Human Nature by Kate Marvel

Does it seem lately that you are hearing frequently about extra high temperatures, heavy deluges, or strong storms?  How does that make you feel? In a new book called HUMAN NATURE author Kate Marvel devotes a chapter to each of nine emotions to explore both science and stories behind climate change. Marvel, a climate scientist and quoted in The Climate Book by Greta Thunberg, says that she wrote this book for three reasons: (1) to share some of the science behind climate change; (2) to explain how, with things changing so rapidly, it feels to do this science; and (3) to share the range of emotions she felt. Shifting between Greek myths and theoretical physics, Marvel looks at Wonder; Anger; Guilt; Fear; Grief; Surprise; Pride; Hope; and Love in a relatively accessible manner. She obviously cares. Her chapter on Hope acknowledges that we need to stop emitting the greenhouse gases that cause climate change by taking steps to “build renewable energy sources, transmission lines to carry that energy where needed, and batteries to store that energy, which would push aside fossil fuels. Stop heating and cooking with dirty fuels. Learn how to make cement and plastics and steel without spewing carbon dioxide. Replace gasoline cars with electric vehicles, public transportation, and walkable cities. Steward our land more wisely and eat fewer cows.” She admits that this will be difficult, but not impossible and that “renewables are already being deployed at rates forecasters never imagined.” The stories (e.g., transition from whale blubber to kerosene) are fascinating, emotion evoking, and clearly relevant today. Subtitled “Nine Ways to Feel About Our Changing Planet,” HUMAN NATURE was described in a Kirkus review as “A highly readable argument for tackling climate change that reckons with both cold hard facts and the human heart.” At least twenty-five percent of the book is devoted to Notes and an Index. 

Homestand by Will Bardenwerper

HOMESTAND by Will Bardenwerper is all about “Small Town Baseball and the Fight for the Soul of America.” Bardenwerper, a former soldier turned author and journalist, recounts (and deplores) the impact of the MLB’s decision in 2020 to close 42 minor league teams by focusing on the Batavia Muckdogs team and their fans. The western New York town first hosted a baseball team in 1897 and traditions run deep. In addition to highlighting the financials and greed driving this MLB decision, Bardenwerper profiles many local characters. He will bring smiles to reader faces as they learn about Batavia’s efforts to attract and support a collegiate team. Happily, this text evokes fond memories of small-town baseball and so much more; Robert Putnam (Bowling Alone) describes it as “a well-written paean to a sense of community that is now sadly in danger of being lost in America. Read HOMESTAND, and savor it while you still can.” HOMESTAND received a starred review from Library Journal which called this title a “must-purchase.” Have to add: GO, Cubbies, GO!!

The New Rules of Investing by Mark Haefele

THE NEW RULES OF INVESTING by Mark Haefele with Richard C. Morais is subtitled “Essential Wealth Strategies for Turbulent Times.” Haefele is the global chief investment Officer at UBS where he oversees the investment policy and strategy for around $4 trillion in invested assets at UBS. In this book, Haefele stresses that “we must all change our way of investing to meet the needs of our time.” Advocating greater risk tolerance, he argues not for managing investments, but for managing wealth, and allocating your wealth by looking at Liquidity, Longevity, and Legacy. He also highlights the increasingly important role of government and even talks about 5Ds of disruption (debt, deglobalization, demographics, digitalization, and decarbonization). Haefele does offer limited advice on specific topics, like this excerpt on cryptocurrency which was featured in Barron’s. However, it would appear difficult for anyone to predict future actions, much less all unintended consequences, of the current administration. Instead, much of his text is a push for the strategies associated with the “UBS Wealth Way,” often told through client stories. Haefele also provides a varied list of other “books that shaped my thinking” and a lengthy bibliography (almost fifteen percent of the text). THE NEW RULES OF INVESTING offers an easy read, packed with anecdotes, more of a mindset reset than an investment guide. Contemplating the questions it raises could be helpful for readers prior to talking with their own financial advisors.

