(Image Credit: http://www.goodreads.com) “Inadequate Equilibria” by Eliezer Yudkowsky author at Machine Intelligence Research Institute (MIRI) addresses the question as to whether there exists any avenue or opportunity for individual thinking, in a globalised and internet fueled world where the norm is to place blind and total trust on expert agreements. It dwells deeply on the … Continue reading Inadequate Equilibria: Where and How Civilizations Get Stuck – Eliezer Yudkowsky

(Image Credit: http://www.barnesandnoble,com) At the time of this review, Shankar Acharya holds the distinction of having served for the longest period (8 years) as India’s Chief Economic Advisor (CEA), and under three diverse finance ministers: Manmohan Singh, P. Chidambaram and Yashwant Sinha. From a reading of “An Economist at Home and Abroad”, we are also … Continue reading An Economist at Home and Abroad – Shankar Acharya

(Image Credit: http://www.amazon.com) Upon typing Insys Therapeutics in the Google search bar, the searcher is lead to a website that is couched in legalese. In addition to informing the reader that the company she is looking for has gone bankrupt, the website also offers an option to lodge a third party claim against the company, … Continue reading The Hard Sell: Crime and Punishment at an Opioid Startup – Evan Hughes

(Image Credit: http://www.ebookmela.co.in) More doling out pop psychology wisdom than fictionalizing the shadowy life of the most ineffectual (arguably) double agent in the history of espionage, Paolo Coelho's “The Spy” is a novella length hymnal to the libidinous existence of Margaretha Geertruida MacLeod, (popularly known as ‘Mata Hari’), a Dutch exotic dancer, cultural icon and … Continue reading The Spy – Paolo Coelho

(Image Credit: http://www.bookdepository.com) Sebastian Mallaby has this extraordinary ability to identify a random topic in the world of finance and expound on it with the same verve, excitement and panache that is otherwise reserved for elaborating James Bond’s uncomfortably close shaves with a crazy bunch of Yakuza assassins. “The Power Law” – a veritable tome … Continue reading The Power Law: Venture Capital and the Making of The New Future – Sebastian Mallaby

(Image Credit: Dundurn Press) “Egg Island”, Sara Flemington’s debut novel, is a hodge-podge of dark humour and an adventure bereft of destination. Eighteen year old Julia, is on a quest to reach Egg Island. A place located in the middle of nowhere, and leading to nowhere, Egg Island may as well be a myth or … Continue reading Egg Island – Sara Flemington

(Image Credit: Dundurn.com) Replete with operatic complexities and other nuances of musicology, “In the City Of Pigs” (the title itself being an imaginative take on references contained within Plato’s ‘Republic’), is grist for a musical mill rather than common fodder for the consumption of  the lay reader. Even though the author sincerely attempts to weave … Continue reading In The City of Pigs – André Forget

(Image Credit: nwhgroup.co.uk) “Chase it down and read it” is American activist, writer and policy strategist, David Bollier’s verdict on John Thackara’ s uniquely introspective work, “How To Thrive In The Next Economy”. In a world characterised by rampant globalization, nature is not just held to ransom, but is being systematically and systemically devoured in … Continue reading How To Thrive In The Next Economy – John Thackara