Using the letters of the alphabet to describe an event or a person can be an amusing pastime. What would the ABC for the eventful first seven months of 2025 look like? A for activist presidency? B for belligerent behaviour? C for chaotic controversy?
Head-spinning, it has been. Fortunately, summer is here. You can try and escape it all by heading for the countryside or the coast (or wherever you go to unwind). Reading a good book is always an excellent distraction. How about one of those books you have been meaning to find time to read ?
So, which one do you put in your bag ? The analysis of a seasoned financier on changing trends? A dissection of the hedge fund industry and the ills of capitalism? Stories of heroes and covert missions? A biography of the former First Buddy? Or outer space exploration?
Check out our suggestions belo
Andrew Craig
Our dollar, your problem – An insider’s view of seven turbulent decades of global finance, and the road ahead by Kenneth Rogoff
Harvard economics professor and former IMF chief economist, Rogoff has a record of excellent timing when writing books. Here, he explains why the US dollar’s stability is far from certain and notes the US has the latitude to use inflation to decrease the real value of its debt. Such concerns come after the dollar has had its worst start to the year since 1973.
Rogoff argues that counting on forever-lower real interest rates is risky: rates, he says, will be much higher in the 2020s and 2030s than the near-zero average of 2012-2021.
If he is right, the risks of fiscal crisis among over-indebted sovereign borrowers should be on everyone’s radar.
Andrew Craig is Co-head Investment Insights Centre
Mateusz Rapacz
Principles for Dealing with the Changing World Order: Why Nations Succeed and Fail by Ray Dalio
The book does a deep dive into historical cycles and their relevance to today’s global shifts. Its analysis of how empires rise and fall offers a clear framework for understanding geopolitical and economic trends. The practical principles for navigating these changes are thought-provoking and provide an interesting perspective.
How Countries Go Broke: The Big Cycle by Ray Dalio
A detailed exploration of the ‘Big Debt Cycle’ and its implications for the US and global economies, it offers practical, data-driven solutions for policymakers and investors grounded in decades of market analysis.
More Money Than God: Hedge Funds and the Making of a New Elite by Sebastian Mallaby
A compelling and authoritative history of the hedge fund industry, looking at how the industry changed through the years. It includes larger-than-life characters from the investment world and famous financial historical events.
Mateusz Rapacz is Credit Analyst – Global Fixed Income – IG
Fabio Pinna
What Went Wrong With Capitalism by Ruchir Sharma
This timely book explores how modern capitalism lost its way and argues bailouts, ultra-low interest rates, and corporate dependency on the state have stifled innovation and widened inequality. It includes a call for renewal at a time when economies are at a crossroads and investors need clarity.
Fabio Pinna is Portfolio Manager Quantitative Equity
Adam Kanzer
A City on Mars by Kelly and Zach Weinersmith
Amid all of the talk about colonising Mars and mining asteroids, this entertaining and well researched expose with unanswered questions and unassessed risks around exploration beyond Earth makes you ask: “Have we really thought this through?” Adam Kanzer is Head of Stewardship Americas
Jean-Philippe Olivier
Living With The Monks by Jesse Itzler
Trading push-ups for peace and a move into a remote monastery, this book tells you about disconnecting without going full zen. Added plus: Itzler narrates the audiobook.
On Writing: A Memoir Of The Craft by Stephen King
Part memoir, part masterclass, this book is full of advice and anecdotes. Go for the audiobook, narrated by the author, as it includes a bonus interview with his son Owen. You’ll feel the warmth, mutual respect and … complicité – that word we use in French when ‘connection’ just doesn’t quite cover it.
Elon Musk by Ashlee Vance
Written 10 years ago, this biography captures Musk’s rise building rockets and electric cars. You get ambition and intensity, as well as early glimpses of volatility, ego, and the ‘messiah complex’.
Jean-Philippe Olivier is Special Advisor to Deputy CIO Equities
