Mark Hurd, co-CEO of Oracle Corp.

The Organized Mind: Thinking Straight in the Age of Information Overload by Daniel J. Levitin. The time is rapidly approaching when insights driven by Big Data will dominate not only most business decisions but also many choices we make in our personal lives. So when I read a review of Levitin’s book, I sat up and took notice because I’m bombarded by information every hour of every day. Levitin does an excellent job in discussing the science of thinking in language that’s not only clear and informative but also entertaining. Readers of this book will get a better understanding of the mind along with some valuable guidance on how to exploit the emerging world of Big Data.

Pippa Malmgren, founder of DRPM Group

I loved The Second Machine Age by Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee because it reminds us we are on the cusp of a new industrial revolution driven by computers, sensors, big data and artificial intelligence. Many economists feel there will be deflation forever but this book shows that there will also be extraordinary innovation. Of course, we should keep in mind what Stephen Hawking says about this new era of artificial intelligence. The first thing a robot is likely to say to us is “I can’t believe you are so stupid.”

Mervyn King, former governor of the Bank of England and visiting professor at New York University

Charles W. Calomiris and Stephen H. Haber’s Fragile by Design: The Political Origins of Banking Crises and Scarce Credit” is a magnificent study of the economics and politics of banking. “The Shifts and the Shocks” by Martin Wolf is the best all-round account of the global financial crisis and what we should do to reduce the chances of a repetition.

Bharat Masrani, CEO of Toronto-Dominion Bank

An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth: What Going to Space Taught Me About Ingenuity, Determination and Being by Chris Hadfield. Not a business book per se, Colonel Hadfield’s memoir recounts how insatiable curiosity, single-minded dedication and a healthy competitive streak propelled him to, quite literally, out-of-this world accomplishments. His humility and charm throughout his ascent to notoriety are further evidence that a winning formula includes staying true to yourself.

Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson examines a simple, but important, concept: how thinking like a customer transformed an industry. This philosophy led Apple Inc. to become one of the most valuable and recognizable companies in the world.

Benoit Coeure, member of the European Central Bank’s Executive Board

I don’t read many books on finance. Life’s too short for that and I prefer novels or poetry. I enjoyed reading “ouse of Debt by Atif Mian and Amir Sufi, an illuminating insight into the dangers of collateralized finance. A great book I’ve only just read (it’s never too late) is “Memoirs” by Jean Monnet. It helps you understand most of what’s happening today in Europe. And why Brexit would be a setback for the Western world.

Andy Haldane, chief economist at the Bank of England

Scarcity: Why Having Too Little Means So Much by economist Sendhil Mullainathan and psychologist Eldar Shafir, is an extraordinary book. It has received, in my view, far too little attention. Scarcity of goods, services, resources and time have all been analyzed to death. The scarcity that exists between our ears -- our cognitive bandwidth -- has scarcely been analyzed at all. Mullainathan and Shafir show that this neurological constraint is fundamental in explaining all manner of behaviors and outcomes, from unaffordable borrowing to measured IQs. The public policy implications are potentially profound.

Mark Fields, CEO of Ford Motor Co.

“he Outsiders: Eight Unconventional CEOs and Their Radically Rational Blueprint for Success by William N. Thorndike. These CEOs thought very differently and took a bit of a contrarian view about how to create value in their companies. Each looked at their business from the outside in, took their time to develop a clear point of view and stuck with it, which ultimately created a lot of value for shareholders and everyone associated with their companies.

Anne Hidalgo, mayor of Paris

Dora Bruder by Patrick Modiano. I recommend to everyone this poignant yet short and easy-to-read novel, which plunges readers into history and memory as Modiano based it on an ad for a missing person published in a Parisian newspaper in December 1941. With unrelenting constancy as well as tenderness and modesty, the writer follows the steps of a young woman fleeing her home and school to finally disappear in the somber Paris of the 1940s. Modiano’s investigations reveal she was included in a convoy to a concentration camp in 1942, ending up in the hell of Auschwitz. I was gripped by Patrick Modiano’s art, his choice of words and sober style reinforcing the story’s intensity.

Bjorn Wahlroos, Chairman of Nordea Bank AB and Sampo Oyj

Mass Flourishing: How Grassroots Innovation Created Jobs, Challenge, and Change by Edmund S. Phelps. He takes off where Schumpeter and Hayek ended, to explain what it is that makes our economies modern. Against a rich and insightful historical background he draws a picture of the market institutions and social traditions that promote innovation and thus economic growth. In the process he redraws many political front lines and provides us with an answer to those who believe more public funding for investment and innovation is the road forward for our stagnant economies. It is a marvelous book that deserves to be read by everyone, but particularly by those entrusted with the design of the European future.
 

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