78 Best Investment Banking Books of All Time

We've researched and ranked the best investment banking books in the world, based on recommendations from world experts, sales data, and millions of reader ratings. Learn more

Featuring recommendations from Warren Buffett, Sheryl Sandberg, Malcolm Gladwell, and 207 other experts.
1
The real story of the crash began in bizarre feeder markets where the sun doesn't shine and the SEC doesn't dare, or bother, to tread: the bond and real estate derivative markets where geeks invent impenetrable securities to profit from the misery of lower- and middle-class Americans who can't pay their debts. The smart people who understood what was or might be happening were paralyzed by hope and fear; in any case, they weren't talking.

Michael Lewis creates a fresh, character-driven narrative brimming with indignation and dark humor, a fitting sequel to his #1 bestseller...
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Sheryl SandbergMichael Lewis's ability to boil down the most complicated subjects is like a magic trick. You can't believe your own eyes. He takes on important issues - from the 2008 Wall Street crash in "The Big Short" to parenting in "Home Game" - and breaks them down to the deepest truths. His combination of an extraordinarily analytical mind and a deep understanding of human nature allows him to weave... (Source)

Tim HarfordIf I had any criticism of the book, it’s that he makes it seem too obvious. It becomes mysterious how anyone could have been confused. (Source)

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2

The Richest Man in Babylon

This hardcover edition is cleanly formatted for easy reading. 12 point Garamond, 1.25 spacing. The Richest Man in Babylon is a timeless classic, revealing the secrets to making money and keeping it. This inspirational book is hailed as the greatest of books on finances. It unveils the secrets to wealth, providing priceless suggestions, advice, unforgettable parables, financial problem-solving tools, and invaluable information which will get you on your way to riches. The book to read for all who want financial success. less

Daymond John[Daymond John said this is one of his most-recommended books.] (Source)

Grant CardoneThis book emphasized the need to get reliable income streams and to never ever confuse your necessary expenses with the things you want. It’s a timeless classic that every school in America should have in their curriculum. (Source)

David Heinemeier HanssonThis is a 1920s classic version of How To Get Rich. The ancestor of all the pale imitations, like Rich Dad/Poor Dad, that came since. And while I scoffed at plenty of the allegories from ancient Babylon that presents the lessons, it was still a neat package. And at least ancient Babylon is a more interesting backdrop for teaching lessons about money than some suburban house flipper. I ended up... (Source)

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3
The greatest investment advisor of the twentieth century, Benjamin Graham taught and inspired people worldwide. Graham's philosophy of "value investing" -- which shields investors from substantial error and teaches them to develop long-term strategies -- has made The Intelligent Investor the stock market bible ever since its original publication in 1949. less

Warren BuffettTo invest successfully over a lifetime does not require a stratospheric IQ, unusual business insights, or inside information. What's needed is a sound intellectual framework for making decisions and the ability to keep emotions from corroding that framework. This book precisely and clearly prescribes the proper framework. You must provide the emotional discipline. (Source)

Kevin RoseThe foundation for investing. A lot of people have used this as their guide to getting into investment, basic strategies. Actually Warren Buffett cites this as the book that got him into investing and he says that principles he learned here helped him to become a great investor. Highly recommend this book. It’s a great way understand what’s going on and how to evaluate different companies out... (Source)

John KayThe idea is that you look at the underlying value of the company’s activities instead of relying on market gossip. (Source)

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4
Andrew Ross Sorkin delivers the first true behind-the-scenes, moment-by-moment account of how the greatest financial crisis since the Great Depression developed into a global tsunami. From inside the corner office at Lehman Brothers to secret meetings in South Korea, and the corridors of Washington, Too Big to Fail is the definitive story of the most powerful men and women in finance and politics grappling with success and failure, ego and greed, and, ultimately, the fate of the world’s economy.

“We’ve got to get some foam down on the runway!” a sleepless Timothy Geithner,...
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Bill Gates[On Bill Gates's reading list in 2011.] (Source)

Max Levchin[Max Levchin recommended this book as an answer to "What business books would you advise young entrepreneurs read?"] (Source)

John LanchesterThis is a minute-by-minute account of how the whole financial system nearly went over the brink in 2008, and the astonishing sense of tension and danger involved. (Source)

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5

The Wealth of Nations

In his book, Smith fervently extolled the simple yet enlightened notion that individuals are fully capable of setting and regulating prices for their own goods and services. He argued passionately in favor of free trade, yet stood up for the little guy. The Wealth of Nations provided the first--and still the most eloquent--integrated description of the workings of a market economy. less

Elon MuskAdam Smith FTW obv. (Source)

Barack ObamaObama, unsurprisingly, appears to be more drawn to stories sympathetic to the working classes than is McCain. Obama cites John Steinbeck’s “In Dubious Battle,” about a labor dispute; Robert Caro’s “Power Broker,” about Robert Moses; and Studs Terkel’s “Working.” But he also includes Adam Smith’s “Wealth of Nations” and “Theory of Moral Sentiments” on his list. (Source)

Neil deGrasse TysonWhich books should be read by every single intelligent person on planet? [...] The Wealth of Nations (Smith) [to learn that capitalism is an economy of greed, a force of nature unto itself]. If you read all of the above works you will glean profound insight into most of what has driven the history of the western world. (Source)

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6
In this shrewd and wickedly funny book, Michael Lewis describes an astonishing era and his own rake's progress through a powerful investment bank. From an unlikely beginning (art history at Princeton?) he rose in two short years from Salomon Brothers trainee to Geek (the lowest form of life on the trading floor) to Big Swinging Dick, the most dangerous beast in the jungle, a bond salesman who could turn over millions of dollars' worth of doubtful bonds with just one call.

