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Signals: How Everyday Signs Can Help Us Navigate the World's Turbulent Economy
SIGNALS is the story of the world economy, told in the language of everyday objects, places and events - from magazine covers and supermarkets to public protests.
'A tour de force' Lord Rose, former CEO and Chairman of Marks & Spencer
'Dr Pippa Malmgren's book is essential reading' Dr Liam Fox, former British Defence Minister
'Better than Piketty' James Galbraith, Chair of Government and Business at the University of Texas
Pippa Malmgren argues that by being alert to the many signals around us, we can be empowered to deal with the varied troubles and treasures the world economy inevitably brings. Economics is not just maths and data. Perfume and makeup are part of the world economy too.
Signals will help you understand why the size of chocolate bars, steaks and apartments are shrinking. It explains why the government says we face deflation yet everyone feels their cost of living is rising and their standard of living is falling. Rising protein prices are felt not just during your weekly shop but by the leaders of emerging markets who are obliged to reach for food and energy assets to feed their people. The increasing near misses between America's spy planes and the fighter jets of China and Russia are no coincidence.
Malmgren reveals how our daily lives are affected by the ongoing battle, created by central bankers, between inflation and deflation. The fallout of this battle is evident in the rise of anti-establishment voting, the return of social unrest to emerging markets, the movement of manufacturing jobs back to the West, and by pressure from mass immigration. Economic forces are breaking the social contract between citizens and their states. If the only real solution is innovation, then the key question becomes whether governments are hostile or hospitable to efforts to build tomorrow's economy today. Malmgren shows us who is already building the future and how to be part of it.
With its wonderful range of examples, from a Vogue magazine cover to a protest by a Tibetan monk, Signals demonstrates that although we can't predict the future of the world economy, we can better prepare ourselves for it. Far from being the concern of only a privileged few, Malmgren shows that economics is a hot topic that touches every life.
'A tour de force' Lord Rose, former CEO and Chairman of Marks & Spencer
'Dr Pippa Malmgren's book is essential reading' Dr Liam Fox, former British Defence Minister
'Better than Piketty' James Galbraith, Chair of Government and Business at the University of Texas
Pippa Malmgren argues that by being alert to the many signals around us, we can be empowered to deal with the varied troubles and treasures the world economy inevitably brings. Economics is not just maths and data. Perfume and makeup are part of the world economy too.
Signals will help you understand why the size of chocolate bars, steaks and apartments are shrinking. It explains why the government says we face deflation yet everyone feels their cost of living is rising and their standard of living is falling. Rising protein prices are felt not just during your weekly shop but by the leaders of emerging markets who are obliged to reach for food and energy assets to feed their people. The increasing near misses between America's spy planes and the fighter jets of China and Russia are no coincidence.
Malmgren reveals how our daily lives are affected by the ongoing battle, created by central bankers, between inflation and deflation. The fallout of this battle is evident in the rise of anti-establishment voting, the return of social unrest to emerging markets, the movement of manufacturing jobs back to the West, and by pressure from mass immigration. Economic forces are breaking the social contract between citizens and their states. If the only real solution is innovation, then the key question becomes whether governments are hostile or hospitable to efforts to build tomorrow's economy today. Malmgren shows us who is already building the future and how to be part of it.
With its wonderful range of examples, from a Vogue magazine cover to a protest by a Tibetan monk, Signals demonstrates that although we can't predict the future of the world economy, we can better prepare ourselves for it. Far from being the concern of only a privileged few, Malmgren shows that economics is a hot topic that touches every life.
334 pages, Paperback
Published June 1, 2016
73 people are currently reading
605 people want to read
About the author
Pippa Malmgren
6 books49 followersPippa Malmgren is a former Presidential advisor and a prominent public speaker. She co-founded H Robotics, which makes modular, AI-led, commercial-use drones for a wide range of industries including mining, oil and gas, insurance and public safety. Dr. Malmgren also founded the DRPM Group, which advises institutional investors worldwide on investment trends and is a platform for her public speaking.