New books: Social Security, Medicare, and Retirement

SOCIAL SECURITY 101 by Michele Cagan and Alfred Mill is the second edition of this self-proclaimed “Essential Primer on Government Retirement Aid.” Cagan is a CPA who writes often about finance investing and accounting and Mill has crafted several texts on finance and economics in this 101 series. They begin with some historical background and basics (e.g., getting a social security card; defining full retirement age). The next section looks at benefits – for individuals, children with disabilities, spouses and so forth. Later, timing of benefits is discussed as well as related issues about Medicare and retirement planning. Cagan and Mill offer numerous examples with specific amounts to help illustrate their points. This relatively short (240 pages) text provides an accessible overview and may serve as helpful prep before heading off to the Social Security office to review your own circumstances, an action highly recommended by the accountants, lawyers, and other advisors with whom I have consulted on this subject. Good luck getting an appointment, though; at latest check the wait was over 6 weeks.

GET WHAT'S YOURS FOR MEDICARE by Philip Moeller is subtitled “Maximize Your Coverage, Minimize Your Costs.” And although this is a revised and updated edition, it would still be difficult to cover this complex topic adequately in an up-to-date manner in a book. Better to consider this text as a very useful guide and to then turn to advisors who work regularly in this area. Granted, those individuals will tend to push people towards Advantage plans, but they can more thoroughly investigate individual situations and changing offerings. Also, get an idea yourself by using some of the online tools (e.g., comparing plans) available through Medicare.gov. Still, “boots on the ground” are quite helpful, be it friends and peers conducting their own investigations or nursing homes helping to publicize innovative, helpful plans for their residents. Moeller is a recognized authority in this area and has collaborated in the past with PBS NewsHour economics correspondent Paul Solman. 

Moeller recently was interviewed on Morningstar's Long View, a podcast co-hosed by Christine Benz who in turn has written a recent book titled How to Retire: 20 Lessons for a Happy, Successful, and Wealthy Retirement. She has a companion How to Retire podcast on morningstar.

Beyond the Big Lie by Bill Adair

BEYOND THE BIG LIE is a new book by Bill Adair, Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, creator of PolitiFact, and professor at Duke University. He subtitles the text: “The Epidemic of Political Lying, Why Republicans Do It More, and How It Could Burn Down Our Democracy.” Although Publishers Weekly referred to some content as “overly partisan,” Adair clearly believes in the importance of being truthful with the electorate and outlines numerous examples of being less than truthful in a dozen chapters. The text is very accessible, and he frequently refers to input from his college students. One example is in the chapter called “Lying Hall of Fame” where students nominated candidates like Big Tobacco, Exxon, Rupert Murdoch, Roger Ailes, and numerous politicians from both parties as part of a research project. Adair points out that political lying “crippled our discourse and made it impossible for us to have a serious discussion on the vital issues of our day -- the climate crisis, public health, or the future of Social Security and Medicare.” Adair also chronicles the evolution of Mike Pence, a personal friend and neighbor of his when Pence first served in Congress. In that chapter, Adair notes that “attitudes have changed” and also quotes from an interview with Anthony Fauci: “there is no shame in lying now. There is no shame in developing your own alternative facts -- untruth, conspiracy, lies have become normalized.” A final chapter explores “How Can We Stop the Lying?” and Adair argues “research suggests there is fertile ground for a citizen movement to hold politicians accountable for lying, …. I believe politicians will respond if enough people speak up.” Sigh, people need models – AARP has published candidate responses to their questions with no fact-checking at all (“We allowed the candidates to present their views and positions without commenting on the accuracy of their claims.”) BEYOND THE BIG LIE is an intriguing, if disturbing, read. Roughly twenty percent is devoted to Notes, a list of Sources (from over four years of interviews), a Selected Bibliography, and an Index.  

