Barbarians at the Gate by Burrough & Helyar

I had to interrupt the book I was reading because the events occurring in the global financial markets dutifully called for such action. Instead of reading the daily news and agonizing over what was unfolding, I decided to turn back in time, not long ago, when new, creative financial instruments were allowing private equity firms to takeover companies by running up enormous debt. This process is known as a Leveraged Buyout (LBO) and it was rife on Wall Street in the Geckoesque period of the mid 1980's.

The creativity of our modern day financiers is amazing. Without launching into the populist calls for their heads that one could read in the newspapers these days (not me though), the fundamental truth remains that out capitalist system, with its constant evolution, require such magical tools of finance. They are required in order to maintain the same growth levels that investors of all types have become accustomed to. However, the Western world is no longer in a post-war boom phase. The conditions are much more mature in nature and we need to start considering how our societies should be shaped in the "post-modern economy". There are only so many financial spells to cast; cheap-labor arbitraging opportunities to exploit, and wars to start. However, lets not get to far ahead of ourselves.

"Barbarians" tells the story, over a six month period, of the takeover of RJR Nabisco, the maker of Ritz crackers, Oreo cookies and Doral cigarettes by KKR, a major private equity firm. We do not need to look as far back as the 1930's to draw similarities to today's dilemmas. Just as barely- employed recent graduates were snapping up two bedroom condos over the last year with ridiculous amount of leverage, i.e. no money down on a $300,000 condo, private equity firms, with the help of Wall Street investment bankers, were purchasing Main Street companies, either private or publicly held, using enormous leverage ratios (little cash and lots of junk bonds). In both situations, the problems began when repayment on the loan amounts was brought into question.

I can only imagine what is being said in the newspapers and online over the last month. Why were the bankers so greedy? Didn't they see it coming? Are profits never enough? The answers - yes, yes, no. My favorite metaphor in the book was told by one investment banker. If you have 11 beauty pageant contestants in a room and in walks a $100 prostitute, you still have 11 beauty pageant contestants and a hooker. But if a prostitute walks in and tells them she earns $1m, the room is immediately made up of 12 hookers. The investment banks, just like the friends of our condo-buying recent graduate, have a hard time resisting when others around them are making money. Equally, once you are making lots of money, you are not going to stop out of goodwill for mankind. Oil companies know their resources will one day finish and drilling next to the house of a cute polar bear is the wrong thing to do just as a guy slinging mortgages out of his guestroom making $25,000 a month knew that he was probably selling a mortgage or two too many to people who would have been better off renting. Finally, the rampant growth opportunities are simply going to be harder and harder to come by.

Every cloud has a silver lining. The true tragedy would be if we live through the difficult upcoming years without giving thought to the direction we are going. It is this "pioneering capitalism" which needs to be reevaluated. There need to be checks in place along the way. Government does not have to be the enemy of economic growth. In truth, it can and will need to be an enabler by improving infrastructure that allow for smoother business and by educating its people to be the most competitive in changing times. And, yes, it needs to remember that it is often the last line of defense for untethered economic pursuits whose long term costs for society often dwarf the short term profits of a few.

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The Arabs by David Lamb

In this case, the accompanying photo helps set the feeling for this book. The question I propose my enormous reader-base: would you feel comfortable breaking out this book on the bus or subway? David Lamb wrote "The Arabs" in 1987. The title reflects this on several levels. I never really like people to know what I am reading when I am on the train, per se. When ARABS is written in huge, red, capital letters, even less so. Why does it feel strange to me?

Regardless, I enjoyed this light read on the Arabs, a definition Lamb gives to include the area from Morocco moving east until Oman. The edition I read included a post 9/11 update, which was essentially a chance for Lamb to cash in on the tragedy by adding a new introduction and a handful of sentences about the connections to the event. Right move in my eyes, mainly because no one in the States cared about this part of the world until they were forced to.

The account is based on his writings and recollections during his time as the L.A. Times Bureau chief in Cairo. Yes, another one! It reads like the travel book that it is. What I found to be most interesting is how the writing has not been skewed by the 9/11, which offers a pre-event perspective.