Her speciality is explaining how technology and geopolitics are changing the landscape and demanding new leadership skills. Her upcoming book is called The Leadership LAB: Understanding Leadership in the 21st Century which is due out in October 2018.
She formerly served as an advisor to President George W. Bush in the White House and served on The National Economic Council where she handled financial market issues and terrorism risks to the economy after 911. She is currently a Non-Executive Board Member of the Department of International Trade in the UK. She also sometimes participates in the British Ministry of Defence Working Group on Global Strategic Trends and the Pentagon’s scenario sessions.
She Chairs the Lewis PR Advisory Board (LAB) and is the Honorary Chairman of Resilience First and a member of the Greater London Authority Infrastructure Advisory Board. She serves on the Drone/UAV Committee of The British Standards Institute, Real Vision TV, and is a member of the British Science Association’s 2018 Huxley Summit Board and Indiana University’s School of Public Policy and Environmental Affairs. She was a judge on The Queen’s Enterprise Business Awards in 2018 in the UK. She was also a judge in the EG Property Awards in 2018. She won the Intelligence Squared Debate on Robotics in 2015.
Pippa is a regular guest on CNBC and Bloomberg and often on the BBC including on The Today Program, Newsnight and Hard Talk. She is also an author. In 2016, she crowdfunded her bestselling book Signals: How Everyday Signs Help Us Navigate the World’s Turbulent Economy, Geopolitics for Investors and will release The Leadership LAB: Understanding Leadership in the 21st Century in October 2018.
She was the Chief Currency Strategist for Bankers Trust and the Deputy Head of Global Strategy at UBS. She was named a Global Leader for Tomorrow at Davos 2000/2001. She has written for The International Economy, Economia and Monocle. She has lectured at Sandhurst, LSE, Kings College, The University of Texas Austin, Duke Fuqua and INSEAD. She has a BA from Mount Vernon College and an M.Sc. and PhD from LSE. She completed the Harvard Program on National Security. She gave the graduation address at the London School of Economics in 2013 and again in 2016.
Her speciality is explaining how technology and geopolitics are changing the landscape and demanding new leadership skills. Her upcoming book is called The Leadership LAB: Understanding Leadership in the 21st Century which is due out in October 2018.
She formerly served as an advisor to President George W. Bush in the White House and served on The National Economic Council where she handled financial market issues and terrorism risks to the economy after 911. She is currently a Non-Executive Board Member of the Department of International Trade in the UK. She also sometimes participates in the British Ministry of Defence Working Group on Global Strategic Trends and the Pentagon’s scenario sessions.
She Chairs the Lewis PR Advisory Board (LAB) and is the Honorary Chairman of Resilience First and a member of the Greater London Authority Infrastructure Advisory Board. She serves on the Drone/UAV Committee of The British Standards Institute, Real Vision TV, and is a member of the British Science Association’s 2018 Huxley Summit Board and Indiana University’s School of Public Policy and Environmental Affairs. She was a judge on The Queen’s Enterprise Business Awards in 2018 in the UK. She was also a judge in the EG Property Awards in 2018. She won the Intelligence Squared Debate on Robotics in 2015.
Pippa is a regular guest on CNBC and Bloomberg and often on the BBC including on The Today Program, Newsnight and Hard Talk. She is also an author. In 2016, she crowdfunded her bestselling book Signals: How Everyday Signs Help Us Navigate the World’s Turbulent Economy, Geopolitics for Investors and will release The Leadership LAB: Understanding Leadership in the 21st Century in October 2018.
She was the Chief Currency Strategist for Bankers Trust and the Deputy Head of Global Strategy at UBS. She was named a Global Leader for Tomorrow at Davos 2000/2001. She has written for The International Economy, Economia and Monocle. She has lectured at Sandhurst, LSE, Kings College, The University of Texas Austin, Duke Fuqua and INSEAD. She has a BA from Mount Vernon College and an M.Sc. and PhD from LSE. She completed the Harvard Program on National Security. She gave the graduation address at the London School of Economics in 2013 and again in 2016.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews
July 2, 2016
This is the final version of my book Signals. The original version was crowdfunded because the publishers said "nobody cares about economics". It raised 260% of the target in 15days and then went to number 1 on Amazon 4x. Now it's updated and formally published by Weidenfeld and Nicholson.It explains economics in plain English. If you hate economics or would never read a book economics then this is the book for you. I talk about Vogue, stilletos, fighter jets, F1 racing, music, China, NATO, Brexit.....all things that touch your life one way or another. Come see more on Twitter and Instagram @DrPippaM
January 18, 2017
I'm a fan of Pippa Malmgrens work - I'll get that out in front, this isn't a criticism of her broader work, just this book.
