The Deals that Made the World: The Billion Dollar Deals and How They’re Changing Our World
£7.30£10.40 (-30%)
‘The book to read’ GQ
‘A revelatory book’ John Lewis-Stempel
While the laws that guide our lives are written by the politicians we elect, much of the world around us – from the food we eat to the products we buy to the medications we take – is shaped by private negotiations and business deals few of us know about.
For twenty years, Peretti has interviewed the people behind the decisions that have altered our world, from CEOs of multinational corporations to politicians, economists, and scientists. In The Deals that Made the World, Peretti draws on his vast knowledge to reveal a host of fascinating and startling connections, from how Wall Street’s actions on food commodities helped spark the Arab Spring to the link between the AIDS epidemic in 1980s San Francisco and the subprime mortgage crisis of 2008. He proves a sure guide, combining both eye-opening on-the-ground reporting and a narrative flair that makes esoteric financial and business concepts clear and understandable.
Like Steven Levitt, Nassim Nicholas Taleb, Brad Stone, Michael Lewis, and Malcolm Gladwell, Peretti takes the ordinary and turns it inside out to give us a compelling new perspective on our lives and our world.
Read more
by Alexandre Marques
Good subjects, but the author tends to see the dark side of all the spectrum of the possible. If it is expensive is bad, if it is cheap is bad as well.
PS: Needed to review the review. Although the tendency for drama and dark side, good topics well researched and written.
by tidd
still listening to it .makes you think about life , how the world turns with deals made , makes you wonder about our own lives when we decide to change things , what do we set in motion on a local level with a meeting of minds .
by Chickpea
This book really exposes some very interesting and hidden facts. Its well written, easy to read and is really worth buying. A great Christmas present that many men in particular would be happy to receive.
by Mr. K. Wain
After reading this I feel as insignificant as a grain of sand.
by Amerfas
It’s a good read, but I’m not sure that the claim of exposing “secret deals” is entirely accurate – and that’s the reason for the three stars. Most of the forces that he shows to be shaping the markets are described as broad market strategies (so, not individuals or lone corporates). There are probably only two chapters where I felt that the “secret deal” claim was valid.
The common themes throughout are: (1) social inequality is accelerating at unprecedented rates, and (2) it’s in the interests of the controlling players to increase their control. I found the ways in which share / control / ownership is changing in each sector interesting, and I’m glad to have read the book for that reason. Peretti generally takes the voice of the “little man”, i.e. Us, and outlines why he’s worried about “Them”.
Suggest you read this as an interesting set of essays about how a very small number of people might make shed loads of cash from Us. The writing is concise and focussed, and as an investigative journalist Peretti is certainly accomplished.
[One minor issue is that while he uses the term “singularity” within the context of technological progress, he uses it more to describe how everything is converging to become the same – i.e. singular. This is not how it has been coined by Vinge, Kurzweil, etc. For them, it is a descriptor of technological pace of change – more about the inability to forecast accurately due to change becoming too rapid, and self-propagating]
by Patrick J. McKenna
Thank goodness for investigative journalism and this guy, Jacques Peretti is among the best! And I say that being totally objective as I don’t know him and have not seen or read any of his prior work.
This is one incredibly fascinating book and I have to admit that I’m only about half way through it thus far. But every Chapter I’ve read is an eye opener and I consider myself a fairly well read individual who normally consumes one business book a week.
Chapter One is all about cash and why, if certain interests have their way, it will not be in wide usage for too much longer. Perorate presents well researched facts and sources that had me highlighting points made on nearly every page. And Chapter Six on Drugs is one I would love to send to everyone I know who works in the medical profession to show them precisely how BigPharma has so influenced their mindsets.
I cannot say enough good things about this book and I don’t even remember how I happened upon it . . . as I live in Canada and had Amazon ship me a copy over here.
by Kindle Customer
Jacques,this is a fantastic read. Big ideas are broken into small chapters. One of the best titles I’ve read in the last 5 years.
by A. Black
One of the best books I have read in a long time. I try and be as critical as possible reading things like this, and in some cases for sure there are exagerations or a ideas presented in a way that is a little be sensationalist. However, it makes for an entertaining read, and the core concepts presented really do make you think and I do agree with most of them to differing degrees. It’s really easy and entertaining to read, and makes you want to keep reading chapter after chapter. It will make you examine the world around you in a way you havent before. It can be almost a little bit depressing in places, but take it as a chance to examine daily life from a new perspective. It’s very well researched and referenced as well.