With the eye and ear of a born storyteller, Michael Lewis shows us how things really worked on Wall Street....

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Recommended by John Lanchester, Audrey Russo, and 2 others.

John LanchesterIt’s still a wonderfully entertaining book: An absolutely hilarious, very, very dark, vivid account of how Michael Lewis came out of Princeton and, with basically no qualifications, got a job in the bond trading department of Salomon Brothers (Source)

Audrey RussoQuestion: What books would you recommend to young people interested in your career path? Answer: Anything by Peter Senge. The Hard Thing About Hard Things – Ben Horowitz Once you are Lucky, Twice you are good – Sara Lacey Revolutionary Wealth – Alvin Toffler Black Swan – Taleb Reset: My Fight for Inclusion and Lasting Change, by Ellen Pao. Creative Class – Richard Florida Creativity Inc. by Ed... (Source)

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7

With a new Afterword addressing today’s financial crisis

A BUSINESS WEEK BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR

In this business classic—now with a new Afterword in which the author draws parallels to the recent financial crisis—Roger Lowenstein captures the gripping roller-coaster ride of Long-Term Capital Management. Drawing on confidential internal memos and interviews with dozens of key players, Lowenstein explains not just how the fund made and lost its money but also how the personalities of Long-Term’s partners, the arrogance of their mathematical certainties, and the...

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Recommended by Max Levchin, John Gapper, and 2 others.

Max Levchin[Max Levchin recommended this book as an answer to "What business books would you advise young entrepreneurs read?"] (Source)

John GapperThe Fed itself did not bail out LTCM, but it was worried enough to get a bunch of big banks into the room and say, “Would you care to chip in and save this thing?” Which they obligingly did – and then liquidated it. The Fed foresaw that the failure of a single big hedge fund could send shock waves through the entire financial system. The issue of systemic risk was highlighted. (Source)

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8
An epic true-tale of hubris and greed from two Pulitzer-finalist Wall Street Journal reporters, Billion Dollar Whale reveals how a young social climber pulled off one of the biggest financial heists in history--right under the nose of the global financial industry--exposing the shocking secret nexus of elite wealth, banking, Hollywood, and politics.

The dust had yet to settle on the global financial crisis in 2009 when an unlikely Wharton grad was setting in motion a fraud of unprecedented gall and magnitude--one that would come to symbolize the next great...
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Bill GatesAs Bad Blood is to biotech, Billion Dollar Whale is to international finance... a wonderful read... Thrilling. (Source)

Alexis OhanianAn incredible story.... If you need some billionaires to despise--look no further than these charlatans. (Source)

Morgan HouselThis book on the 1MDB scandal was great, hard to put down. Low sophistication + huge brazenness is a powerful fraud combo. https://t.co/nYpIJffcb5 (Source)

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9

Barbarians at the Gate

The Fall of RJR Nabisco

“One of the finest, most compelling accounts of what happened to corporate America and Wall Street in the 1980’s.”
New York Times Book Review



A #1 New York Times bestseller and arguably the best business narrative ever written, Barbarians at the Gate is the classic account of the fall of RJR Nabisco. An enduring masterpiece of investigative journalism by Bryan Burrough and John Helyar, it includes a new afterword by the authors that brings this remarkable story of greed and double-dealings up to date twenty years after the famed deal. The...
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Scott Kupor@JPHampstead @TimParksauthor Barbarians is a great book. Hope you enjoy mine! (Source)

Bogdan IordacheThere are quite a few good business books on technology, and I'll list below some I find to be a good starting point. Personally, I like biographies a lot and I mostly read biographies of dead people, because those are the most honest ones. So because the computer age is still very young, there won't be a lot of biographies in my list. (Source)

Bill LiaoThe human world occurs in language so best get good at it! (Source)

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10
"A deep accounting of how America got to a point where a median white family has 13 times more wealth than the median black family."
--The Atlantic

"Extraordinary... Baradaran focuses on a part of the American story that's often ignored: the way African Americans were locked out of the financial engines that create wealth in America."
--Ezra Klein

When the Emancipation Proclamation was signed in 1863, the black community owned less than 1 percent of the total wealth in America. More than 150 years later, that number has barely budged. The Color of...
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Don't have time to read the top Investment Banking books of all time? Read Shortform summaries.

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11
Americans tend to cast slavery as a pre-modern institution—the nation’s original sin, perhaps, but isolated in time and divorced from America’s later success. But to do so robs the millions who suffered in bondage of their full legacy.

As historian Edward Baptist reveals in The Half Has Never Been Told, the expansion of slavery in the first eight decades after American independence drove the evolution and modernization of the United States. In the span of a single lifetime, the South grew from a narrow coastal strip of worn-out tobacco plantations to a continental cotton...
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Recommended by Cory Ondrejka, and 1 others.

Cory OndrejkaIt's a heart-wrenching but eye-opening look at the safe ways America looks back at slavery and its impact on modern capitalism. During an election cycle focused on populism and anger, this is a book every American should read. (Source)

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12
No story no offer. Four simple words stand between you and your dream of becoming an investment banker. The goal of this book is to help you land a job in investment banking by developing your story. The intended audience is undergraduates, MBAs or anyone looking to make a career change. It is based on hundreds of actual interviews which will help you get inside the head of the hiring manager to better understand what he or she is looking for in a candidate. Written by a former investment bank hiring manager, this book will teach you the tricks and tips to make sure you land the coveted... more

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13
THE NATIONAL BESTSELLING BOOK THAT EVERY INVESTOR SHOULD OWN

Peter Lynch is America's number-one money manager. His mantra: Average investors can become experts in their own field and can pick winning stocks as effectively as Wall Street professionals by doing just a little research.

