Review

60th book of 2020. ** If Caesar hadn’t crossed the rubicon, would it matter? ** As an upstanding member of western civilization, one cannot help but pick up fragments of Caesar’s story. It’s easy to think that Caesar was the person who brought about a step-change in Roman politics, from the initial years of republic to the later millennium of empire that only fell with Constantinople. But after reading this book, I’m not sure why Caesar is considered such a pivotal figure in history. Were you to put Pompey or Cicero in his place, the result may have been the same, with the only substantial difference being the names on the board rather than the board itself. Even if Caesar lost the civil war, the wheels of history seem perfectly content to grind forward towards empire with a different leading cast. ...

Determine whether comparables or cap rate method is the most important. Make sure you know the local market and what are the prevailing practices in the area. Pick a cap rate and look for discrepancies in the P&L. Rather than insight into where people make mistakes in valuation, this book reads more like a checklist of CYA measures to ensure that the reader doesn’t lose their appraisal license. I think a better use of time would be to pick 10 hotels, get the p&L and try to put together a valuation, then see what they end up selling for. Something of a waste of time.

58th book of 2020 ** Man plans and god laughs, nuclear war doesn’t change the equation. ** If Kennedy had followed the general’s advice and launched airstrikes against Cuba, with the Americans unaware of the strategic depth and tactical nuclear weapons already deployed in Cuba. If Vasily Arkhipov had not held his ground against the Submarine captain when the officers of b39 perceived they were under attack and the order came to fire a tactical warhead. The clean game theory and thoughts of linear escalation didn’t fit nicely into what happened. ** There’s always some son of a bitch that doesn’t get the word ** ...

Primal leadership is the application of emotional intelligence to leadership. According to Goleman, one of the most important jobs of a leader is to regulate the emotional atmosphere of their team. The first few chapters lay out a few frameworks to go into more detail about what emotional intelligence means for managers. After that, Primal Leadership swaps authors and topics and goes into self-directed learning and tips on creating an emotionally resonant organization. The useful frameworks are below, most of the rest of the book is fluff. ...

54th book of 2020. ** tl;dr: ** Read the cover, read the appendix, skip the rest. ‘Destined for War’ introduces the Thucydides trap, named after Thucydides’ recording of the war between Sparta and Athens. In this pattern, rising powers (e.g. Athens) can end up at war with dominant powers (e.g. Sparta) even though the outcome is against the interests of both parties. According to Graham, in 12/16 cases over the last 500 years, similar shifts in power balance have led to war. The book relies on practical history, using past examples to try predict future events. Indeed, this method seems to be the most effective means at predicting political outcomes, and is so simple that it’s baffling we don’t see more of it. Tetlock’s book on political predictions has good evidence on how this method is one of the best ways to make predictions about complex systems (i.e. politics), with repeatably better outcomes than what specific expertise (i.e. professors at Harvard) can achieve. ...

54th book of 2020: Rich People Problems. Since 2000, the number of wealthy people in the united states has exploded. Millionaire isn’t much of a distinction, with >9m millionaires in the country at the eve of the great recession. Sure the financial crisis took a bite out of the most wealthy, but with another 10 years of bull market behind us, inequality, and thus the ranks of the rich are on the march. ...

52nd Book of 2020: Iger for President? Ride of a Lifetime packages a few blindingly obvious life lessons in a bite-sized book. This was the first time that I read a business book and wanted to be more like the author, as the way he was able to describe truly difficult situations and people with a kind touch revealed how it’s done in the pro leagues. **Be Decent to People: ** What impressed me the most about the book is the way that Iger was able to describe characters and situations in a way that I ended up respecting the people more involved. Iger was able to describe Jobs’ famously irascible personality while also praising his pursuit of quality and integrity. “Who wouldn’t want Steve Jobs to have influence over how a company is run?” I wasn’t worried about how he would act, and I was confident that if he did do something that was out of line, I could call him out on it. He was quick to judge people, and when he criticized, it was often quite harsh. That said, he came to all the board meetings and actively participated. […] He rarely created trouble for me. Not never but rarely. “ ...

** 44th, 47th, 51st books of 2020: Roosevelt Trilogy: The most interesting American ** Theodore Roosevelt wasn’t supposed to be president. Coming from a wealthy family, he was nearly on track to become a naturalist. Living in a world of books, he devoured literature, “reading some twenty thousand books and writing fifteen of his own”. But since he suffered from asthma while growing up, doctors advised ‘avoiding strenuous exercise.’ “Doctor,” came the reply, “I’m going to do all the things you tell me not to do. If I’ve got to live the sort of life you have described, I don’t care how short it is.” ...

**48th book of 2020: Mind Traits and States ** Altered traits promises to be an objective look at how meditation can cause long-lasting, provable changes in the mind, but while the book promises a 12 course meal of science, it only delivers an appetizer. Mindful attention seems to be effective at calming the amygdala, which interferes with both our focus and is a key center causing emotional hijack in stressful situations. Still, this is a state, and requires conscious focus, rather than a trait with permanent effects. When it comes to trait effects, the meta analysis revealed that there is “insufficient evidence of any effect" noting that most studies are the equivalent of a low-dose, short term trial. ...

Empty-handed I entered the world Barefoot I leave it My coming, my going Two simple happenings That got entangled For each of us, the last day is coming, like the terminus of a transcontinental railroad trip. It’s far enough away to put out of mind, but we all know the end is coming. If the afterlife is unknowable, at least we can learn from others what pulling into the station feels like. Japanese death poems collects the final poems spoken or written before death over a period of hundreds of years. By alternating between poems and commentary, there is just enough context to make the different poems enjoyable, and the book proves surprisingly snackable. Many of the poems are simple imagery, in some way comforting of how one can approach the last days with a sense of awe and wonder. ...