Curious Random Thoughts

https://www.wiley.com/en-us/Where+Are+the+Customers%27+Yachts%3F%3A+or+A+Good+Hard+Look+at+Wall+Street-p-9780471770893 This is a classic book on the excesses of Wall Street where the customer always comes last. Fred Schwed Jr talks about the propensity of Wall Street to produce complex financial instruments where no common man can truly understand it clearly but yet they are peddled with this toxic stuff by some of the financial advisers. The customers are promised the moon but yet it almost always never materializes. Fred does delve into much detail on various financial instruments be it options, investment trusts, short selling and the like. By this description you would have guessed that Fred is talking out of his experiences from the 2008 financial crisis or maybe the 2000 dot com burst or maybe the 1987 flash crash. Surprisingly, Fred Schwed Jr wrote this book in the 1930's based on his experiences of the 1929 stock market crash and the ensuing great depression! Well, it lo...

https://michaelpollan.com/books/the-omnivores-dilemma/ I approached this famous book with skepticism on what additional information it could offer me apart from the stuff I already knew about our modern food sources and products. Well, I was extremely surprised on how much I didn't know! Whether you are a meat eater, a pescatarian, a vegetarian or a vegan, this book will pleasantly surprise you with great information on what goes on in modern farming and food processing industries. For example, Michael Pollan describes in great detail on how one single type of corn dominates our diet in all sorts of ways that we cannot fathom. He traveled all around United States to different farms (modern and the old fashioned) and factories to experience what it takes to deliver food on our table. I really liked the thought provoking question from that self-sustaining natural farmer in Virginia who asked his customer on why he chooses to drive a BMW when the farmer was asked by the customer as...