Todd Z. throws out a Friday softball: What business law book would you recommend to law students?
(Economics books were suggested during the last book club, so I'm sticking to books about business.) I would suggest Liar's Poker by Michael Lewis. Todd mentions Barbarians at the Gate, and someone in the comments suggests The Smartest Guys in the Room. If students in law school (or entering) are wondering what a corporate lawyer does, then the best thing to read is Ron Gilson's 1984 article in Yale Law Journal, Value Creation by Business Lawyers: Legal Skills and Asset Pricing. Finally, for pure nuts and bolts, Hamilton & Booth's Business Basics for Law Students is also a good reference.
As for fiction, I really like those books about the 80's by Jay McInerney and Bret Easton Ellis. Brightness Falls is my favorite. It has this great scene where Corrine, a broker, is at a bar celebrating the night after the Dow broke 2000. (Yes, 2000). Because she is young and attractive, a television reporter wants to get her on camera saying something pithy. The reporter asks her, "Do you think the Emperor has no clothes?" Corrine says, "Yes, but he has a great body."
On a related note, it is interesting that the business books we remember are the ones about someone's downfalls: Barbarians, Predator's Ball, Den of Thieves, License to Steal. We don't remember those great books by CEOs on how they made great companies. I guess businesses are like families, with a nod to Tolstoy: Successful business ventures are all alike; each unsuccessful business venture is unsuccessful in its own way."
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1. Posted by Dave Hoffman on July 15, 2005 @ 21:09 | Permalink
How about Moneyball, which combines elements of fantasy baseball, economics & bad business decision making? A business book trifecta!
2. Posted by Jeff Hobart on July 16, 2005 @ 19:37 | Permalink
The Hamilton Booth text is fine for learning the basics. I had Professor Hamilton for Business Associations at Texas. But I believe that the finest guide to the economics of business organizations is still Klein & Coffee Business Organization and Finance, now in its 9th edition. Upon my first reading of the text, I moaned to myself: Where was Klein (and this guide) back when I was a law student (J.D. 1977). It was and still is a joy to read.
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