As I enjoy following threads in both thought and reading, it is important to make the connection between my study of modern German history and the Middle East. Obviously, much of the shaping of this part of the world are a direct consequence of World War II, which led to the creation of the State of Israel. What Lamb argues is that even without Israel the Arab countries, due to how they are governed, would still be rife with problems though perhaps to a lesser degree. The Palestine - Israel conflict, often seen to be the number one factor causing tension in the Middle East and beyond, continues to trudge on because it is not in the interest of other Muslim that it is resolved.

I do not want to delve too deep into this argument because it is complex and I know next to nothing about it. The next post will be a review on a book written by an Argentine-Palestinian music conductor residing in Berlin. The title of the book is Everything is Connected. Let's see if this is really the case. Until then...

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The Catholic Church by Hans Küng

This book, by the professor of Theology at Tübingen University in southern Germany, is a short history explaining the developments of the Church through time. The Church in this definition refers to the Roman Catholic one, who, as this short history explains, has seen its power and influence in the world wither away over the 1500 year mainly as a result of its own doing.

The Roman Catholic Church is one of the finest representations of rigid hierarchy present today. Decisions come from the top down with little significance given to the input and opinions of its large following at the bottom. The Church created numerous layers of organization from priest to bishop, cardinal and beyond. The effects of this were that Catholics always had a local messenger of God, the priest, who was available and willing to pardon people for their sins. The rise of Luther in the early 16th century called for a direct connection between believers and God. Too many mid-level managers. The repurcussions of this split between the Catholic and what would become the Protestant Church had enormous cultural effects and still today greatly define the differences between Northern and Southern Europe.

The frustrating aspect of the Church is that there were several key points in history in which the setting was ideal for a new direction to be taken. However, each time the conservative option that would preserve the hierarchical power structure was always taken.

In all this it is easy to forget about one important figure - Jesus! The Church and the pope, who is suppose to be the voice of Jesus on Earth, constantly distant themselves from this humble and peaceful figure by refusing to ask one simple question: Is this what Jesus would have wanted for his Church? One of the few positive trends in the current Catholic religion is that there is a very strong grassroots, community-oriented, church at the local level. The members of this church (non-capital "C") are much closer to the embodiment of what Jesus was and what he would have wanted. These people are running soup kitchens in parish basements, gathering clothing during the winter months for the poor, and teaching immigrants the local language for better integration. It sure seems a far cry away from a Pope who dresses himself in silk, gold and jewels at every public event he is present at.

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A Confederacy of Dunces by John K. Toole

I do not have to much to add about this wonderful book that has not already been said by Mr. Abrams here.

Except I now know where the name of my dear friend's cat comes from. I was not convinced that he was capable of naming his cat, Ignatius, after the founder of the Jesuit order of the Catholic Church.

This book was very refreshing after slugging through the very intense non-fiction work by Stern. Actually, I reached for this book about half way through the other like a lost wanderer in the Gobi desert would do for a bottle of water. A Confederacy of Dunces is funny and written in such a tight manner that not one word seems superfluous.

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The Five Germanys I have Known by Fritz Stern

There is the wonderful scene in Woody Allen's "Manhattan" when he is at a party with what could be a "cast from a Fellini film". He is talking about how Nazis are planning to march in New Jersey and recommends that he and others gang up with bricks and bats to go teach them a lesson. One of the other party guests responds that he read a devastating satire piece in the Op-Ed section of the NY Times on the issue. Allen's response is that satire is one thing "but bricks and baseball bats really get to the point."

When I read Fritz Sterns epic memoir I couldn't help but chuckling every now thinking back to this scene. Stern is one of the top German historians in America. His life began in a part of Germany that now belongs to Poland. In the lead up to WWII Stern, age 12, and his entire family immigrated to the USA therefore escaping persecuting at the hand of Hitler. Stern's career as a professor at Columbia University allowed him to become a leading expert in the country and people who he justifiably despised for having forced to leave his country of birth. Stern's quest throughout the post World War II period is to explain "the German question" through rigerous historical study. A second compenent of his work was explaining his discoveries while also applying socialogical theories to current events shaping that period in time. He does so very effectively and does not at all come across with rancor towards the Germans.

The most amazing thing about reading this book, which combines history within the context of a memoir, is how for fifteen dollars I was able to read over the past few weeks an accumulation of knowledge and experience amassed over a period of 70 years - condensed into 500 pages. This is the power of reading! Overall, I enjoyed the book and learned so much about our modern history. Stern has lived an incredibly rich life having met and befriended numerous top figures in politics, academics and science. Truly impressive.