If you're looking for something that discusses signalling theory in depth and relates it to the real world, this isn't for you.
What you'll get in this book is a series of stories about how basic occurrences in lots of places were signals of an underlying trend change. It's important to understand and after however many hours I've spent on this book I certainly get the point - but it wasn't necessarily the point I was looking for and I feel like it could have been achieved in half or less of the time.
The book also feels like it does have an ideology to push - and that's ok, but it's not a neutral read of the circumstances.
Overall it is enjoyable - but not robust or in depth. It's a comfortable read, a nice story that could have been written by many people without Pippas deep domain expertise.
If you're looking for something that discusses signalling theory in depth and relates it to the real world, this isn't for you.
What you'll get in this book is a series of stories about how basic occurrences in lots of places were signals of an underlying trend change. It's important to understand and after however many hours I've spent on this book I certainly get the point - but it wasn't necessarily the point I was looking for and I feel like it could have been achieved in half or less of the time.
The book also feels like it does have an ideology to push - and that's ok, but it's not a neutral read of the circumstances.
Overall it is enjoyable - but not robust or in depth. It's a comfortable read, a nice story that could have been written by many people without Pippas deep domain expertise.
August 24, 2018
This book drew me in with the promise of understanding easy to see signals, but it actually turned out to be a crash course on economics with a load of politics thrown in too.
But that's ok because the signals that Pippa Malgren talks about are the sort that you can only see and interpret if you know at least a little bit about these things. There is no easy way to read the economy without knowing something about how it works but you don't need to be an expert to pick up on trends and warning signs.
In the author's own words:
I found I become engrossed in Signals very quickly and I really enjoyed reading it. I actually (for the first time ever) read the economics stories on the news websites, and I felt like I knew what they were talking about!
It promises a quick way to read the economy but very sneakily tries to teach you about economics. I enjoyed it a lot though and recommend it to anyone that wants to become a bit more knowledgeable about economics and politics.
But that's ok because the signals that Pippa Malgren talks about are the sort that you can only see and interpret if you know at least a little bit about these things. There is no easy way to read the economy without knowing something about how it works but you don't need to be an expert to pick up on trends and warning signs.
In the author's own words:
"I have tried to weave together a picture of the world economy, connecting seemingly unrelated and even contradictory pieces of information that actually come together to form patterns. There are endless, easily observable signals that illuminate these patterns on the landscape of the world economy. One need not be an economist or an expert on algorithms to detect and discuss them. In fact, a little common sense might be a welcome addition to the usual conversation about economics."
I found I become engrossed in Signals very quickly and I really enjoyed reading it. I actually (for the first time ever) read the economics stories on the news websites, and I felt like I knew what they were talking about!
It promises a quick way to read the economy but very sneakily tries to teach you about economics. I enjoyed it a lot though and recommend it to anyone that wants to become a bit more knowledgeable about economics and politics.
August 11, 2023
Liked the mission of the author. This book is meant for people who do not like economics. The story is written in a very simple language. The logic is impeccable. The structuring of the narrative is a delight.
Every page brims with examples.
The author manages to hold the attention with a racy narrative style. There is also a consistency of thought across the pages and therefore you get a rare satisfaction of having read an important book.
Go for it.
Every page brims with examples.
The author manages to hold the attention with a racy narrative style. There is also a consistency of thought across the pages and therefore you get a rare satisfaction of having read an important book.
Go for it.
