A Business Week, New York Times Business, and USA Today Bestseller "Ambitious and readable . . . an engaging introduction to the oddsmakers, whom Bernstein regards as true humanists helping to release mankind from the choke holds of superstition and fatalism." ―The New York Times "An extraordinarily entertaining and informative book." ―The Wall Street Journal "A lively panoramic book . . . Against the Gods sets up an ambitious premise and then delivers on it." ―Business Week "Deserves to be, and surely will be, widely read." ―The Economist "[A] challenging book, one that may change forever the way people think about the world." ―Worth "No one else could have written a book of such central importance with so much charm and excitement." ―Robert Heilbroner author, The Worldly Philosophers "With his wonderful knowledge of the history and current manifestations of risk, Peter Bernstein brings us Against the Gods. Nothing like it will come out of the financial world this year or ever. I speak carefully: no one should miss it." ―John Kenneth Galbraith Professor of Economics Emeritus, Harvard University In this unique exploration of the role of risk in our society, Peter Bernstein argues that the notion of bringing risk under control is one of the central ideas that distinguishes modern times from the distant past. Against the Gods chronicles the remarkable intellectual adventure that liberated humanity from oracles and soothsayers by means of the powerful tools of risk management that are available to us today. "An extremely readable history of risk." ―Barron's "Fascinating . . . this challenging volume will help you understand the uncertainties that every investor must face." ―Money "A singular achievement." ―Times Literary Supplement "There's a growing market for savants who can render the recondite intelligibly-witness Stephen Jay Gould (natural history), Oliver Sacks (disease), Richard Dawkins (heredity), James Gleick (physics), Paul Krugman (economics)-and Bernstein would mingle well in their company." ―The Australian
Se prometió que Bitcoin, BTC, sería una tecnología liberadora, una alternativa de libre mercado al dinero controlado por el estado. Pero esa promesa se rompió cuando un pequeño grupo de individuos con información privilegiada se hiciera cargo del proyecto y cambiara fundamentalmente su diseño. La verdadera historia de BTC y su diseño original la conocen muy pocas personas debido a años de fuerte censura, ingeniería de redes sociales y estrictos controles de información. La realidad es que BTC ha sido secuestrado y cambiado para peor. Esa es la conclusión innegable de El secuestro de Bitcoin, un libro repleto de historia y verdades incómodas, que descarga una andanada desmitificadora contra las narrativas más populares que rodean a BTC. Roger Ver es el primer inversor del mundo en empresas emergentes de BTC y ha sido un nombre destacado en la industria de las criptomonedas desde su inicio. Sin embargo, como confiesa en la introducción, este libro no es una historia de amor. Es la exposición devastadora de la corrupción, la propaganda y la centralización del poder en BTC.
Discover how $55 million in cryptocurrency vanished in one of the most bizarre thefts in history Out of the Ether: The Amazing Story of Ethereum and the $55 Million Heist that Almost Destroyed It All tells the astonishing tale of the disappearance of $55 million worth of the cryptocurrency ether in June 2016. It also chronicles the creation of the Ethereum blockchain from the mind of inventor Vitalik Buterin to the ragtag group of people he assembled around him to build the second-largest crypto universe after Bitcoin. Celebrated journalist and author Matthew Leising tells the full story of one of the most incredible chapters in cryptocurrency history. He covers the aftermath of the heist as well, explaining the extreme lengths the victims of the theft and the creators of Ethereum went to in order to try and limit the damage. The book covers: * The creation of Ethereum * An explanation of the nature of blockchain and cryptocurrency * The activities of a colorful cast of hackers, coders, investors, and thieves Perfect for anyone with even a passing interest in the world of modern fintech or daring electronic heists, Out of the Ether is a story of genius and greed that’s so incredible you may just choose not to believe it.
"Sober, lucid and often wise." ―Nature The Internet is powerful, but it is not safe. As "smart" devices proliferate the risks will get worse, unless we act now. From driverless cars to smart thermostats, from autonomous stock-trading systems to drones equipped with their own behavioral algorithms, the Internet now has direct effects on the physical world. Forget data theft: cutting-edge digital attackers can now literally crash your car, pacemaker, and home security system, as well as everyone else’s. In Click Here to Kill Everybody, best-selling author Bruce Schneier explores the risks and security implications of our new, hyper-connected era, and lays out common-sense policies that will allow us to enjoy the benefits of this omnipotent age without falling prey to the consequences of its insecurity.