Devil in the Stack by Andrew Smith

DEVIL IN THE STACK by Andrew Smith is subtitled “Searching for the Soul of the New Machine.” This text received a starred review from both Booklist and Publishers Weekly, but I initially found it very difficult to read. The prologue discusses coding and shares some firsthand experiences but does little to scaffold content for the remainder of the text. The author’s intent and main argument were not outlined, although he did comment: “from certain angles, life could appear to be getting worse in eerie proportion to the amount of code streaming into it” and “the software being written by a remote community of coders was reshaping society more dramatically than any technology since the steam engine.” I read further and liked learning about resources like freeCodeCamp, but struggled to embrace Smith’s writing style, jumping from one, albeit interesting, interview or interaction with an expert to another. I think he was trying to tie loosely related ideas together, perhaps like Mary Roach, but her work is more accessible and more entertaining. The Times Literary Supplement review recently described DEVIL IN THE STACK as “dense, prickly and rewarding” – give it a try and decide for yourself. 

The Mind's Mirror by Daniela Rus and Gregory Mone

THE MIND'S MIRROR by Daniela Rus and Gregory Mone (The Chip and the Heart) is another collaboration between a pioneering roboticist who is director of MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory and a professional science writer. Their newest book focuses on “Risk and Reward in the Age of AI.” As ever, these two authors are extremely optimistic about the new technology and divide their text into three main sections: Powers, Fundamentals, and Stewardship. Taking a “hands-on” approach, they offer advice like: “as you evaluate how AI can help your business, I'd suggest breaking down the various roles within your organization by task, then looking at whether AI can assist, augment, or automate those tasks.”  The authors also point to the value of “business bilinguals, [those] who understand both tasks and technology” like understanding the complex issues involved with medical coding and AI application. About halfway through the text they offer a section which reads a bit like a business school case with “a detailed set of guidelines and questions to consider as you think about putting AI into action.” Later, they do turn to potential concerns and link to an effort to provide policy briefs on the governance of AI. They also devote considerable space to less commonly cited challenges in three spheres: technical (such as training data, complexity, security, reliability, bias), societal (like privacy, intellectual property, controls, overreliance, misinformation), and economic (impact on jobs, the rate of adoption, and so forth). THE MIND'S MIRROR is a relatively accessible text which could prompt numerous discussions, whether for student researchers or business applications. The two-part appendix provides a brief history of artificial intelligence plus an overview of the infrastructure of AI, followed by suggestions for further reading and a bibliography of sources.  

On the Edge by Nate Silver

Written by Nate Silver, the founder of FiveThirtyEight and bestselling author of The Signal and the Noise, a new book titled ON THE EDGE is all about "The Art of Risking Everything.” Silver looks at risk through the lens of gambling (he is a former professional poker player), trading, and model-building. He opines that “there is something hardwired in people who seek out risk and wrangle it successfully” and he interviews risk-takers from disparate fields like hedge funds, vaccine development, and philosophy. These individuals, to him, inhabit what he calls The River, “a sprawling ecosystem of like-minded people. … It is a way of thinking and a mode of life.” Silver summarizes a cognitive cluster (analytical, abstract, high decoupling) and a personality cluster (competitive, critical, contrarian, risk-tolerant). The midsection of the book outlines and describes 13 Habits of Highly Effective Risk-Takers (e.g., courage, preparation, adaptability). Later, he contrasts “Riverians” with “Villagers,” those who are more political, more conformist, more risk-adverse, “increasingly focusing on equality of outcomes rather than equality of opportunity.” Throughout, Silver speaks directly to the reader and makes a concerted effort to explain concepts; in fact, roughly thirty percent of this lengthy book is devoted to a glossary of terms (e.g., expected value), a description of methods and sources, and extensive notes. ON THE EDGE received a starred review from Kirkus (“an enlightening study of the people who play the game of risk and win”). Although a bit dense for our students, finance professionals and many others will find much to contemplate and act upon here. Professional reviews have appeared in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and numerous other publications.