Sunday 18 August 2013

Holiday Reading

As ever a big part if any holiday is the reading material. On this trip I have a couple of particular recommendations.

All the books I read are business related and my favourite is a good business biography. I really like the stories behind business and their people.

I have found a coupe if great stories on this break....

The first is the Tesco Story. This is a recently published book and tells the story of the company through a series of individuals recollections. This means the book ends up being a fabulous social history through the last century.

It does tell the story of Tesco but also shows how society has changed over the decades. 

The second book was or I couldn't put down. A Colossal Failure tells the story o the Lehman brothers collapse.

It is written by a trader who was on the inside. He is able to explain how the collapse occurred in very simple term.

The reality is the sub prime mortgage scandal is the biggest fraud the world has ever known. After reading the book is is clear how it occurred and how greed was at the bottom of fraud.

There is lots to learn from both books and I hope we done make the same mistakes again however somehow I think we will.

Holiday heaven


It's that time of year when we head off to our favourite place in the works....Italy. We have been coming to the same hotel for the past 10 years. I never thought I would return to the same place time after time however the familiarity means it is easy to relax and unwind.

Italy is an interesting country. One thing which has struck me on this trip is how purely Italian Italy is. This is not a cosmopolitan society. 

As someone who spend a lot of time in London which is one of the most cosmopolitan cities in the world there I a sharp contrast. There are certainly no Starbucks in Garda. It's the one country Starbucks would never venture. There are no Burger bars,Indian restaurants or Chinese takeaways.

Everything here is very Italian. You can get as much gelato or pizza as you like. It is even a challenge to get a non Italian wine.

It give te place authenticity and without doubt attracts the tourists. However I wonder how such a closed view effects global trade for Italy and its place on a world stage.

I guess only time will tell....