January 4, 2017
This book was excellent because it really made me think hard about how seemingly insignificant everyday things can be huge signs of things to come in the economy. I've personally been able to spot trends early within the industry that I work in, however, this book really introduce ways to pay a lot more attention to everyday signs and behaviours in things totally unrelated to my job.
I didn't expect the books to go into politics, wars and the history of inflation, however, that was one of the best parts of this book. It made it so easy to understand why there is so much fighting and geopolitical tension in the world right now if you simply understand how the modern global economy works in simple terms. The author has done an amazing job at making these complexities easy to understand. (That's coming from me, someone who follows the business news everyday and can get overwhelmed with doublespeak from these so called "experts").
I listened to this book on audible and it was read by the author. I highly recommend the audible version.
I didn't expect the books to go into politics, wars and the history of inflation, however, that was one of the best parts of this book. It made it so easy to understand why there is so much fighting and geopolitical tension in the world right now if you simply understand how the modern global economy works in simple terms. The author has done an amazing job at making these complexities easy to understand. (That's coming from me, someone who follows the business news everyday and can get overwhelmed with doublespeak from these so called "experts").
I listened to this book on audible and it was read by the author. I highly recommend the audible version.
November 19, 2022
This is… not a very good book.
I feel baited into reading it based on the title - I thought it would help me interpret economic signals, which the book only highlighted at the highest level only.
The book is generally a macro/geopolitics book (which makes sense if you dig into the author’s background) but spends a lot of time railing against QE (with bad takes - I recommend Cullen Roche’s Pragmatic Capitalist for a good take on QE) and contains factual inaccuracies in certain parts (for instance: no, Greece did not default - it fell into arrears. A default is a permanent impairment of a loan that involves total loss).
Also the lionising of both China and Russia look very silly from 2022’s vantage point. Hindsight, sure, but just to warn you about what you’ll be reading.
I feel baited into reading it based on the title - I thought it would help me interpret economic signals, which the book only highlighted at the highest level only.
The book is generally a macro/geopolitics book (which makes sense if you dig into the author’s background) but spends a lot of time railing against QE (with bad takes - I recommend Cullen Roche’s Pragmatic Capitalist for a good take on QE) and contains factual inaccuracies in certain parts (for instance: no, Greece did not default - it fell into arrears. A default is a permanent impairment of a loan that involves total loss).
Also the lionising of both China and Russia look very silly from 2022’s vantage point. Hindsight, sure, but just to warn you about what you’ll be reading.
March 20, 2021
I bought this book because I heard Pippa Malmgren on a few podcast, and found her thoughts interesting and intelligent.
While I generally liked the book it was heavier on geopolitics and macroeconomy than expected, which I sometimes found hard to follow and/or boring, which is why it took me quite a while to finish it. I certainly learned some things which is great, the book also sparked some thoughts about how the world is connected on several political and capitalist levels, which was an interesting experience.
It was less of a "how-to" book than expected, but I still got something out of it.
While I generally liked the book it was heavier on geopolitics and macroeconomy than expected, which I sometimes found hard to follow and/or boring, which is why it took me quite a while to finish it. I certainly learned some things which is great, the book also sparked some thoughts about how the world is connected on several political and capitalist levels, which was an interesting experience.
It was less of a "how-to" book than expected, but I still got something out of it.
September 6, 2017
Maybe I'm being a bit harsh by awarding the book 2 stars since there was plenty of useful information and I learnt a lot from the book. However, overall, I felt somewhat underwhelmed: the book just wasn't what I expected.
I thought the title was somewhat misleading. The book does talk about signals in the world but not in the explicit manner that I was hoping for; it felt like a secondary focus amidst large sections where the author discusses economic and geopolitical affairs. I found it a little bit ironic that the introduction suggested that the book would talk about such issues in a manner that would be more understandable to the common man rather than resorting to the highbrow language used by policymakers yet what follows are pages and pages on quantitative easing, inflation and debt.
In my opinion, the best parts of the book were the chapters exploring geopolitics. These chapters offered a great insight into the motivation and actions of different countries of the worlds and I definitely came away feeling much more knowledgeable on these topics after reading them. There are large chunks of the book that are quite dry though. For example, the author talks a lot about hubris/nemesis, which just felt too general/philosophical. Whilst sections on the world economy did teach me a lot, I didn't really expect, or want, to read texts written in the somewhat dreary style used by government officials, with plenty of economics terminology thrown in.