However, I do have a few rants regarding Fritz's book. The first is in regards to the Woody Allen scene mentioned above. I remember one point in the book where Fritz Sterns became enraged by some occurrence of current events, I believe regarding the Vietnam war. His furious outrage drove him sit down and write an op-ed letter to the Times. With all that rage I sure feel sorry for the poor stamp which certainly had to pay a dear price. At times Sterns belief in the effects of the written word seemed too overblown.

The second objection I had to his memoir - did Stern ever make a mistake in his remarkable life? I would have liked to have seen reference to an instant or two when the choice he made was the wrong one or a direction he took he reflects back on with a certain regret. It would have added a level of humbleness and humility that was lacking throughout.

Finally, I was bothered (jealous?) of how he described the countless number of brilliant people he met. I never knew there were so many synonyms for the word "intelligent" but Stern managed to use all of them when talking about his family, friends and acquaintances. It seemed like everyone he knew was smart beyond all belief. Fritz, hang out with some stupid people every now and then. It may do you some good.

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La Speranza Indiana (The Indian Hope) by Federico Rampini

I have become good friends with several Indian student colleagues while in Rotterdam. Their most remarkable attribute is the curiosity they have in "Western culture". They are generally very eager to learn about our traditions, history and way of doing things in society and in business. My experiences with other Americans and Europeans is rather different. The boom in tourism and the easier access to foreign information has led a lot of Westerns I have met to think they are experts on a country/region basing their knowledge on little experience. I attribute the main cause to be a lack of listening skills. I constantly have the feeling that people I meet in international environments are always ready to tell me how it is. They are much less eager to listen to how it could be. My friends from India possess the dying ability to listen to what others have to say. Perhaps this eagerness to learn is a contributing factor to the growth and optimism in their country. This book, along with the next one I will be reviewing, demonstrate such a profound knowledge and understanding of the countries the authors are writing about, that the reader cannot help but feel the dwarfing effects in respect to our superficial travel culture made of Lonely planet, wikipidia and a digital camera.

It was my friends' curiosity in my culture that drove me to read this book on their own. It is the least I could. Rampini is a successful Italian journalist specifically focusing on Asia. His book is very similar in structure to The Good Rain which I reviewed a month back. Both books move along a current journey through the land, weaving in contemporary issues with historical events. This style makes for entertaining reading as new subjects and historical anecdotes come and go with a certain freshness. On the other hand, it does make it hard to follow a chronological unfolding of events. This book opens the door to a country dripping with intrigue. The writer also provides an Italian perspective that I found to be fascinating.

I have been thinking a lot about perspective in writing lately. Coming from the Anglo-American world with its dominant language provides numerous benefits as well as negative aspects. The fact we have access to so many books, journals, magazines, and blogs (!) gives us the possibility to immerse ourselves in the smallest of niche subjects. However, the perspective an American or English writer brings to their field has been conditioned heavily by the society in which they were raised. A certain historical bias is always alive in writing.

This leads me to ask, what is the need for an Italian journalist to write about India when the subject has certainly been amply documented by hundreds (thousands?) of Anglo writers? Because the Italian reader interested in India views the country differently than the way an American reader would. Rampini explores the intrigue the West has always possessed for India mainly by discussing the works on the subject written by Schopenhauer and Hesse. In addition, Italians themselves, from the early explorers to Passolini in the 70's, have documented their journeys. Remember that Venice was the largest port in Europe during the 16th century thus acting as the hub for the imports (mainly silk and spices) arriving from India. These occurrences are not nearly as relevant to an American because 1) philosophy is a subject that is not integrated into the school curriculum in America while a large part of Italian high school students are forced to study it. It may be seen as a form of punishment at the time but something certainly remains in the academic formation. 2) America was founded after the fall of Venetian dominance so our perspective of history naturally has a much shorter time frame.

So, I was introduced to the complexity India reading a book in Italian that introduced me to German thinkers I knew little about. Actually, my own understanding of India is largely "Italian influenced", first by Tiziano Terziani (a future post will introduce him to those unfamiliar) and now Federico Rampini. It is all very exciting...at least to me.

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