Business and finance books
The big idea
What does progress look like on a planet at its limit?Putting endless growth above our wellbeing and the environment is no longer viable
The Price Is Wrong by Brett Christophers review – why capitalism can’t save the planet
A clear-eyed look at the economics of energy, and why state power, not free enterprise, is the solution to the climate crisis
Philip Kogan obituary
Founder of the publisher Kogan Page, one of the first companies to focus on business and management titles
Book of the day
Escape from Model Land by Erica Thompson review – the power and pitfalls of prediction From financial forecasts to the climate crisis, a constructive and nuanced critique of mathematical modelling from a data scientist
Top 10s
Top 10 books about tycoonsPower Failure by William D Cohan review – pulling the plug
Book of the day
When McKinsey Comes to Town: The Hidden Influence of the World’s Most Powerful Consulting Firm – reviewEdible Economics by Ha-Joon Chang review – a different set of recipes
‘We show hotshots who’s boss’: how China disciplines its tech barons
The Playbook by Jennifer Jacquet review – a machiavellian guide to corporate deception
The Playbook by Jennifer Jacquet review – how big business takes on science and wins
A ‘guide’ for companies looking to undermine unwelcome research exposes the corporate world’s dark arts
Butler to the World by Oliver Bullough review – oligarch’s paradise
A timely exposé of how the UK helps oligarchs, gangsters and money launderers spend and store their wealth
Book of the day
Break the Internet by Olivia Yallop review – the anxiety of influenceIn the bizarre world of the influencer, set out here in engaging style, the line between leisure and labour is increasingly blurred
The big idea
The big idea: should we work less?A shorter working week could benefit society, the environment - even the economy. Is it time to reassess our relationship with our jobs?
Book of the day
Noise by Daniel Kahneman, Olivier Sibony and Cass Sunstein review – the price of poor judgmentWhether in legal sentences or medical diagnoses, mistakes happen every day. Could the wisdom of crowds offer a solution to this ‘noise’?
Paint Your Town Red by Matthew Brown and Rhian E Jones review – the Preston model
A gripping account of the community wealth-building scheme that turned a hard-up city’s fortunes around
Michael Lewis reveals next book, The Premonition, will be about coronavirus
The Big Short author is setting out to tell story of ‘misfits’ who anticipated the pandemic and went on to make sense of it
Other lives
Gareth Jones obituaryOther lives: Accomplished academic and best-selling author of business management books
All work and low pay: are we too devoted to our jobs?
Modern-day employment is atomised, casual and unequal and the way we look at it needs to change, argues US author Sarah Jaffe
Observer book of the week
Democracy for Sale by Peter Geoghegan review – the end of politics as we know it?The openDemocracy journalist delves into the web of power, money and data manipulation that is bringing our electoral system to its knees
About 257 results for Business and finance books 