Overall, the book wasn't what I had hoped for, and the style is a little bit heavy-going. Nevertheless, the book does enlighten you on some interesting topics and help you better understand global economic and political issues.
I thought the title was somewhat misleading. The book does talk about signals in the world but not in the explicit manner that I was hoping for; it felt like a secondary focus amidst large sections where the author discusses economic and geopolitical affairs. I found it a little bit ironic that the introduction suggested that the book would talk about such issues in a manner that would be more understandable to the common man rather than resorting to the highbrow language used by policymakers yet what follows are pages and pages on quantitative easing, inflation and debt.
In my opinion, the best parts of the book were the chapters exploring geopolitics. These chapters offered a great insight into the motivation and actions of different countries of the worlds and I definitely came away feeling much more knowledgeable on these topics after reading them. There are large chunks of the book that are quite dry though. For example, the author talks a lot about hubris/nemesis, which just felt too general/philosophical. Whilst sections on the world economy did teach me a lot, I didn't really expect, or want, to read texts written in the somewhat dreary style used by government officials, with plenty of economics terminology thrown in.
Overall, the book wasn't what I had hoped for, and the style is a little bit heavy-going. Nevertheless, the book does enlighten you on some interesting topics and help you better understand global economic and political issues.
May 11, 2019
This book was very difficult to read. Don't get me wrong, I study Economics and I interned at a Central Bank, so this was very relevant to me. At the beginning of the book, I understood that the book tried to explain how important it is to watch out for signals. I get it, everyone with the slightest sense gets it, but the question is how. Instead of giving a pointer on how to increase one's awareness to look for signals, this book goes on and on with different analogies re-explaining what we already know past the first chapter: it is important to read signal. As I went further, still in search of an answer, the author peppered the book about 'how I was in an important position, how my daddy was an important person, and how this means that I am an authority in this field'. Well, it's her book so she can put whatever she wants. I decided to leave the book because it's just impossible for me to keep on reading when she just presented one argument and instead of expanding it further, the whole book kept on parroting something we already knew after the first chapter. Maybe will pick it up again later in the future.
September 25, 2017
The book is simply off topic. From the title I thought I might get advices on the signals that helps to make trading and investment decisions. But what I get is politics, and it indeed turned out that the author was a former US presidential advisor. The only thing that might be remotely related to economics is just retrospective mumbling which the basic reasoning is because this happened before the financial crisis therefore it was a signal. Both the title and genre of this book needs to be changed.
December 17, 2016
IF economics can be written like this
then its will be favorite subject of the world!!
Thee Excellent and precise... wat a way to present the economies of the world
learned and enlightened.. this book will stay close to my heart for his presentation
Thanks to author
then its will be favorite subject of the world!!
Thee Excellent and precise... wat a way to present the economies of the world
learned and enlightened.. this book will stay close to my heart for his presentation
Thanks to author
March 26, 2017
A very clearsighted analysis of the consequences of the blind inflation hunt central bankers and the social contract.
November 28, 2017
IMPORTANCE OF SIGNALS!
How we can all observe and innovate and use signals all around us to create a better Economy and GDP, and avoid catastrophic losses. Often we need to take risk, because nothing risked - nothing gained. To internalize this is so very important and this book is gold 5/5.
"The world economy and the financial markets will influence, if not define, the direction of your life and the choices you make. Prices define how much you will pay for rice and everything else that matters." p.21
"Global rice prices rose by 50% in 2008. once rice is beyond reach, it makes sense to pick up a brick and throw it, even for a monk. So, monks throwing bricks turned out to be a signal that the price of food was escalating and causing suffering." p.21
"Lots of people build real businesses, create jobs, innovate and make a lot of money out of catching and interpreting signals. Why not you, too?" p.22
Edgework: "Edgework is the business of pushing against the boundaries of the unknown. It is argued by psychologists that this is essential to life."
