Understanding finance isn’t easy—if it was, we’d all be millionaires by now. So when a handful of illuminating, engaging finance books come out, we at the Next Big Idea Club sit up and take notice.
In fact, we looked at the data to determine which finance books were loved most by our tens of thousands of app users. (Our curators Malcolm Gladwell, Susan Cain, Daniel Pink, and Adam Grant only pick each season’s two official selections.) To set a course for a brighter financial future, check out the 16 books below.
16. The Price of Time: The Real Story of Interest
By Edward Chancellor
A comprehensive and profoundly relevant history of interest from one of the world’s leading financial writers, The Price of Time explains our current global financial position and how we got here. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Edward Chancellor, in the Next Big Idea App
15. The Tragic Science: How Economists Cause Harm (Even as They Aspire to Do Good)
By George F. DeMartino
A University of Denver economist details the complicated nature of economic harm, explores economists’ frequent failure to recognize it, and makes a sobering case for professional humility and for genuine respect for those who stand to be harmed by economists’ practice. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author George F. DeMartino, in the Next Big Idea App
14. For a Dollar and a Dream: State Lotteries in Modern America
By Jonathan D. Cohen
This first comprehensive history of America’s lottery obsession explores the spread of state lotteries and how players and policymakers alike got hooked on wishful dreams of an elusive jackpot. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Jonathan D. Cohen, in the Next Big Idea App
13. Free Market: The History of an Idea
By Jacob Soll
Tracing the intellectual evolution of the free market from Cicero to Milton Friedman, a MacArthur “Genius” argues that we need to go back to the origins of free market ideology in order to truly understand it—and to develop new economic concepts to face today’s challenges. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Jacob Soll, in the Next Big Idea App
12. The Power Law: Venture Capital and the Making of the New Future
By Sebastian Mallaby
From the bestselling author of More Money Than God comes the astonishingly frank and intimate story of Silicon Valley’s dominant venture capital firms—and how their strategies and fates have shaped the path of innovation and the global economy. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Sebastian Mallaby, in the Next Big Idea App
11. Cloudmoney: Cash, Cards, Crypto, and the War for Our Wallets
By Brett Scott
An economic anthropologist takes us to the front lines of a war for our wallets that is also about our freedom, from marketing strategies against cash to the weaponization of COVID-19 to push fintech platforms, and from there to the rise of the cryptocurrency rebels and fringe groups pushing back. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Brett Scott, in the Next Big Idea App
10. There’s Nothing Micro About a Billion Women: Making Finance Work for Women
By Mary Ellen Iskenderian
Microfinance has been hailed as an economic lifeline for women in developing countries—but, as the CEO of Women’s World Banking shows, it takes more than microloans to empower women and promote sustainable, inclusive economic growth. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Mary Ellen Iskenderian, in the Next Big Idea App
9. The Investing Oasis: Contrarian Treasures in the Capital Markets Desert
By J.T. Mason
A roadmap of portfolio management concepts and contrarian tactics that can turn misbehaviors, undue risks, and short-term gambles into longer-term strengths. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author J.T. Mason, in the Next Big Idea App
8. Direct: The Rise of the Middleman Economy and the Power of Going to the Source
By Kathryn Judge
A finance expert, law professor, and fellow overwhelmed consumer investigates the surprising ways that middlemen have taken control of the economy at the expense of the rest of us, and provides practical guidance about how to regain control, find more meaning, and contribute to a more sustainable economy. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Kathryn Judge, in the Next Big Idea App
7. Money, Magic, and How to Dismantle a Financial Bomb: Quantum Economics for the Real World
By David Orrell
In this colorful tour of the history, philosophy, and mathematics of money, an applied mathematician demonstrates how everything makes much more sense when we replace our classical economic models with ones based on quantum probability. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author David Orrell, in the Next Big Idea App
6. The Revolution That Wasn’t: GameStop, Reddit, and the Fleecing of Small Investors
By Spencer Jakab
In January 2021, a motley crew of retail traders on Reddit’s r/wallstreetbets forum had seemingly brought some of the biggest, richest players on Wall Street to their knees. The Revolution That Wasn’t is the riveting story of how the meme stock squeeze unfolded, and of the real architects (and winners) of the GameStop rally. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Spencer Jakab, in the Next Big Idea App
5. The Cryptopians: Idealism, Greed, Lies, and the Making of the First Big Cryptocurrency Craze
By Laura Shin
The recent growth of crypto would have been all but impossible if not for a brilliant young man named Vitalik Buterin and his creation: Ethereum. In this book, a tech journalist takes readers inside the founding of this novel cryptocurrency network. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Laura Shin, in the Next Big Idea App
4. Price Wars: How the Commodities Markets Made Our Chaotic World
By Rupert Russell
A fascinating, groundbreaking exposé of how commodity traders in New York and London have destabilized societies all over the world, leaving the most vulnerable at the mercy of hunger, chaos, and war. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Rupert Russell, in the Next Big Idea App
3. Two and Twenty: How the Masters of Private Equity Always Win
By Sachin Khajuria
Private equity has succeeded in near-stealth—until now. In Two and Twenty, a former partner at Apollo gives readers an unprecedented view inside this opaque global economic engine, which plays a vital role underpinning our retirement systems. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Sachin Khajuria, in the Next Big Idea App
2. The Truth About Crypto: A Practical, Easy-to-Understand Guide to Bitcoin, Blockchain, NFTs, and Other Digital Assets
By Ric Edelman
Featuring the prophetic insights you’d expect from such an acclaimed financial advisor, The Truth About Crypto is fun to read and easy to understand—and most importantly gives readers the sound, practical advice we all need to succeed with this new asset class. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Ric Edelman, in the Next Big Idea App
1. Money Magic: An Economist’s Secrets to More Money, Less Risk, and a Better Life
By Laurence Kotlikoff
One of our nation’s premier personal finance experts harnesses the power of economics and advanced computation to deliver a host of spellbinding but simple money magic tricks that will transform your financial future. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Laurence Kotlikoff, in the Next Big Idea App
To enjoy Book Bites from anywhere, download the Next Big Idea app today:
