Megan McArdle

Like some of the other reviewers I entered the give-away for this book thinking that it was more a psychological "Gve Them New Hope" approach. I could not have been more wrong, when I leafed through the pages, it looked like most of it was about economy. Yikes! This is a subject I have been avoiding ever since one semester of it in high school. Grudgingly I started reading. It turned out to be much more entertaining than your boring economy classroom textbook. The main reason is that Megan McArdle doesn't only talk about the failures of the world's economy, but also personal failures like in relationships, career choices, etc. She doesn't hesitate to use her own personal misadvertures as examples. Another strength of the book is the writing itself. She makes it all palatable for lay people like me by a humorous tone and many references to popular culture. McArdle's experience in journalism shines through. She knows how to reach people.

Did I learn something? Yes, I did. Most important for me was how we tend to stick with something that we know is wrong way too long, usually until things totally fall apart. It doesn't matter whether it is a relationship, a lousy job, or a big budget movie that is going to flop. Denial!

The second thing I learned, since I am from the Netherlands, is that bankruptcy is not the life sentence here in the USA like it is in my own country. Here you get a chance to pick yourself up by your bootstraps and try something new. In Europe you remain financially ostracized for the rest of your life, in most cases. That's good to know, even though I hope will never go bankrupt.

This book is enjoyable, useful and well written. I just wish that the blurb had been a little clearer telling us what it was about.… (més)

The Up Side of Down: Why Failing Well is the Key to Success by Megan McArdle was an enjoyable read recommended to me by a friend.

In the book McArdle looks at a variety of aspects having to do with failure from types of failure to recovering from failure to the effect of failure on the American economy. She used various stories of famous failures as well as more personal stories from her own life. I felt that she did a good job of presenting her evidence and points without being overly pushy about a personal agenda.

One of the more interesting aspects of the book were the comparisons between American views of failure and the European views of failure. In America, being a CEO of a failed company is considered something of a resume builder because companies will believe that the CEO learned from their mistakes. In Europe, being the CEO of a failed company is a career killer.

A very interesting read that I would recommend to pretty much anybody. While there is some economic and psychological jargon it manages to stay pretty light and easy to read.… (més)