"What a man can be, he must be … This need we may call self-actualisation. It refers to the desire for self-fullfilment, namely, to the tendency for him to become actualised in what he is potentially. This tendency might be phrased as the desire to become more and more what one is, to become everything that one is capable of becoming." A.Maslow
"Whenever the majority of the population seeks to pursue the same idea at the same time, it usually ends in tears. It is a sure sign of trouble when 85% of business school graduates want a job in the financial markets. It is a sure sign of trouble when everyone buys the same investment ideas at the same time: tulips in 1637; railroad stocks in the 1800s; Internet stocks in the 1990s. What about homes and mortages in the 2000s? There is some wisdom in crowds, no doubt, but there may be safety in taking a road 'less travelled' as Robert Frost put it." p.48
Shrinkflation = sizes of goods is shrinking while the price and packaging remains the same. p.143
Geopolitics
It is estimated the arctic holds as much as 13% of the worlds undiscovered oil and more than 30% of the available natural gas. Medvedev called it the 'Mecca of resources'.
"Frenemies" US vs China competing and developing technology to intimidate; China's "core interest"
OBOR = One belt, One road; "One belt" refers to the old "silk road" on land. "One road" refers to the maritime version of the silk road. 2015: the first train completed the 26 000 km roundtrip from China (Yiwu) to Madrid, which took two months. In 2017 another train left Yiwu for London and completed the 12 000 km journey in just 16 days.
In 2015 the US Navy announced their intention to reintroduce celestial navigation training. (strong competition in military and space tech)
"Many believe that the hyperinflation caused the population to turn to a new leader who promised to protect them from it's ravages, which opened the door for Adolf Hitler."
Hybris vs nemesis, we need a little hybris to take risks and innovate. From this real economic growth comes.
Saltwater vs freshwater: can the central banks and an elite group get the economy going in the right direction by intervening or is it more a question of wisdom of crowds and markets to solve large scale economic problems, including individual creativity?
My comment: What are the signals now? Schiller P/E ratio of 28? Or the debt level? Savings rates? Cash allocation? Market sentiment? Housing market in Stockholm where buyer interest is cooling? Commodities rising?
How we can all observe and innovate and use signals all around us to create a better Economy and GDP, and avoid catastrophic losses. Often we need to take risk, because nothing risked - nothing gained. To internalize this is so very important and this book is gold 5/5.
"The world economy and the financial markets will influence, if not define, the direction of your life and the choices you make. Prices define how much you will pay for rice and everything else that matters." p.21
"Global rice prices rose by 50% in 2008. once rice is beyond reach, it makes sense to pick up a brick and throw it, even for a monk. So, monks throwing bricks turned out to be a signal that the price of food was escalating and causing suffering." p.21
"Lots of people build real businesses, create jobs, innovate and make a lot of money out of catching and interpreting signals. Why not you, too?" p.22
Edgework: "Edgework is the business of pushing against the boundaries of the unknown. It is argued by psychologists that this is essential to life."
"What a man can be, he must be … This need we may call self-actualisation. It refers to the desire for self-fullfilment, namely, to the tendency for him to become actualised in what he is potentially. This tendency might be phrased as the desire to become more and more what one is, to become everything that one is capable of becoming." A.Maslow
"Whenever the majority of the population seeks to pursue the same idea at the same time, it usually ends in tears. It is a sure sign of trouble when 85% of business school graduates want a job in the financial markets. It is a sure sign of trouble when everyone buys the same investment ideas at the same time: tulips in 1637; railroad stocks in the 1800s; Internet stocks in the 1990s. What about homes and mortages in the 2000s? There is some wisdom in crowds, no doubt, but there may be safety in taking a road 'less travelled' as Robert Frost put it." p.48
Shrinkflation = sizes of goods is shrinking while the price and packaging remains the same. p.143
Geopolitics
It is estimated the arctic holds as much as 13% of the worlds undiscovered oil and more than 30% of the available natural gas. Medvedev called it the 'Mecca of resources'.