Now, in a new introduction written specifically for this edition of One Up on Wall Street, Lynch gives his take on the incredible rise of Internet stocks, as well as a list of twenty winning companies of high-tech '90s. That many of these winners are low-tech supports his...
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Recommended by Bill Ackman, Patrick Swalls, and 3 others.

Patrick SwallsRead this if you want to learn more about the stock market. (Source)

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14
From the former Treasury Secretary, the definitive account of the unprecedented effort to save the U.S. economy from collapse in the wake of the worst global financial crisis since the Great Depression

On January 26, 2009, during the depth of the financial crisis and having just completed five years as President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Timothy F. Geithner was sworn in by President Barack Obama as the seventy-fifth Secretary of the Treasury of the United States. Now, in a strikingly candid, riveting, and historically illuminating memoir, Geithner takes readers...
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Warren BuffettBuffett says that the former secretary of the U.S. Treasury's book about the financial crisis is a must-read for any manager. (Source)

Bill GatesThe central irony of Stress Test is that a guy who was accused of being a lousy communicator as U.S. Treasury Secretary has penned a book that is such a good read. Geithner paints a compelling human portrait of what it was like to be fighting a global financial meltdown while at the same time fighting critics inside and outside the Administration as well as his own severe guilt over his... (Source)

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15
Winner of the 2010 Pulitzer Prize

"A magisterial work...You can't help thinking about the economic crisis we're living through now." --The New York Times Book Review


It is commonly believed that the Great Depression that began in 1929 resulted from a confluence of events beyond any one person's or government's control. In fact, as Liaquat Ahamed reveals, it was the decisions made by a small number of central bankers that were the primary cause of that economic meltdown, the effects of which set the stage for World War II and reverberated for decades. As...
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Recommended by Barry Ritholtz, David J Lynch, and 2 others.

Barry RitholtzIt covers a 50-year period from before World War I and leading up to World War II. Even if you’re not interested in finance, it’s a great read. (Source)

David J LynchLords of Finance gives you that alternative history, particularly through the inter-war years from the end of World War I into the Great Depression. (Source)

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16
This classic expose of the Fed has become one of the best-selling books in its category of all time. Where does money come from? Where does it go? Who makes it? The money magician's secrets are unveiled. Here is a close look at their mirrors and smoke machines, the pulleys, cogs, and wheels that create the grand illusion called money. A boring subject? Just wait. You'll be hooked in five minutes. It reads like a detective story - which it really is, but it's all true.
This book is about the most blatant scam of history. It's all here: the cause of wars, boom-bust cycles, inflation,...
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Recommended by Marvin Liao, and 1 others.

Marvin LiaoI tend to jump from book to book and may switch if I am interested in some new topic. This is a pleasure for me (which I also do benefit work wise from too). It’s quite a random list because I have eclectic interests (or just scatterbrained most likely) on tech business, AI, general global economy, geopolitics, rising Biotech economy & history. I'm basically 15% to 50% into all these books. (Source)

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17

Flash Boys

A Wall Street Revolt

Four years after his #1 bestseller The Big Short, Michael Lewis returns to Wall Street to report on a high-tech predator stalking the equity markets.

Flash Boys is about a small group of Wall Street guys who figure out that the U.S. stock market has been rigged for the benefit of insiders and that, post–financial crisis, the markets have become not more free but less, and more controlled by the big Wall Street banks. Working at different firms, they come to this realization separately; but after they discover one another, the flash boys band...
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Recommended by Alykhan Satchu, and 1 others.

Alykhan Satchu@surambaya @MihrThakar @NorthmanTrader great book (Source)

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18
Gregory Zuckerman, the bestselling author of The Greatest Trade Ever and The Frackers, answers the question investors have been asking for decades: How did Jim Simons do it?

Shortlisted for the Financial Times/McKinsey Business Book of the Year Award


Jim Simons is the greatest money maker in modern financial history. No other investor--Warren Buffett, Peter Lynch, Ray Dalio, Steve Cohen, or George Soros--can touch his record. Since 1988, Renaissance's signature Medallion fund has generated average annual returns of 66 percent. The firm...
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Abhishek Kar@Singh7575 ~The man who solved the market Nice book and interesting insights from Jim's life. Read it last month. Happy reading👍 (Source)

Andy SumI finished reading a book! Pretty interesting biography and background on some of the emotions involved in quantatative trading. Worth reading. https://t.co/doi843dcGN (Source)

Steve BurnsThe new book on Jim Simons is in my top 5 favorite trading books of all time ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ It is already the #19 best seller in Amazon nonfiction The Man Who Solved the Market: How Jim Simons Launched the Quant Revolution Kindle Edition by Gregory Zuckerman https://t.co/FAZFigNNXy https://t.co/Jjz38Qpdnu (Source)

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19
In the constantly evolving world of finance, a solid technical foundation is an essential tool for success. Due to the fast-paced nature of this world, however, no one has been able to take the time to properly codify the lifeblood of the corporate financier's work--namely, valuation. Rosenbaum and Pearl have responded to this need by writing the book that they wish had existed when they were trying to break into Wall Street. Investment Banking: Valuation, Leveraged Buyouts, and Mergers & Acquisitions is a highly accessible and authoritative book that focuses on the primary... more

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Don't have time to read the top Investment Banking books of all time? Read Shortform summaries.

Shortform summaries help you learn 10x faster by:

  • Being comprehensive: you learn the most important points in the book
  • Cutting out the fluff: you focus your time on what's important to know
  • Interactive exercises: apply the book's ideas to your own life with our educators' guidance.
21

Den of Thieves

A #1 bestseller from coast to coast, Den of Thieves tells the full story of the insider-trading scandal that nearly destroyed Wall Street, the men who pulled it off, and the chase that finally brought them to justice.

