Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Did I Really Think There Would Be More Summer Reading?

Ok, so what I was going to suggest as additional summer reading (for those languorous days in the Hamptons) oh, so long ago, when I still wrote on this thing called a blog, was a little ditty about the ups and downs of our good ole financial system.

Yes, you too can follow along as the author shares research and insights on the roller coaster that is the US economy in Panic Profits.

Though to be honest, it's a wee bit over my head. Or at least better suited to Wall Street aficionados or true economists (really nerdy ones at that) rather than little ole me, the wannabe. No matter how many times I've cracked the book, I get distracted just a few pages, and line graphs, in. I am more adept at following the ups and downs of the big personalities that created the US financial system in all their glory and gluttony, especially if there are glitzy side bars on illegitimate children and the like. So basically I stick with broad Vanity Fair retrospectives on the subject.

But Mary, why even bother sporadically cracking said text instead of relegating the spine to serve as a decorative piece to entice said nerdy economists? Well, the author is (was) my grandfather and I would feel quite high brow and pleased with myself if I were to truly comprehend it. Though as he's no longer with us, I won't expect a pop quiz any time soon and I can feel ever so high brow and pleased with myself because rather than just reading about it (and glazing over by the 4th line graph), I'm living in the midst of it all.

Yep, I traded the quirky, creative vibe of Nolita for the awe-inspiring, over the top grandeur of days past to presently reside on Wall Street.
The Stock exchange, Federal Hall and Trump Building are my closest neighbors who beckon absurdly stereotypical camera-toting tourists to mill on the cobble stoned streets, nearly bumping into fully automatic-toting NYPD while focusing their viewfinders on the glistening and gilded words, Tiffany & Co. or 14 Wall Street, perhaps failing to notice that 2009 Wall Street looks more like 1979 Belfast.

But those tourists, like the men in suits, boys in blue trading jackets, women in pantyhose and that big old flag, are all part of the scenery here on Wall, my new home sweet home.

And even with my illiteracy for economic literature, perhaps Poppa would still be proud.

Panic Profits: How to Make Money When the Market Takes a Dive by John Dennis Brown