"Frenemies" US vs China competing and developing technology to intimidate; China's "core interest"
OBOR = One belt, One road; "One belt" refers to the old "silk road" on land. "One road" refers to the maritime version of the silk road. 2015: the first train completed the 26 000 km roundtrip from China (Yiwu) to Madrid, which took two months. In 2017 another train left Yiwu for London and completed the 12 000 km journey in just 16 days.
In 2015 the US Navy announced their intention to reintroduce celestial navigation training. (strong competition in military and space tech)
"Many believe that the hyperinflation caused the population to turn to a new leader who promised to protect them from it's ravages, which opened the door for Adolf Hitler."
Hybris vs nemesis, we need a little hybris to take risks and innovate. From this real economic growth comes.
Saltwater vs freshwater: can the central banks and an elite group get the economy going in the right direction by intervening or is it more a question of wisdom of crowds and markets to solve large scale economic problems, including individual creativity?
My comment: What are the signals now? Schiller P/E ratio of 28? Or the debt level? Savings rates? Cash allocation? Market sentiment? Housing market in Stockholm where buyer interest is cooling? Commodities rising?
September 8, 2022
Apparently, anything from the flapping of a hummingbird in Peru and the price of tea in Bangladesh is because the world's economies have contracted too much national debt and we are all due a serious spate of inflation. Reading this in 2022, this feels like an amazing prediction - except even a stopped clock reads correctly twice a day.
I found this a poorly argued and extremely unconvincing book. The author throws in several self-aggrandizing anecdotes, a dash of monetary hawkishness, and a pinch of humor, and declares that she has identified "signals" to navigate the economy. Several elementary "correlation does not equal causation" errors later, it was pretty clear that all her data merely served her previous confirmation bias.
After reading Nate Silver's "Signal and the Noise", I declare this book is clearly noise. Give it a miss.
I found this a poorly argued and extremely unconvincing book. The author throws in several self-aggrandizing anecdotes, a dash of monetary hawkishness, and a pinch of humor, and declares that she has identified "signals" to navigate the economy. Several elementary "correlation does not equal causation" errors later, it was pretty clear that all her data merely served her previous confirmation bias.
After reading Nate Silver's "Signal and the Noise", I declare this book is clearly noise. Give it a miss.
May 29, 2024
I'll open by saying that I did enjoy this. Pippa writes well, and certainly has plenty of interesting ideas to discuss.
Having said that, given the premise of the book and what it promises, I had expected a more solid foundation in finding signals, and how to apply these insights in a practical manner (for example in deciding how to invest or where to live). Instead what I seemed to receive were a series of mini stories, often quite joltingly all over the place, and frequently with only thin relevance to the point that Pippa is trying to make. The points made are generally very salient, and there were definitely several ideas/concepts put forward that were new and interesting; but I feel that this overpromised, or rather sold itself as something it was not.
Enjoyable and entertaining, but by no means essential.
Having said that, given the premise of the book and what it promises, I had expected a more solid foundation in finding signals, and how to apply these insights in a practical manner (for example in deciding how to invest or where to live). Instead what I seemed to receive were a series of mini stories, often quite joltingly all over the place, and frequently with only thin relevance to the point that Pippa is trying to make. The points made are generally very salient, and there were definitely several ideas/concepts put forward that were new and interesting; but I feel that this overpromised, or rather sold itself as something it was not.
Enjoyable and entertaining, but by no means essential.
February 8, 2018
A very good book. One that I will certainly read again.
Provides a wide-ranging overview of current global economic and geopolitical affairs, focusing primarily on the consequences of failures by governments to honor social contracts. Looks at the world through a different lense than Piketty, so I would highly recommend reading the two in conjunction. Those with some background in macroeconomics will get more out of it, although i suppose that’s not totally necessary. Arguably too scattered and wide-ranging and I could have done without all the innovation case studies, but those are minor complaints. I loved it.
Provides a wide-ranging overview of current global economic and geopolitical affairs, focusing primarily on the consequences of failures by governments to honor social contracts. Looks at the world through a different lense than Piketty, so I would highly recommend reading the two in conjunction. Those with some background in macroeconomics will get more out of it, although i suppose that’s not totally necessary. Arguably too scattered and wide-ranging and I could have done without all the innovation case studies, but those are minor complaints. I loved it.