Pulitzer Prize–winner James B. Stewart shows for the first time how four of the eighties’ biggest names on Wall Street—Michael Milken, Ivan Boesky, Martin Siegel, and Dennis Levine —created the greatest insider-trading ring in financial history and almost walked away with billions, until a team of downtrodden detectives triumphed over some of America’s most...
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Recommended by Doug Rossinow, and 1 others.

Doug RossinowDen of Thieves is a very vivid portrait of people who broke what rules there were in the process of transforming American finance and the American economy and making a lot of money by doing so. (Source)

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22
A searing exposé of the most scandalous bank in the world, including its shadowy ties to Donald Trump’s business empire

On a rainy Sunday in 2014, a senior executive at Deutsche Bank was found hanging in his London apartment. Bill Broeksmit had helped build the 150-year-old financial institution into a global colossus, and his sudden death was a mystery, made more so by the bank’s efforts to deter investigation. Broeksmit, it turned out, was a man who knew too much.

In Dark Towers, award-winning journalist David Enrich reveals the truth about Deutsche Bank...
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Aunt Crabby Calls BullshitEvery Trump financial thread pulled results in scandal The @maddow Show last night was GREAT!! I pre-ordered the book on Trump and Deutsche Bank immediately! https://t.co/H03Y0bjCDc (Source)

Charles P. PierceI’m reading the Deutsche Bank book that @maddow is talking about now. It’s an amazing saga. (Source)

Yashar Ali2. "Dark Towers," is a deeply reported book and reveals a lot about the criminality at Deutsche. The pacing and writing are excellent and I found myself pouring through the book and never getting bored. A must-read! Kudos to @davidenrich https://t.co/0B3hN2BEqm https://t.co/jV32q3oyLt (Source)

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23
By the late 1960s and early 1970s, reeling from a wave of urban uprisings, politicians finally worked to end the practice of redlining. Reasoning that the turbulence could be calmed by turning Black city-dwellers into homeowners, they passed the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968, and set about establishing policies to induce mortgage lenders and the real estate industry to treat Black homebuyers equally. The disaster that ensued revealed that racist exclusion had not been eradicated, but rather transmuted into a new phenomenon of predatory inclusion.

Race for...
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Recommended by Naomi Klein, Jeanjacques Taylor, and 2 others.

Naomi KleinAn incredible list! So much congrats to all, especially to my pal @KeeangaYamahtta whose book is so brilliant and urgent right now. https://t.co/YcTozoP7h3 (Source)

Jeanjacques Taylormy sister @KeeangaYamahtta doing the damn thing again. Her first book was remarkable, and it looks like her new book is gonna have the same impact!!! https://t.co/7vAtRpbLRd (Source)

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24
Muhammad Yunus is that rare thing: a bona fide visionary. His dream is the total eradication of poverty from the world. In 1983, against the advice of banking and government officials, Yunus established Grameen, a bank devoted to providing the poorest of Bangladesh with minuscule loans. Grameen Bank, based on the belief that credit is a basic human right, not the privilege of a fortunate few, now provides over 2.5 billion dollars of micro-loans to more than two million families in rural Bangladesh. Ninety-four percent of Yunus's clients are women, and repayment rates are near 100 percent.... more

Roger ThurowI chose this book for the power of the story that he tells – the founding of Grameen Bank and the success that it has had. (Source)

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25

Investment Banking Workbook

Investment Banking WORKBOOK is the ideal complement to Investment Banking, Valuation, Leveraged Buyouts, and Mergers & Acquisitions, Second Edition, enabling you to truly master and refine the core skills at the center of the world of finance. This comprehensive study guide provides an invaluable opportunity to explore your understanding of the strategies and techniques covered in the main text, before putting them to work in real-world situations.

The WORKBOOK--which parallels the main book chapter by chapter--contains over 400 problem-solving...
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26
Animal House meets Liar's Poker in this hysterically funny, often unbelievable, and absolutely, positively true account of life at DLJ, one of the hottest investment banks on Wall Street. less

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27

Investment Banking + Dg, 2nd Edition, University Edition

World-class valuation and transaction models to complement the global best-selling guide to investment banking

Five valuation models templates along with completed versions are accessible for purchase and use--downloadable in electronic format on the book's website, www.wiley.com/go/investmentbanking2e. Each model comes complete with a user's guide.

The models includeComparable Companies AnalysisPrecedent Transactions AnalysisDiscounted Cash Flow AnalysisLeverage Buyout...
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28
At the beginning of the 19th century some of the most outstanding families in the world of finance emerged from the ghettos of Frankfurt. Jewish Germanic families such as the Rothschilds, Goldmans, Sachs, Guggenheims, Loebs, Lazards, Oppenheims and Warburgs started a diaspora across Europe, founding the first international banking firms, many of them remain active today. Upon their arrival in the United States, the old princes rivaled new Protestant magnates such as J.P. Morgan and the Rockefellers. International financiers learned it was better to cooperate to achieve common goals, as in... more

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29
A newly-minted MBA recounts his first years as a Wall Street investment banker—unredacted.

“Why aren’t you using LTM EBITDA for credit metrics?” asked the managing director who sat across from me, his widow’s peak clearly visible as he inspected the sheet in front of him. His spacious office looked out onto New York Harbor.

“Bust,” said the vice president, a younger, douchier version of Widow’s Peak. He slashed his red ballpoint pen across the sheet and flipped to the next page.

