The classic guide for the individual investor, The Economist Guide to Investment Strategy sets out the basic - and the not-so-basic - principles for putting your wealth to work. It looks at risk, pointing out the hazards for those who wish to explore a variety of investment approaches. It also teaches the importance of sophisticated self-knowledge in finance, distilling insights from behavioural analysis as well as the principles of traditional finance. It highlights how habitual patterns of decision-making can lead any of us into costly mistakes, and it stresses how markets are most dangerous when they appear to be most rewarding. This fourth edition includes new material on private investment and non-standard asset classes - art, wine, collectibles and the like - helping readers to navigate those areas in which prudence meets passion.

The classic guide for the individual investor, The Economist Guide to Investment Strategy sets out the basic - and the not-so-basic - principles for putting your wealth to work. It looks at risk, pointing out the hazards for those who wish to explore a variety of investment approaches. It also teaches the importance of sophisticated self-knowledge in finance, distilling insights from behavioural analysis as well as the principles of traditional finance. It highlights how habitual patterns of decision-making can lead any of us into costly mistakes, and it stresses how markets are most dangerous when they appear to be most rewarding. This fourth edition includes new material on private investment and non-standard asset classes - art, wine, collectibles and the like - helping readers to navigate those areas in which prudence meets passion.

The world of finance can be a minefield for the unwary. Without training, very few managers are prepared for the challenges of dealing with management reports, budgets and capital proposals, and find themselves embarrassed by their lack of understanding. This classic book, now in its third edition, supplies a step-by-step guide to the whole territory: 'how to assemble a budget', 'how to read variances on a report', 'how to construct a proposal to invest in new equipment'. By examining the actual things that managers have to do, each chapter explores the range of principles that can be applied, illustrates practical techniques and provides general guidance. The book will help the reader understand financial jargon, financial statements, management accounts, performance measures, budgeting, costing, pricing, decision-making and investment appraisal. New material brings this edition up to date with chapters on crowdfunding and the influence of global uncertainty on the best-laid financial plans.

The first edition of The Economist Guide to Investment Strategy explained the fundamentals of investment risk, how to put together "keep-it-simple" investment strategies, and the need to guard against our own behavior leading to dreadful investment mistakes. The global crisis that erupted in 2008 exposed the flaws in many more complicated investment strategies. The second edition starts with a new section on financial fraud and how investors can help to protect themselves against this "hearty perennial." It also includes a new section on risk profiling and discusses the role of risk tolerance questionnaires. In Chapter 3 data are provided pointing to underperformance of equities between 1978 and 2008. Against this background, there is a new Chapter 4—"Which should we do: buy-and-hold or time markets?" Chapter 5, which discusses the design of short-term and long-term strategies, includes a new section—"How safe is cash?"—and the discussion of bond ladders is extended to reflect issues of bond selection in the light of corporate credit risk and the financial difficulties of some US municipal authorities. Part 2 has been updated extensively to reflect developments in the past four years and the impact of the financial crisis on credit instruments, hedge funds, private equity, and real estate. The book concludes with a new chapter on investing in art and collectibles. It explores the argument that art prices "float aimlessly," discusses financial investment in art, and provides some reasons for expecting that a portfolio of art might perform well in the future.

QFINANCE: The Ultimate Resource (4th edition) offers both practical and thought-provoking articles for the finance practitioner, written by leading experts from the markets and academia. The coverage is expansive and in-depth, with key themes which include balance sheets and cash flow, regulation, investment, governance, reputation management, and Islamic finance encompassed in over 250 best practice and thought leadership articles. This edition will also comprise key perspectives on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors -- essential for understanding the long-term sustainability of a company, whether you are an investor or a corporate strategist. Also included: Checklists: more than 250 practical guides and solutions to daily financial challenges; Finance Information Sources: 200+ pages spanning 65 finance areas; International Financial Information: up-to-date country and industry data; Management Library: over 130 summaries of the most popular finance titles; Finance Thinkers: 50 biographies covering their work and life; Quotations and Dictionary.

Supported by numerous charts and detailed analysis, The Economist Guide to Investment Strategy outlines how to construct investment strategies appropriate for individual investors. It looks at the risks and opportunities of uncomplicated strategies and it comes with wealth-warnings for those who wish to explore more sophisticated and fashionable investment approaches. It emphasizes the importance of taking into account insights from behavioral analysis as well as the principles of traditional finance. It highlights how habitual patterns of decision-making can lead any of us into costly mistakes, and it stresses how markets are most dangerous when they appear to be most rewarding.

“Eureka! Skousen has done the impossible. Students love it! I will never use another textbook again.”—Harry Veryser, University of Detroit-Mercy They said it couldn’t be done. Austrian economics is so different, they said, that it couldn’t be integrated into standard “neo-classical” textbooks. Consequently, college students learn nothing about the great Austrian economists (Mises, Hayek, Schumpeter). Professor Mark Skousen’s Economic Logic aims to change that. Based on his popular course taught at Columbia University, Skousen starts his “micro” section with Carl Menger’s “theory of the good” and the profit-and-loss income statement to explain the dynamics of the market process, entrepreneurship, and the advantages of saving. Then he uses a powerful Hayekian four-stage model of the economy to introduce “macro,” including a new Austrian measure of spending at all stages of production (Gross Domestic Expenditures). Economic Logic also offers chapters on: The international gold standard, the defects of central banking, and the Mises/Hayek theory of the business cycle. A full critique of the Keynesian Aggregate Supply and Demand (AS-AD) model, and a revolutionary Austrian alternative. Entrepreneurship, the financial markets, environmental economics, monetary policy and inflation, federal spending and taxes, and government regulation. Leaders of all schools, including Austrian, Keynesians, Marxist, Chicago, and Public Choice.

In Economic Logic, Mark Skousen offers a step-by-step approach to economics showing how microeconomics and macroeconomics are logically linked together. The fully revised fifth edition introduces a major breakthrough in macroeconomics: a "top line" in national income accounting called Gross Output. Also included: a powerful four-stage universal model of the economy, a new "growth" diagram, a new diagram of the optimal size of government, and new alternatives to the standard Aggregate Supply and Aggregate Demand curves. Economic Logic is also the first and only textbook to begin with a profit-and-loss income statement to demonstrate the dynamics of the economy. To aid students in comprehending the economic lessons, many other disciplines are integrated into the study of economics, including finance, business, marketing, management, history, and sociology.

They said it couldn’t be done. Austrian economics is so different, they said, that it couldn’t be integrated into standard “neo-classical” textbooks. Consequently, college students learn nothing about the great Austrian economists (Mises, Hayek, Schumpeter). Professor Mark Skousen’s Economic Logic aims to change that. Based on his popular course taught at Columbia University, Skousen starts his “micro” section with Carl Menger’s “theory of the good” and the profit-and-loss income statement to explain the dynamics of the market process, entrepreneurship, and the advantages of saving.

In Economic Logic, Mark Skousen offers a step-by-step approach to economics showing how microeconomics and macroeconomics are logically linked together. The fully revised sixth edition introduces a major breakthrough in macroeconomics: a "top line" in national income accounting called Gross Output. Also included: a powerful four-stage universal model of the economy, a new "growth" diagram, a new diagram of the optimal size of government, and new alternatives to the standard Aggregate Supply and Aggregate Demand curves. Economic Logic is also the first and only textbook to begin with a profit-and-loss income statement to demonstrate the dynamics of the economy. To aid students in comprehending the economic lessons, many other disciplines are integrated into the study of economics, including finance, business, marketing, management, history, and sociology.