March 27, 2018
This book seriously overpromised and underdelivered. The worst combination. I only made it to the 10% mark, which is my general rule of thumb for go/nogo. Generally, most books have hit their stride by that point, but this was still wandering around in circles pointing at random things on the horizon. It just lacks focus, it felt like it was trying still to establish the premise "signals are important". I had accepted this and was ready for more, but it was taking forever to get there. The style was also off, too much self reference, sentences that went nowhere. Saved from a 1 because it is genuinely an important subject, but I just couldn't handle the presentation.
November 1, 2020
Incredibly dense and insightful reading, plenty of quotes, interesting historical and economics content reflecting a vision to the future, based on the subjective interpretation world trends mechanics around us. A masterpiece, but perhaps too vague and touching too many fields. Despite I would recommend it more for business and economics students/researchers, this book might result boring or difficult to finish .
September 27, 2017
I highly respect Pippa Malmgren. She is a world-class expert in her field. But for me there weren't many take-aways inside her book. All the geopolitical- and macroeconomics are not that interesting for me. One signal I found helful though was to look at the sizes of packages of toothpaste etc. and also how big the holes are in order to interpret it as a single for bad or good economy.
July 27, 2018
The author's politics comes through pretty strongly and takes away from the thrust of the book. It doesn't really live up to its promise of showing how to look for signals of wide-scale change, its more about the author showing off that she has predicted a few things and she has worked in the Whitehouse etc. Not really worth the read IMHO.
July 29, 2019
A great read to shed some light on the important "social" side of economics, in particular, providing some great analysis on the impacts of inflation/QE across emerging markets.
More empirically driven through examples and stories, but in this manner, I felt there was a better understanding that you don't necessarily need to be some economics wizard to engage with the market.
More empirically driven through examples and stories, but in this manner, I felt there was a better understanding that you don't necessarily need to be some economics wizard to engage with the market.
September 21, 2020
Interesting - Dr Malmgren distributes the responsibilities of innovation and watching for signals to all of us, which might be seen as a tacit admission that the small subset of economists who make pronouncement and policies and collect Nobel prizes are often wrong and may not understand what is going on (or may not be allowed to understand « out loud »)
June 17, 2021
After finishing this book, I'm not entirely sure what the takeaway is, besides that there are signals to pay attention to in the economy. Her recommendation was innovation, but I wasn't sure how she thinks policy makers should approach encouraging that. Some chapters are more interesting than others (e.g. the ones detailing the geopolitical chess between China, Russia, and the US).
August 7, 2017
Good book, gave great insight into why Trump/Sanders were more favorable than the establishment politicians. Also gave a great insight into the future with Emerging markets(China,Vietnam,Mexico, East Africa) etc...
December 17, 2017
We are so screwed. Better start hiding money and diamonds under your mattress. Seems our only hope against complete collapse is ‘innovation’.
Ironically, ‘Innovation’ is also about the only Signal that wasn’t qualified in some way.
Ironically, ‘Innovation’ is also about the only Signal that wasn’t qualified in some way.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 3, 2018
A book about the economy and economics that makes sense and is thought provoking at the same time. I agree with a previous review that said that if economics was written about in this way it would have been more interesting. The book definitely made me think, and that's a good thing.
July 14, 2019
A interesting guide to world economics
An interesting read although the concluding chapter suggests really that the author had run out of ideas and let her emotions rule. For example I think her conclusions about financial services are flawed.
An interesting read although the concluding chapter suggests really that the author had run out of ideas and let her emotions rule. For example I think her conclusions about financial services are flawed.
November 18, 2025
I read this and was engaged at the start- and this might be a me thing because the longer it went on the less interested I got. At the time of reading I enjoyed somewhat but can’t really note the main takeaways…
August 31, 2017
An informative book to read, though detail analysis QE on world economy is not done by author however the salient observations of this are depicted in the book.
October 28, 2017
Fun way to point out that there are signs that most can miss, but the aware and curious will see.
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