“Walk me through the debt paydown and your interest rate assumptions,”...
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30
The absolute and relative performance of various asset classes is systematically related to macroeconomic trends. In this new book, Robert McGee provides a thorough guide to each stage of the business cycle and analyzes the investment implications using real-world examples linking economic dynamics to investment results. less

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Don't have time to read the top Investment Banking books of all time? Read Shortform summaries.

Shortform summaries help you learn 10x faster by:

  • Being comprehensive: you learn the most important points in the book
  • Cutting out the fluff: you focus your time on what's important to know
  • Interactive exercises: apply the book's ideas to your own life with our educators' guidance.
31
The winner of the National Book Award and now considered a classic, The House of Morgan is the most ambitious history ever written about an American banking dynasty. Acclaimed by The Wall Street Journal as "brilliantly researched and written," the book tells the rich, panoramic story of four generations of Morgans and the powerful, secretive firms they spawned. It is the definitive account of the rise of the modern financial world. A gripping history of banking and the booms and busts that shaped the world on both sides of the Atlantic, The House of Morgan traces the trajectory... more

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33

Dictionary of Finance and Investment Terms

More than 5,000 terms related to stocks, bonds, mutual funds, banking, tax laws, and transactions in the various financial markets are presented alphabetically with descriptions. The new ninth edition has been updated to take account of new financial regulations and recent dramatic swings in equities, credit, and other financial developments. Readers will also find a list of financial abbreviations and acronyms, as well as illustrative diagrams and charts. Here’s a valuable, thorough dictionary for business students, financial professionals, or private investors. less

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34

From ruined towns on the edge of Siberia, to Bond-villain lairs in Knightsbridge and Manhattan, something has gone wrong with the workings of the world.

Once upon a time, if an official stole money, there wasn't much he could do with it. He could buy himself a new car or build himself a nice house or give it to his friends and family, but that was about it. If he kept stealing, the money would just pile up in his house until he had no rooms left to put it in, or it was eaten by mice.

And then some bankers in London had a bright idea.

Join the investigative...

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35

Homewreckers

In the spirit of Evicted, Bait and Switch, and The Big Short, a shocking, heart-wrenching investigation into America’s housing crisis and the modern-day robber barons who are making a fortune off the backs of the disenfranchised working and middle class—among them, Donald Trump and his inner circle.

Two years before the housing market collapsed in 2008, Donald Trump looked forward to a crash: “I sort of hope that happens because then people like me would go in and buy,” he said. But our future president wasn’t alone. While millions of Americans suffered financial loss, tycoons...
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Recommended by David Sirota, Richard W. Painter, and 2 others.

David SirotaAnother must-read book out today is this one from @Aaron_Glantz — it’s about how our government allowed private equity vultures to profit off the pain, suffering and misery of the housing crisis. https://t.co/ekG7U8SNFu (Source)

Richard W. Painter@Aaron_Glantz @democracynow Great book! But what a racket! (Source)

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36

End the Fed

In the post-meltdown world, it is irresponsible, ineffective, and ultimately useless to have a serious economic debate without considering and challenging the role of the Federal Reserve.

Most people think of the Fed as an indispensable institution without which the country's economy could not properly function. But in END THE FED, Ron Paul draws on American history, economics, and fascinating stories from his own long political life to argue that the Fed is both corrupt and unconstitutional. It is inflating currency today at nearly a Weimar or Zimbabwe level, a practice that...
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37
The innovative investor's guide to an entirely new asset class--from two experts on the cutting edge

One of the fastest growing investment opportunities in the world today, blockchain assets such as bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are changing the way investors think, use, and grow their money. This clear, concise, and accessible guide from two industry experts is the first book of its kind to explain this brave new world to investors who want to explore the potential of blockchain assets in their portfolios.

It gives readers an understanding of how...
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Recommended by Marvin Liao, and 2 others.

Marvin LiaoI tend to jump from book to book and may switch if I am interested in some new topic. This is a pleasure for me (which I also do benefit work wise from too). It’s quite a random list because I have eclectic interests (or just scatterbrained most likely) on tech business, AI, general global economy, geopolitics, rising Biotech economy & history. I'm basically 15% to 50% into all these books. (Source)

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38
The best known and most highly regarded book on financial crises

Financial crises and speculative excess can be traced back to the very beginning of trade and commerce. Since its introduction in 1978, this book has charted and followed this volatile world of financial markets. Charles Kindleberger's brilliant, panoramic history revealed how financial crises follow a nature-like rhythm: they peak and purge, swell and storm. Now this newly revised and expanded Fourth Edition probes the most recent "natural disasters" of the markets--from the difficulties in East Asia and the...
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Larry SummersKindleberger’s message is that complacency can be a self-denying prophecy. (Source)

Marc FaberHe describes very well how these manias occur and what the symptoms are of manias in terms of excessive speculation, overleverage, borrowing, fraud, embezzlement, high trading volumes, and so forth. (Source)

Charles MorrisKindleberger’s great virtue is that he was both a respected economist and a student of human nature, and he knew that human nature could never be bottled up in an economic model. His book is a terrific narrative of a series of bubbles, going back to pre-industrial days – the Dutch tulip craze, the South Sea bubble, and so forth.. (Source)

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39
Consider the $20 bill.

It has no more value, as a simple slip of paper, than Monopoly money. Yet even children recognize that tearing one into small pieces is an act of inconceivable stupidity. What makes a $20 bill actually worth twenty dollars? In the third volume of his best-selling Naked series, Charles Wheelan uses this seemingly simple question to open the door to the surprisingly colorful world of money and banking.

