Reading List for Oct'08

The Undercover Economist: Exposing why the Rich are Rich, and the Poor are Poor
I buy lot of books and music albums. One thing that I never understood was how the pricing was done. Few parameters that come into mind are: the popularity of the author/artist, the size (of the book or #songs/length of the album), the quality (of the paper or the medium) etc., But I could never understand why CDs are priced 5-6 times higher than the respective tape. Other similar things that I never understood were the steep price of branded shirts (or branded anything for that matter. In what appears to be an entertaining and informative book by Tim Harford, I hope to find answers to my above questions and little more.


Boeing vs Airbus: The Inside story of the Greatest International Competition in Business
I'm always fascinated by airplanes of all shapes and sizes. I can spend hours just watching the airplanes take-off and land. In terms of innovation and research, Aerodynamics industry occupies the top slot. Its always fun watching from the sidelines the players in the industry - the airplane makers, the carriers, the governments and to a lesser extent other people in the eco-system (the engine makers, numerous sub contractors including the software people and the people that run the airports). The other important thing is the long (often several years) cycle time to develop a new aircraft and the International Politics that play a major role for the sales. (You'd recall that AirIndia, which had planned to buy several AirBus planes during 2004-05, reversed its decision and instead opted for Boeing, causing much heartburn for the Europeans, its alleged that the Nuclear Deal signed yesterday was one of the carrots thrown in to influence India into buying Boeing planes).

This book by John Newhouse throws light into the thinking behind the strategies, moves and counter moves, politics and other things that makes Boeing and Airbus.



What do you Really Want for your Children?

Someone said "before marriage I had six theories of raising children, now I have six kids and no theories". Raising kids is a humbling experience. Wayne Dyer has had a significant influence on my thinking (the best amongst his several good books are: Your Erroneous Zones, Pulling Your Own Strings, You will see it when you Believe it and The Power of Intention). Hope to learn a few things to be a better father.