'Good Economics for Hard Times' by Esther Duflo & Abhijit Banerjee

Good Economics for Hard Times, Esther Duflo & Abhijit Banerjee (3.0)

I had thought there would be more economic theory in this book; given the authors are famous economists (and the title), but it ended up being partly about economics and partly about politics. They tend to go together – as our main political parties believe in different economic theories. The book looks at history with a somewhat ‘who was in charge’ position to try to predict what we should do in the present and future. Sadly, the main theme of this book was ‘economists never get it right’. Much of the data presented is interesting and the point that we shouldn’t always assume we are due a growth economy is important. Unfortunately, those who likely should heed the few lessons the book outlines are not likely to read this book. Overall it was a bit depressing without enough guidance to a happy future – though they do warn nothing is easy and happy doesn’t necessarily mean strong growth.

'Ines of My Soul' by Isabel Allende

Ines of My Soul, Isabel Allende (3.0)

An interesting historical fictional story about the Spanish entry into Chile told from the point of view of a woman who stood besides the ‘conqueror’. As with most historical fiction, my biggest issue is how to tell what is real and what is fabricated. In this case I believe the journey happened and main characters were present. Sadly, the most interesting parts concerned several groups of indigenous people and they were given the least pages. If you like to learn about the basics of history of this area and like a dose of romance thrown in, this book will appeal to you.