The search for an answer triggers countless other questions along the way: Why does paper money (“fiat currency” if you want to be fancy)...
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42
During the 1980s, Michael Milken at Drexel Burnham Lambert was the Billionaire Junk Bond King. He invented such things as "the highly confident letter" (I'm highly confident that I can raise the money you need to buy company X) and "the blind pool" (Here's a billion dollars: let us help you buy a company), and he financed the biggest corporate raiders--men like Carl Icahn and Ronald Perelman.

And then, on September 7, 1988, things changed. The Securities and Exchange Commission charged Milken and Drexel Burnham Lambert with insider trading and stock fraud. Waiting in the wings was...
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44
This fictional book is a series of easy to read vignettes that illustrate modern uses of Bitcoin cryptocurrency. The characters and situations accurately portray who really uses Bitcoin around the world and for what purposes. These stories expose how criminals exploit cryptocurrency and also how Bitcoin has improved the lives of many people in the modern world.

P. Carl Mullan is a digital currency professional with more than 16-year of hands-on experience working in the industry. Most of these interconnected short stories are based on real events, personal experiences, and actual...
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Recommended by Kevin Werbach, and 1 others.

Kevin WerbachThis is the best book I’ve found that doesn’t shrink from talking about the technology and getting into some of the detail, but does it in a very clear and structured way, so that someone without any kind of background can understand it. (Source)

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45
This book aims to firmly establish a common understanding that commercial banks create new money. There is no deeper mystery, and we must not allow our mind to be repelled. Only then can we properly address the much more significant question: Of all the possible alternative ways in which we could create new money and allocate purchasing power, is this really the best? less

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46
In what is sure to become the standard account, Rothbard traces inflations, banking panics, and money meltdowns from the Colonial Period through the mid-20th century to show how government's systematic war on sound money is the hidden force behind nearly all major economic calamities in American history.

Never has the story of money and banking been told with such rhetorical power and theoretical vigor. You will treasure this volume.

From the introduction by Joseph Salerno:

"Rothbard employs the Misesian approach to economic history consistently and dazzlingly throughout the...

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47
A deeply reported, fast-paced expose of the money and the cardinals-turned-financiers at the heart of the Vatican's biggest, most powerful religious institution from an acclaimed journalist with exhaustive research techniques. (The New York Times).

From a master chronicler of legal and financial misconduct, a magnificent investigation nine years in the making, this book traces the political intrigue and inner workings of the Catholic Church. Decidedly not about faith, belief in God, or religious doctrine, this book is about the church's accumulation of wealth and its...
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48
The future of banking is already here -- are you ready?

Bank 4.0 explores the radical transformation already taking place in banking, and follows it to its logical conclusion. What will banking look like in 30 years? 50 years? The world's best banks have been forced to adapt to changing consumer behaviors; regulators are rethinking friction, licensing and regulation; Fintech start-ups and tech giants are redefining how banking fits in the daily life of consumers. To survive, banks are having to develop new capabilities, new jobs and new skills. The future of banking...
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Recommended by Jim Marous, Karaniya Dharmasaputra, and 2 others.

Jim MarousThe large print version of Bank 4.0 by @BrettKing just came out. Great for book clubs. #banking #bank4 @Bari_Arjon @rshevlin @Clagett @RAlexJimenez @provokemgmt @Breakingbanks1 @BBanksAsia @missmetaverse @JPNicols @SpirosMargaris @Chris_Skinner @Visible_Banking https://t.co/PPVCgQ5SQo (Source)

Karaniya DharmasaputraThis book is recommended by Mas Mirza Adityaswara, former Senior Deputy Governor of Bank Indonesia & a very respected economist. So, this a must-read book. Thank you for the recommendation, Mas: "Bank 4.0 by Brett King 📖 https://t.co/abJgygJHfu (Source)

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49
By day he made thousands of dollars a minute. By night he spent it as fast as he could, on drugs, sex, and international globe-trotting. From the binge that sank a 170-foot motor yacht and ran up a $700,000 hotel tab, to the wife and kids waiting at home, and the fast-talking, hard-partying young stockbrokers who called him king and did his bidding, here, in his own inimitable words, is the story of the ill-fated genius they called . . .

THE WOLF OF WALL STREET

In the 1990s Jordan Belfort, former kingpin of the notorious investment firm Stratton Oakmont, became...
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50
On March 5, 2008, at 10:15 A.M., a hedge fund manager in Florida wrote a post on his investing advice Web site that included a startling statement about Bear Stearns & Co., the nation’s fifth-largest investment bank: “In my book, they are insolvent.”

This seemed a bold and risky statement. Bear Stearns was about to announce profits of $115 million for the first quarter of 2008, had $17.3 billion in cash on hand, and, as the company incessantly boasted, had been a colossally profitable enterprise in the eighty-five years since its founding.

Ten days later, Bear...
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51
Becoming a young Wall Street banker is like pledging the world's most lucrative and soul-crushing fraternity.

Every year, thousands of eager college graduates are hired by the world's financial giants, where they're taught the secrets of making obscene amounts of money-- as well as how to dress, talk, date, drink, and schmooze like real financiers.

Young Money is the inside story of this well-guarded world. Kevin Roose, New York magazine business writer and author of the critically acclaimed The Unlikely Disciple, spent more than three years shadowing...
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Recommended by Deepak Chhugani, Malcolm Harris, and 2 others.

