The mixture of gangsters, communication science, mathematics and free-wheeling investment guru's is for me unbeatably entertaining. And you learn some things as well.

this is the HUGE nerd in me coming out -- a steady-state economy is an economy in which no net growth occurs. i think daly thinks that only steady-state economies are sustainable in the long run.

I was hoping this book wouldn't be as naive as it sounded, but when it started with an introduction by Bono, I just wanted to tell them both to shut up. Some of the ideas were really good ones- such as making sure womena re more empowered, which helps the economy by increasing the workforce. He also gives a good explanation of why we should forgive third-world debt. But he seems to discount the negative effects of sweatshops and first world industrial exploitation. He also refuses to acknowledge cultural effects in Africa that might cause the spread of AIDS- such as a refusal to recognize the cause or to wear condoms.
Good, I guess, but a big child-like and idealistic.

I was interested in this book because I was hoping it could explain some underlying rules to improbable events. While he did compare scalable to non-scalable types of distributions, the premise of the book seemed contrived. He complains that people plan for risk, and that losses always occur outside of what they plan for. While this might be a legitimate complaint about traders, the casino example seems absurd to me. Obviously, you can't plan for everything, so you avoid what losses you can- and then those factors don't sum up to a significant loss. If you hadn't planned for them, they would have.

I also really disliked his obvious hatred of academia, his misuse of what models in science are for, and most of all, his obvious egotism. "I'm so smart everyone else bores me" is the overall theme of the book, and it made me hate the author.

I didn't think this book was nearly as good as Blink. While the people and products he describes are interesting and it's easy reading, I didn't really feel like there was a cohesive story backed up by real studies. Although it made intuitive sense, that doesn't necessarily mean that's how the world works. Justin said he read several social science studies that explained why they no longer use this model.
If it applies to everything, maybe it's not actually a useful model describing how the world works.

A subtle concept drawn out so vividly and substantiated with classic examples.I liked the typical example of Hush Puppies.
In my view , "Tipping point" as a phenomenon can be applied to anything, be it business,societal events or a person's individual career.

A good read it was!

This book was like Blink. This one is also interesting, with neat real examples to support what he has to say. Good read!

An extremely interesting read with lots of amazing concepts about society and the social phenomena that occurs within.

A journalist travels to different cities without money and tries to earn a living working minimum wage jobs. I've lived on it in the past and think she just didn't have a clue.

Completely liberal spin.

Read it because it was a book club pick but it was not worth my time.

I can't say I really read this well, I ended up skimming a lot. I'm interested in how throughout history people seem to have an instinct for "earmarking" money, like using an envelope budget, Christmas Clubs and so forth. This book does cover the topic, but in a really academic style. Tons of footnotes. I really had to make myself concentrate and stick it out.

I get the impression it was groundbreaking in its day, but I've gotten more enjoyment out of some newer books on the human side of money--such as Money and the meaning of life by Needleman, and Why smart people make big money mistakes by Belsky and Gilovich. I think I'll keep it as a reference, though.

Somewhat in the vein of Supersize Me, Not Buying It, etc. A mother, who is also a professional writer, convinces her family to join in an experiment to see if they can get along without Chinese imports. In an interesting twist, we find out the author actually has an ancestor from China. By taking the reader through a full year of shopping experiences, she really has the opportunity to show the range of Chinese imports we now seem to depend on. Funny, sad, informative and interesting. I'm not sure I believe things have gone as far as she suggests--is it really true that not one brand of coffeemaker or DVD player is manufactured outside of China? Glad I read the book.