“It’s a seemingly impossible task to select the best of Ludwig von Mises (1881-1973) whose teaching and writing career spanned six decades and whose literary output includes several mighty and timeless treatises on political economy. They were not written in isolation from the real and often horrifying events of the 20th century; they were heavily informed by the brilliance and tragedy of his life experiences – including as a refugee forced to flee his home in Vienna – in battling every form of totalitarianism. I’ve been reading his work since the dawn of my intellectual consciousness but I’ve yet to discover the end of his capacity to illuminate the world around us. I never fail to profit from re-reading even the books I think I understand best. Learning from Mises is a lifelong project. Even so, these five essays carry amazing power, as you will soon discover.” ~ Jeffrey Tucker, Editorial Director, American Institute for Economic Research Ludwig Heinrich Edler von Mises (1881-1973) was an economist, historian, and philosopher. Mises wrote and lectured extensively on behalf of the market order and is best known for his 1949 book Human Action. Mises worked and taught in Vienna until he was driven out by the Nazi movement in 1934. He took sanctuary in Geneva until 1940, immigrated to the United States, and eventually taught at New York University. Mises’s colleague Friedrich Hayek viewed Mises as one of the major figures in the revival of liberalism in the post-war era. Mises’s Private Seminar in Vienna was a formative event for many social scientists of the period, and many of its alumni, including Hayek and Oskar Morgenstern, emigrated from Austria to the United States and Great Britain.
Economic Policy contains six lectures Ludwig von Mises delivered in 1959 for the Centro de Estudios sobre la Libertad in Argentina. The lectures were posthumously edited by Mises’s wife, Margit, and George Koether, a student and long-time friend of Mises. This volume serves as an excellent introduction to what Mises sees as the simple truths of history in terms of economic principles. In straightforward language, Mises explains topics such as capitalism, socialism, interventionism, inflation, foreign investment, and economic policies and ideas. Ludwig von Mises (1881–1973) was the leading spokesman of the Austrian School of economics throughout most of the twentieth century. Bettina Bien Greaves is a former resident scholar and trustee of the Foundation for Economic Education and was a senior staff member at FEE from 1951 to 1999.
In this wide-ranging collection of entertaining and thought-provoking essays, Isaac Morehouse shares his original, liberty-minded take on infomercials, Aristotelian ethics, squirrels, and why inflation is like an energy drink. There is, however, a central theme that runs through the whole collection and loosely ties the essays together. That theme is simple: freedom is better than force. Morehouse takes you on the journey of his own transition - from asking what works for society in the abstract to seeking what works for you as an individual. How can you become more free?
"Read this book, strengthen your resolve, and help us all return to reason." —JORDAN PETERSON #5 BALTIMORE SUN BESTSELLER USA TODAY NATIONAL BESTSELLER There's a war against truth... and if we don't win it, intellectual freedom will be a casualty. The West’s commitment to freedom, reason, and true liberalism has never been more seriously threatened than it is today by the stifling forces of political correctness. Dr. Gad Saad, the host of the enormously popular YouTube show THE SAAD TRUTH, exposes the bad ideas—what he calls “idea pathogens”—that are killing common sense and rational debate. Incubated in our universities and spread through the tyranny of political correctness, these ideas are endangering our most basic freedoms—including freedom of thought and speech. The danger is grave, but as Dr. Saad shows, politically correct dogma is riddled with logical fallacies. We have powerful weapons to fight back with—if we have the courage to use them. A provocative guide to defending reason and intellectual freedom and a battle cry for the preservation of our fundamental rights, The Parasitic Mind will be the most controversial and talked-about book of the year.
A remarkable surviving document from the Office of Strategic Services during World War II. Prepared in 1944, the Simple Sabotage Field Manual was created by the United States Office of Strategic Services (OSS), the wartime intelligence organization that preceded the CIA. The manual examined how ordinary people in enemy-occupied territory might create delay, confusion, inefficiency, and disruption behind the lines. Today, the manual is most valuable as a historical document: a revealing look at wartime intelligence thinking, resistance strategy, bureaucracy, and the unconventional methods considered by the OSS during the Second World War. This Sequoia Book Publishers edition presents the historical manual together with a brief modern introduction for readers interested in World War II, intelligence history, espionage, resistance movements, and declassified government documents.
