeting place of ideas, the attrition ground of rival customs and beliefs; diversities beget conflict, comparison, thought; superstitions cancel one another, and reasons begins."

Will Durant, The Life of Greece p. 135 (15th ed. 1939). He's looking ahead to the Port of Athens.

But think blogosphere. I have seen a couple of good articles explaining why a network of thinkers can produce better results than a resource-rich newsroom. Hayek has something to say about that too. To get the idea into a single sentence is impressive.

posted by utilitylawyer @ 9:00 PM 0 comments