Deepak ChhuganiFor those interested in starting their career as investment bankers like I did, I’d highly recommend reading Young Money by Kevin Roose before joining. There are tons of people who go into the industry and truly hate it, but I’d argue that reading this book and/or talking with others in the industry beforehand will prepare you for the reality of what life can be like (Source)

Malcolm HarrisHe makes clear that that’s what the system is designed to capture, they’re looking for generic achievers: those who have not lost at anything, who are good at winning. (Source)

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52

The Repo Handbook

The Repo Handbook, Second Edition presents an overview of repo vehicles and markets with sufficient depth for those seeking detailed explanations. In three parts it demonstrates how these secured loans fit into global capital markets and why they account for up to 50% of daily settlement activity in non-US government bonds worldwide. This new edition replaces old examples and introduces new developments, such as structured finance repo and associated topics such as Basel II regulatory rules. In addition, 12 of 18 chapters feature new sections and 4 have been substantially rewritten.... more

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53
From the bestselling, prize-winning author of THE LAST TYCOONS and HOUSE OF CARDS, a revelatory history of Goldman Sachs, the most dominant, feared, and controversial investment bank in the world 
 
For much of its storied 142-year history, Goldman Sachs has projected an image of being better than its competitors--smarter, more collegial, more ethical, and far more profitable. The firm--buttressed by the most aggressive and sophisticated p.r. machine in the financial industry--often boasts of "The Goldman Way," a business model predicated on hiring the most talented people,...
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54

Quantitative Financial Analytics

The Path to Investment Profits

This book provides a comprehensive treatment of the important aspects of investment theory, security analysis, and portfolio selection, with a quantitative emphasis not to be found in most other investment texts.

The statistical analysis framework of markets and institutions in the book meets the need for advanced undergraduates and graduate students in quantitative disciplines, who wish to apply their craft to the world of investments. In addition, entrepreneurs will find the volume to be especially useful. It also contains a clearly detailed explanation of many recent...
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55
THE HOUSE-FLIPPING HOW-TO THAT TURNS EVERYDAY PEOPLE INTO ENTREPRENEURS

Everyone likes the idea of turning the ugliest house on the block to the best house on the block and making a profit. Until now a system has not been shared on how to successfully complete this task on time and budget without getting your hands dirty. This book not only cracks the code but shares the proven path and system to have a systems based rehab business that makes consistent profits for ordinary everyday people.

The Real Estate Rehab Investing Bible reveals the lucrative...
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57
Jonathan A. Knee had a ringside seat during the go-go, boom-and-bust decade and into the 21st century, at the two most prestigious investment banks on Wall Street--Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. In this candid and irreverent insider's account of an industry in free fall, Knee captures an exhilarating era of fabulous deal-making in a free-wheeling Internet economy--and the catastrophe that followed when the bubble burst.
Populated with power players, back stabbers, celebrity bankers, and godzillionaires, here is a vivid account of the dramatic upheaval that took place in investment...
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58
The United States has two separate banking systems today one serving the well-to-do and another exploiting everyone else." How the Other Half Banks "contributes to the growing conversation on American inequality by highlighting one of its prime causes: unequal credit. Mehrsa Baradaran examines how a significant portion of the population, deserted by banks, is forced to wander through a Wild West of payday lenders and check-cashing services to cover emergency expenses and pay for necessities all thanks to deregulation that began in the 1970s and continues decades later.

In an age of...
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Recommended by Joanna Peñabickley, and 1 others.

Joanna PeñabickleyIf you are looking for a great book this weekend I highly recommend: How the Other Half Banks: Exclusion, Exploitation, and the Threat to Democracy | https://t.co/Qv3MdHRcds | #InclusionEveryDayChallenge (Source)

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59
What Are You Waiting For?

This book will change the way you think about investing-and the results will prove it!

"This is the simple hands-on, how-to and why book many readers have been looking for."
-Scott Burns, syndicated columnist

Daniel Solin cuts through the financial hype to show you exactly how to invest-with an easy-to-follow four-step plan that lets you create and monitor your investment portfolio in ninety minutes or less...and put your investment earnings in the top 5 percent of all professionally managed money.

If...
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60
A book from Cengage Learning on Residential Mortgage Lending. less

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61
"Some chick asked me what I would do with 10 million bucks. I told her I'd wonder where the rest of my money went."--@GSElevator

Over the past three years, the notorious @GSElevator Twitter feed has offered a hilarious, shamelessly voyeuristic look into the real world of international finance. Hundreds of thousands followed the account, Goldman Sachs launched an internal investigation, and when the true identity of the man behind it all was revealed, it created a national media sensation--but that's only part of the story.

Where @GSElevator captured the essence of the...
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62
A tour de force of historical reportage, America’s Bank illuminates the tumultuous era and remarkable personalities that spurred the unlikely birth of America’s modern central bank, the Federal Reserve. Today, the Fed is the bedrock of the financial landscape, yet the fight to create it was so protracted and divisive that it seems a small miracle that it was ever established.

For nearly a century, America, alone among developed nations, refused to consider any central or organizing agency in its financial system. Americans’ mistrust of big government and of big banks—a...
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63
A two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist takes us inside the world revealed by the Panama Papers, a landscape of illicit money, political corruption, and fraud on a global scale.

A hidden circulatory system flows beneath the surface of global finance, carrying trillions of dollars from drug trafficking, tax evasion, bribery, and other illegal enterprises. This network masks the identities of the individuals who benefit from these activities, aided by bankers, lawyers, and auditors who get paid to look the other way.

In Secrecy World, the Pulitzer Prize...
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64
In this searing exposé, former Wall Street insider Nomi Prins shows how the 2007-2008 financial crisis turbo-boosted the influence of central bankers and triggered a massive shift in the world order.
Central banks and international institutions like the IMF have overstepped their traditional mandates by directing the flow of epic sums of fabricated money without any checks or balances. Meanwhile, the open door between private and central banking has ensured endless opportunities for market manipulation and asset bubbles--with government support.
Through on-the-ground...
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65
The over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives market has captured the attention of regulators after the Global Financial Crisis due to the risk it poses to financial stability. Under the post-crisis regulatory reform the concentration of business, and risks, among a few major players is changed by the concentration of a large portion of transactions in the new market infrastructures, the Central Counterparties (CCPs).