Based on extensive research and real-world examples, this book upends accepted wisdom about how to achieve success when launching a startup or creating a new product “The most important start-up book of the last ten years.” —Steve Blank, co-creator of the Lean Startup movement The breakthrough concepts of Pattern Breakers come from the observations of Mike Maples Jr., a seasoned venture capitalist, who noticed something strange. Start-ups like Twitter, Twitch, and Lyft had achieved extraordinary success despite their disregard for “best practices.” In contrast, other start-ups that were deemed highly promising often failed, even when they seemed to do everything right. Seeking answers, Maples and coauthor Peter Ziebelman set out to discover the hidden forces that drive extraordinary start-up success. Pattern-breaking success, they reveal, demands a different mindset and actions to harness developments others miss or that may, at first, seem crazy. Pattern Breakers is filled with firsthand storytelling about initial interactions with some of the most transformative start-ups of recent times. Maples and Ziebelman challenge us to rethink how to transcend the ordinary and achieve the extraordinary—especially in this transformational era of AI.
A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER NOW A NETFLIX DOCUMENTARY A journalist's twenty-year fascination with the Manson murders leads to "gobsmacking" (The Ringer) new revelations about the FBI's involvement in this "kaleidoscopic" (The New York Times) reassessment of an infamous case in American history. Over two grim nights in Los Angeles, the young followers of Charles Manson murdered seven people, including the actress Sharon Tate, then eight months pregnant. With no mercy and seemingly no motive, the Manson Family followed their leader's every order -- their crimes lit a flame of paranoia across the nation, spelling the end of the sixties. Manson became one of history's most infamous criminals, his name forever attached to an era when charlatans mixed with prodigies, free love was as possible as brainwashing, and utopia -- or dystopia -- was just an acid trip away. Twenty years ago, when journalist Tom O'Neill was reporting a magazine piece about the murders, he worried there was nothing new to say. Then he unearthed shocking evidence of a cover-up behind the "official" story, including police carelessness, legal misconduct, and potential surveillance by intelligence agents. When a tense interview with Vincent Bugliosi -- prosecutor of the Manson Family and author of Helter Skelter -- turned a friendly source into a nemesis, O'Neill knew he was onto something. But every discovery brought more questions: * Who were Manson's real friends in Hollywood, and how far would they go to hide their ties? * Why didn't law enforcement, including Manson's own parole officer, act on their many chances to stop him? * And how did Manson -- an illiterate ex-con -- turn a group of peaceful hippies into remorseless killers? O'Neill's quest for the truth led him from reclusive celebrities to seasoned spies, from San Francisco's summer of love to the shadowy sites of the CIA's mind-control experiments, on a trail rife with shady cover-ups and suspicious coincidences. The product of two decades of reporting, hundreds of new interviews, and dozens of never-before-seen documents from the LAPD, the FBI, and the CIA, Chaos mounts an argument that could be, according to Los Angeles Deputy District Attorney Steven Kay, strong enough to overturn the verdicts on the Manson murders. This is a book that overturns our understanding of a pivotal time in American history.
PsyWar: Enforcing the New World Order exposes the history and tactics of modern psychological warfare on the American people and offers a way forward for citizens to resist totalitarian control. PsyWar is when a government coordinates and directs deployment of propaganda, censorship, and psychological operations (psyops) tools in campaigns designed to manipulate public opinion. The authors address critical topics including: * Propaganda and Behavioral Control * Psychological Bioterrorism * Deep State Censorship * Surveillance Capitalism * Administrative State Objectives * Fifth-Generation Warfare * PsyWar Tactics * Techno-Totalitarianism * The New World Order and Global Control Free speech is the most pragmatic tool we have for ascertaining truth. Only by examining all sides of an issue can the truth be chiseled out like a statue out of marble. We must defend all speech—whether untrue, hateful, or intolerable, as that is the only way to protect our right to understand the world. As soon as free speech is restricted, that restriction will be used to sway public opinion. Now is a time when America needs hope. But more than hope, we need to restore our Constitution and Bill of Rights as the foundational documents of our Republic. These documents support and protect our personal sovereignty and are at the core of our fundamental rights as Americans. We must work to make this country great again by restoring our commitment to these foundational principles and ethics.