I Read, Therefore I Blog

The Blurb On The Back:

Wanted: Truth Detectives!

- Did you know that a TOY SPACESHIP can teach you about why prices keep rising?

- Or that a pooping cow can show you how to INVEST YOUR POCKET MONEY?

- And that even the greatest minds have been fooled by FAKE NEWS and dancing fairies?

In a world of bamboozling headlines and dodgy data, it can be hard to work out what’s really going on.

So pick up your magnifying glass and join Tim Harford, economist and presenter of BBC Radio 4’s More or Less, on an investigative adventure packed with tips and tricks to help you hunt down the truth about the world around you - using the power of numbers and your own brilliant brain!

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

Tim Harford is an economic journalist and broadcaster who hosts BBC Radio 4’s programme MORE OR LESS. This very useful guide to understanding statistics and data is aimed at readers aged 9+ and includes concepts such as inflation while looking at how information is presented and how that can be used to fool you. Ollie Mann’s accompanying illustrations are lively and witty and I enjoyed the conceit of drawing in fictional detectives.

THE TRUTH DETECTIVE was released in the United Kingdom on 16th March 2023. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.

The Blurb On The Back:

There is no blurb on the back, but there are the following quotes:

“This book has humour, attitude, clarity, science and common sense; it pulls no punches and takes no prisoners.”
Nassim Nicholas Taleb, Scholar and former trader

”There are lots of people who’d prefer you didn’t read this book: financial advisors, pension fund managers, regulators and more than a few politicians. That’s because it makes plain their complicity in a trillion dollar scam that nearly destroyed the global financial system. Insiders Wilmott and Orrell explain how it was done, how to stop it happening again – and why those with the power to act are so reluctant to wield it.”

Robert Matthews, Author of Chancing It: The Laws Of Chance And How They Can Work For You

”Few contemporary developments are more important – and more terrifying – than the increasing power of the financial system in the global economy. This book makes it clear that this system is operated either by people who don’t know what they are doing or who are so greed-stricken that they don’t care. Risk is at dangerous levels. Can this be fixed? It can and this book – full of healthy scepticism and high expertise – shows how.”

Bryan Appleyard, Author and Sunday Times writer

”In a financial world that relies more and more on models that fewer and fewer people understand, this is an essential, deeply insightful as well as entertaining read.”

Joris Luyendijk, Author of Swimming With Sharks: My Journey Into The World Of The Bankers

”A fresh and lively explanation of modern quantitative finance, its perils and what we might do to protect against a repeat of disasters like 2008-09. This insightful, important and original critique of the financial system is also fun to read.”
( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

Paul Wilmott is a researcher and quantitative finance consultant who’s worked as a fund manager and academic while David Orrell is an applied mathematician and founder of a scientific consultancy. In this book, they look at the theories and formulae that underpin the quantitative finance models used by hedge funds and other financial institutions and explain why they’re so flawed in a challenging but interesting read told in a breezy and accessible style.

Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.