Another year is nearly behind us. December was a quieter one, with only 1 book summary and my short yearly round-up: Book summaries Why Are the Prices So D*mn High? by Eric Helland and Alex Tabarrok (19 mins) — another free book looking at why services like education and healthcare have become so much more expensive since 1950, even as manufactured goods have gotten much cheaper . Blog posts 2024 round-up (5 mins) — I pick out my 3 favourite books this year and give a brief overview of how...

My latest summary is for Why Are the Prices So D*mn High? Health, Education and the Baumol Effect, which seeks to explain why it seems like prices in education and healthcare keep rising. Note that the book was published at the start of 2019 and is about the long-run trend of increasing prices in healthcare and education since 1950. It is not about the surge in inflation post-Covid. As usual, the key takeaways are below, and you can find the full summary by clicking the link above (estimated...

I've just posted a new summary for The Psychology of Money: Timeless lessons on wealth, greed, and happiness by Morgan Housel. As usual, the key takeaways are below, and you can find the full summary by clicking the link above (estimated time 25 mins). KEY TAKEAWAYS How to be successful with money: It’s more about psychology and behaviour than being smart. Aim to be reasonable, not rational — what matters is what helps you sleep at night, not what is optimal in theory. The key steps involve:...