Shortform Books

Wealth Transfer: How Do Countries Exchange Wealth?

How does wealth get transferred between countries? What are the implications of international wealth transfers for the participating economies? Transfers of wealth between countries take many forms. The primary wealth transfer channels include international investments (direct investment in stocks and bonds), putting money in a country’s banks, remittances from outside workers back to family, imperialists transferring wealth from nations they conquered (now more obsolete), and foreign aid. In this article, we’ll take a look at the economics behind the primary channels of international wealth transfer.

Why Comparing Ourselves to Others Is Unhealthy

Why should we stop comparing ourselves to others? What damage can it cause? Are there any benefits that come from comparison? Brené Brown, the author of The Gifts of Imperfection, asserts that comparing ourselves to others causes emotional damage and stops us from living authentically. She says that one way to fight comparison is to embrace our creativity because it cultivates individuality. Continue for more of Brené Brown’s take on comparison, and whether or not the research supports her claims.

How to Make Your Sales Presentation Stand Out

Do you often make sales presentations as part of your business? How do you make sure your presentation stands out from the sea of competitors’? In high-profile business-to-business sales, customers often request a sales presentation that explains how the product/service works and how it will contribute to their company’s success. The key to making your proposition stand out from competitors is to design a presentation that is tailored to the specific needs of every client. In this quick article, we’ll look at how to create a customer-focused presentation and how to deal with premature presentation requests.

Superforecasting: Review, Context & Critical Reception

Budgeting and Planning: Why Is It So Important?

Is Phillip Tetlock’s Superforcasting worth reading? What was Tetlock’s inspiration in writing the book? The idea for Superforecasting came from Tetlock’s experiences with the Expert Political Judgment and Good Judgment Project forecasting experiments, during which Tetlock and his team discovered that some people are significantly better at predicting the future than others. Tetlock and Gardner set out to explore exactly what sets “superforecasters” apart from regular people; Superforecasting is the result. This Superforecasting review takes a look at the book’s intellectual context, background, impact, and discusses its key strengths and weaknesses.

Behavioral Residue: The Key to Long-Term Marketing

What is behavioral residue? How can implementing this marketing method ensure your product remains visible in the long term? Behavioral residue is a marketing tactic used to ensure a product remains visible to potential customers for a long time. Visibility is important as people are not going to talk or think about your product if they don’t know about it. Adding behavioral residue will ensure your product visibility continues in the long term and doesn’t fade away, ultimately ensuring increased sales. Keep reading to learn more about behavioral residue.

5 Powerful Examples of Emotional Advertising

How does emotional advertising work? What are some great examples of emotional advertising that you can learn from? When people get emotional, they like to talk about how they’re feeling. When they do this, they share details about what made them so emotional in the first place. Therefore, if you can make your product or idea trigger an emotional response, you’ll get people talking not only about their feelings but about your product or idea, too. Below you’ll find some powerful examples of emotional advertising in action.

Can You Get Rich Quick From Stocks?

Can you get rich quick from stocks? How do investors determine which stocks are going to pay off big? The stock market has a reputation for allowing people to “get rich quick” by betting big on a stock that pays unexpectedly large returns. Unfortunately, this reputation is misleading. Although it certainly can happen occasionally—just as gambling in Las Vegas can occasionally make a person wealthy—the unremarkable truth is that get-rich-quick schemes usually fail because they hit two realities: 1) all information is public, and 2) people don’t typically undervalue their own stocks. Here is why getting rich quick off stocks

Interleaved Practice: Mixed Learning Helps Retention

What is interleaved practice? How does it compare to mass practice? Which method is more effective and why? Interleaved practice is a study technique where you alternate between several topics or skills, instead of focusing on one thing at a time. Although it may seem counterproductive to study this way, interleaved practice is actually more effective than massed practice because it boosts retention and emulates real life—where you’ll encounter situations that require a mix of different skills and knowledge. Keep reading to learn about interleaved practice and why it’s more effective than mass practice.

Avoid Distractions at Work: Make a Deep Work Space

Are you easily distracted at work? What steps can you take to reduce your distractions? In his book Deep Work, Cal Newport provides steps on how to create a deep work environment. The steps include creating a designated workspace, getting rid of distractions such as social media, training your focus, and making the most of your focused time. Keep reading to learn how to curb your distractions at work.

Feeling Agitated? Stop Fuming and Fretting

Do you often find yourself feeling agitated and restless? Do you get worked up over trivialities? Do you wish you could just switch off your mind sometimes so you could give at least a minute of rest? We often make life more difficult for ourselves by getting agitated and worked up about situations. Vincent Norman Peale, the author of The Power of Positive Thinking, calls this “fuming and fretting.” To gain power and live life to the fullest, we have to stop all this fuming and fretting. Here is how to cope with agitation and restlessness, according to Peale.