The World's Best Book Summaries
What are the main causes of poverty? What are the factors that keep someone in poverty? In Maid, Stephanie Land puts forth her own life as an example of how systemic problems and circumstances beyond a person’s control can force them into poverty. She shows that many factors contribute to and compound poverty. Let’s look at the main causes of poverty, using Stephanie Land’s own story of poverty as an example.
What is your trading mindset? Do you focus more on minimizing risk or maximizing gains? In trading, mindset is extremely important. Most people embody a fear-based mindset when trading, focusing on avoiding risk. To achieve consistent success, we need to train ourselves to think differently and embody the winning mindset, focusing on gains. Keep reading to learn about the role of mindset in trading.
What was the Great Famine? What could have prevented the Irish potato famine? Between 1845 and 1849, Ireland experienced mass starvation and disease after most potato crops got infected. Amartya Sen uses the example of England’s lack of support during the potato famine to demonstrate how easy it is to prevent famines. Keep reading to learn what could have prevented the potato famine and how famines can be prevented today.
Why should the minimum wage be raised? How does Stephanie Land’s life story support the idea of the minimum wage being raised? In her memoir Maid, Stephanie Land talks about her time working as a maid. She made minimum wage, which was $8.55 an hour in Washington in 2009. Because she was in poverty and government assistance rarely helped her, the minimum wage wasn’t enough to cover her essential needs. Keep reading to learn more about why the minimum wage should be raised.
What does market share mean? How do you calculate market share? According to William M. Luther, market share is the percentage of sales earned by a specific company. He explains how to calculate market share in his book The Marketing Plan. Keep reading to learn the meaning of market share and Luther’s advice on acquiring market shares.
What causes a mass food shortage? Are famines easy to prevent? In Development as Freedom, Amartya Sen says that all famines are avoidable. While it’s commonly assumed famines are caused by an imbalance between population and food supply, it’s actually a result of government failure. Read more to know how to prevent famine through government intervention and assistance.
What happens to the economy when women have fewer rights than men? What’s the best way to fix the gender bias against women? Amartya Sen in Development as Freedom states that misogyny is preventing developing countries from flourishing. Depriving women of basic rights has proven to increase crime rates and reduce female life expectancy, which means that fewer people can contribute to the economy. Learn more about the economic impact of gender inequality and how to put a stop to it.
What’s Amartya Sen’s Development as Freedom about? What are the key messages to take away from the book? In Development as Freedom, Amartya Sen argues that economic development goes beyond increasing wealth—it’s about expanding freedom. His book explores his reasoning, his definition of freedom and justice, and what it means to be poor. Below is a brief overview of the key takeaways of Amartya Sen’s Development as Freedom.
What are the economic reasons behind empowering women? What benefits do women gain through basic human rights and education? In Development as Freedom, Amartya Sen claims that a bias against women is holding developing countries back from growing socially and economically. By giving women the freedom to pursue an education and have a job, they have the power to change communities or nations. Let’s look at the importance of women’s economic empowerment in any part of the world.
What is poverty, according to Amartya Sen? How can we approach poverty as a social problem? In Development as Freedom, Nobel Prize-winning economist Amartya Sen argues that economic development is about more than increasing wealth—it must be about expanding freedom. Poverty shouldn’t be just about the amount of income you make; it’s also about the lack of rights you have. Learn more about this ethical approach by Amartya Sen, poverty as capability deprivation, and development as freedom.