 

This book, for the first time, analyses the regulatory response of the United Kingdom and the United States, the two largest centres of OTC derivatives...
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66
Why do financial institutions and markets have the structure they do? Why is that structure changing? These questions are central to the scope and purpose of Meir G. Kohn's Financial Institutions and Markets, 2/e. Unlike most books designed for financial markets and institutions courses, this successful text focuses on the "why" of existing and evolving markets and instruments as well as the "how."
Financial Institutions and Markets, 2/e, makes clear the general principles and economic functions underlying all financial intermediaries. It provides a thorough...
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67
The Partnership: The Making of Goldman Sachs less

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68

Investment Banking

Institutions, Politics, and Law

Investment Banking: Institutions, Politics, and Law provides an economic rationale for the dominant role of investment banks in the capital markets, and uses it to explain both the historical evolution of the investment banking industry and also recent changes to its organization. Although investment decisions rely upon price-relevant information, it is impossible to establish property rights over it and hence it is very hard to coordinate its exchange. The authors argue that investment banks help to resolve this problem by managing "information marketplaces," within which... more

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69
"Payments Systems in the U.S." is a comprehensive description of the payments systems (cards, checks, ACH, wires, and cash) that move money between and among consumers and enterprises in the U.S. In clear and lively writing, the authors explain how the payments systems work, how they evolved, who uses them, who provides them, who profits from them, and how they are changing. Anyone in the payments industry - or needing to use payments products - can benefit from understanding this. The third edition updates information about each system, adds a chapter on payments innovation, and includes a... more

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70
Are you trusting in the world's financial system that is unstable, ever changing, and often left to chance? Instead, trust in God's banking system, where your money is multiplied beyond measure and safe and secure because it is founded on the rock of Jesus Christ. God's banking system is the only one that never has a recession.

The Lord has not called us to poverty; He has called us to prosperity, and He has given us the power, favor, ability, and principles to get wealth - so if we aren't walking in the exceedingly abundant overflow, either we don't have the knowledge of how...
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71
Market value serves as the safety valve to the secured lending dynamics of landed property. This book highlights the concept of market value and the various approaches by which it can be estimated. The parallel occurrences of other types of values are presented through the reproduction from the International Valuation Standards' definitions and concepts. The role of comparative evidence in valuation and the concept of hierarchy of evidence in valuation have been presented with reference to the relevant RICS literature on these aspects. All these basics are the subject matter of the first... more

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72
Big Deal is a penetrating look at the world of mergers and acquisitions. Bruce Wasserstein has worked on over 1,000 deals and reveals the inside story of the billion dollar deals that shape America's economy. less

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73

Dictionary of Banking Terms

Barron’s updated and expanded Dictionary of Banking Terms is an A-Z reference for banking, business, and finance professionals and students. This pocket guide features more than 3,000 terms with definitions and explanations.

This quick reference guide covers Investment banking and commercial banking practices, finance and money management, and much more. Diagrams, charts, and line illustrations help clarify concepts and terms.
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74
Blockchain technology is powering our future. As the technology behind cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, open software platforms like Ethereum, and disruptive companies like Ripple, it's too important to ignore.



In this revelatory book, Don Tapscott, the bestselling author of Wikinomics, and his son, blockchain expert Alex Tapscott, bring us a brilliantly researched, highly readable, and essential book about the technology driving the future of the economy.

Blockchain is the ingeniously simple, revolution-ary protocol that allows transactions to be...
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Dominic Steil[One of the five books recommends to young people interested in his career path.] (Source)

Hong Qi YuThe authors, blockchain experts Don Tapscott and Alex Tapscott give a rather vivid explanation of blockchain technology, along with the promise and potential behind this emerging technology. (Source)

Antonio EramMost recent (like several years ago) was about blockchain technology. After reading many articles about blockchain, bitcoin and cryptocurrency I had a "Eureka" moment when reading Blockchain Revolution: How the Technology Behind Bitcoin Is Changing Money, Business, and the World by Don Tapscott and Alex Tapscott. That moment when I realized the potential of this technology and the massive changes... (Source)

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76
For courses in Economics. Help readers master the modern landscape of money, banking, and the financial system Money, Banking, and The Financial System, 3rd Edition, gets readers excited about the extremely important topics of money, banking, and financial markets. In the past 10 years, virtually every aspect of how money is borrowed and lent, how banks and financial firms operate, and how policymakers regulate the financial system has changed. This text arms readers with the the most up-to-date coverage of events to grasp these changes and navigate the... more

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77
Investment banking and management consulting are the most sought-after careers for the two million students pursuing business degrees each year. In this step-by-step guide, Mariam Naficy provides an insider's account of these competitive fields and offers information critical to securing an entry-level job, including: Comprehensive overviews of each field, the history of the business and where they are headedTips on preparing an irresistible resume, securing and surviving interviews, how to weigh your options and establishing contacts whether or not you're still on campusInsider interviews... more

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78

From an internationally acclaimed economist, a provocative call to jump-start economic growth by aggressively overhauling liberal democracy


Around the world, people who are angry at stagnant wages and growing inequality have rebelled against established governments and turned to political extremes. Liberal democracy, history's greatest engine of growth, now struggles to overcome unprecedented economic headwinds--from aging populations to scarce resources to unsustainable debt burdens. Hobbled by short-term thinking and ideological dogma, democracies risk falling prey...
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