Summer Reading List for Commercial Bankers 2013
July 10, 2013 2:48 PM
American Banker asked readers and staff members to recommend books for bankers to take on their summer vacations. Share your own suggestions in the Comments section below.
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"Nothin' But Blue Skies: The Heyday, Hard Times, and Hopes of America's Industrial Heartland "
Author: Edward McClelland
"[The book] is a narrative history of the industrial heartland over the last 30 years, so it is a good story for those interested in [the] human side of recent history or economics. It will be of particular interest to anyone that had any roots in the industrial Midwest."Jeff Quayle, senior vice president and general counsel of the Ohio Bankers League
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"Act of Congress: How America's Essential Institution Works, and How It Doesn't "
Author: Robert G. Kaiser
"'Act of Congress' provides an insider's look into the crafting and drafting of the Dodd-Frank Act in a way few have been able to capture. Best of all, it provides a look at the congressional staff who were involved with the process from start to finish."Tim Arthun, director of government Relations at Pennsylvania Association of Community Bankers
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"The Battle of Bretton Woods: John Maynard Keynes, Harry Dexter White, and the Making of a New World Order "
Author: Benn Steil
"The book provides a terrifically written, gossipy account of the origins of Bretton Woods Since the world spent several decades under the clumsy (and, to the U.S., costly) Bretton Woods regime, and since you sometimes hear people harkening back to that time as a golden age (which it surely was not), it is an important read for our day."Dan Littman, Senior Payments Research Consultant and Economist, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland
(Pictured: John Maynard Keynes)
"Building Home: Howard F. Ahmanson and The Politics of the American Dream "
Author: Eric John Abrahamson (pictured)
"This insightful biography of a savings-and-loan legend recalls a time when business and the government worked together toward a common goal."Jeanine Skowronski, Deputy Editor, BankThink
"Comeback: America's New Economic Boom "
Author: Charles R. Morris (pictured)
"[The book], which I have only recently picked up, is a nice jumping off point from 'Nothin' but Blue Skies.' This book picks up today and looks forward to a brighter economic future, overlapping somewhat geographically with the areas that have been hurt by the decline of employment in the manufacturing sector."Jeff Quayle, senior vice president and general counsel of the Ohio Bankers League
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"Bull by the Horns: Fighting to Save Main Street from Wall Street and Wall Street from Itself "
Author: Sheila Bair (pictured)
"It's a great inside account of the financial crisis that also recounts the more human side of the regulators involved."Rob Blackwell, Washington Bureau Chief of American Banker
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"Tower of Basel: The Shadowy History of the Secret Bank that Runs the World "
Author: Adam LeBor
This history of the Bank for International Settlements "really opened my eyes to [the] supra-national influence that international banking can have on people and markets all around the world. Even I was somewhat surprised by how much influence a very small group of bankers can have on the world stage."Rick Geiger of Geiger Gaming Law, Research & Technology
"JR "
Author: William Gaddis
"The main character is a pre-adolescent who 'parlays penny stock holdings into a fortune on paper.' I haven't read it either, but only reading business-shelf books you buy at the airport will rot your brain."Harry Terris, data editor of American Banker
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"Electronic Value Exchange: Origins of the VISA Electronic Payment System (History of Computing) "
Author: David L. Stearns
"[The book] is an economic/technological history of something at the very core of banking. It is a story that is not well known, or is well known only at the highest and most superficial level."Dan Littman, Senior Payments Research Consultant and Economist, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland
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"The Wolf of Wall Street "
Author: Jordan Belfort
"A timely beach read for bankers, given a much-buzzed about film version starring Leonardo DiCaprio and directed by Martin Scorsese is due out in November."Jeanine Skowronski, Deputy Editor, BankThink
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"The Death of Corporate Reputation: How Integrity Has Been Destroyed on Wall Street "
Author: Jonathan R. Macey
"Macey has written an accessible, breezy history of the decline of reputation in our financial markets. The book is heavy on case studies, focusing on firms such as Bankers Trust, Drexel and Salomon. He relates how their actions, and those of both the SEC and enterprising prosecutors, contributed to the recent financial crisis. He lays blame at the feet of regulators as well as banks."Mark A. Calabria, director of financial regulation studies at the Cato Institute
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"The Bankers' New Clothes: What's Wrong with Banking and What to Do about It "
Authors: Anat Admati (pictured) and Martin Hellwig
"This accessible look into complex financial theory is a must-read for anyone interested in the ongoing debate over regulatory reform and 'too big to fail.'"Jeanine Skowronski, Deputy Editor, BankThink
"The Power of Ethical Management "
Authors: Kenneth Blanchard and Norman Vincent Peale
"The questions of legality, balance and how each decision will make one feel about oneself are at the heart of this 1988 easy read. Think William Bennett's 'The Book of Virtues' in a condensed form for business."Patrick Mason, president and CEO of Sun Credit Union, Hollywood, Fla.
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"#Agora - A Novel? "
Author: Danny (
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