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Books by John Kay
John Kay is a British economist. He has been a Fellow of St John’s College, Oxford since 1970 and has held chairs at London Business School, the University of Oxford, and the London School of Economics.
“It’s looking at what has happened to the archetypal vehicle for modern capitalism: the company or corporation. What happens to it when we move, as we have moved, from a world of making mainly things, into a world where lots of products are essentially digital, immaterial or services?…He writes in a very witty, sometimes acerbic style about some of the scandals and setbacks of the corporate model over the years and looks at the way the change in the economic landscape is changing the way companies are run” Read more...
The Best Business Books of 2024: the Financial Times Business Book of the Year Award
Andrew Hill, Journalist
“John Kay has written many books but this one feels, to me, like his masterpiece.” Read more...
The Best Introductions to Economics
Tim Harford, Economist
“The central argument in Obliquity is a brilliant insight that many of the greatest achievements of the business world come about not exactly by accident, but the outcomes evolved from people who weren’t thinking about outcomes. They’re actually trying to do something else, and the fantastic outcome evolved by obliquity. In other words, things are best achieved quite often by not focusing on them. It’s wonderfully counterintuitive, particularly in an era of ultra-professionalism, of constant planning and strategising. Kay says that if you try to expose yourself to different things, and are open to different experiences, then many of your best ideas will evolve by obliquity. This is absolutely the case. The classic example being in business – don’t try for profits, try to have a good business. If you have a good business, the profits will happen. But it’s much broader than that. The best way to seek happiness is not to try to be happy, but to absorb yourself in an activity which is fulfilling. Happiness will then follow.” Read more...
Ed Smith, Sportspersons & Sportswriter
Interviews with John Kay
Best Investing Books for Beginners, recommended by John Kay
Investing can seem scary if you’ve never done it before but it is, in fact, fairly straightforward. Economist John Kay recommends some investing books for beginners.
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1
Origin of Wealth: Evolution, Complexity, and the Radical Remaking of Economics
by Eric D. Beinhocker -
2
Good Strategy Bad Strategy: The Difference and Why It Matters
by Richard Rumelt -
3
The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine
by Michael Lewis -
4
Guns, Germs and Steel
by Jared Diamond -
5
The Wealth and Poverty of Nations
by David S Landes
The best books on Economics in the Real World, recommended by John Kay
The best books on Economics in the Real World, recommended by John Kay
Most people completing degrees in economics won’t have read these books, but they should, says British economist John Kay.
Interviews where books by John Kay were recommended
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1
Chatter: The Voice in Our Head, Why It Matters, and How to Harness It
by Ethan Kross -
2
Wiser: Getting Beyond Groupthink to Make Groups Smarter
by Cass Sunstein & Reid Hastie -
3
Obliquity: Why Our Goals Are Best Achieved Indirectly
by John Kay -
4
Critical Mass
by Philip Ball -
5
On the Genealogy of Morality
by Friedrich Nietzsche, introduction and notes by Maudemarie Clark & Alan Swensen
The best books on The Psychology of Human Behaviour, recommended by Michael Hallsworth
The best books on The Psychology of Human Behaviour, recommended by Michael Hallsworth
While we may not always act as we should, research into human behaviour has taught us enough to improve things both individually and as a society, says behavioural scientist Michael Hallsworth, author of The Hypocrisy Trap. He talks us through his favourite books on human behaviour, from managing the voice in our head to avoiding the dangers of groupthink.
Ed Smith on My Life and Luck
The former international cricketer, author of a book on luck, and England’s national selector tells us about the chance happenings that have helped shape his life, for better or worse
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1
Thinking Strategically: The Competitive Edge in Business, Politics, and Everyday Life
by Avinash Dixit & Barry Nalebuff -
2
Money Changes Everything: How Finance Made Civilization Possible
by William Goetzmann -
3
Hidden Order: The Economics of Everyday Life
by David Friedman -
4
The Truth About Markets: Why Some Nations are Rich But Most Remain Poor
by John Kay -
5
Grand Pursuit: The Story of the People Who Made Modern Economics
by Sylvia Nasar
The Best Introductions to Economics, recommended by Tim Harford
The Best Introductions to Economics, recommended by Tim Harford
Nearly every aspect of our life is determined by economics, and yet it’s easy to go through life understanding very little about it. Author and columnist Tim Harford (aka the ‘Undercover Economist’) introduces the best books to get you thinking like an economist.
The best books on A New Capitalism, recommended by Anatole Kaletsky
We need to build an entirely new market system, not just patch up the old one, says economics commentator Anatole Kaletsky. He picks the best books to help us think about what form a new capitalism might take.
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1
Growth: A History and a Reckoning
by Daniel Susskind -
2
How Economics Explains the World (US)/ The Shortest History of Economics (UK)
by Andrew Leigh -
3
The Corporation in the Twenty-First Century: Why (Almost) Everything We Are Told About Business Is Wrongfnew ec
by John Kay -
4
Punishing Putin: Inside the Global Economic War to Bring Down Russia
by Stephanie Baker -
5
Default: The Landmark Court Battle over Argentina's $100 Billion Debt Restructuring
by Gregory Makoff -
6
Money Capital: New Monetary Principles for a More Prosperous Society
by Haizhou Huang & Patrick Bolton
New Economics Books
New Economics Books
Lots of new economics books are published each year, catering to a range of readers. Many are aimed at non-economists, trying to explain what the subject is about. Others focus mainly on how economics has been interpreted or used by politicians, with lots of analysis of ‘neoliberalism’ in particular over the past few years. Within academia, economics is normally expressed in equations, with new work published in article form and only occasionally as books.
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1
The Corporation in the Twenty-First Century: Why (Almost) Everything We Are Told About Business Is Wrongfnew ec
by John Kay -
2
Tribal: How the Cultural Instincts That Divide Us Can Help Bring Us Together
by Michael Morris -
3
Supremacy: AI, ChatGPT, and the Race that Will Change the World
by Parmy Olson -
4
The Longevity Imperative: Building a Better Society for Healthier, Longer Lives
by Andrew Scott -
5
Unit X: How the Pentagon and Silicon Valley Are Transforming the Future of War
by Christopher Kirchhoff & Raj Shah -
6
Growth: A History and a Reckoning
by Daniel Susskind
The Best Business Books of 2024: the Financial Times Business Book of the Year Award, recommended by Andrew Hill
The Best Business Books of 2024: the Financial Times Business Book of the Year Award, recommended by Andrew Hill
From how to channel the tribal instincts innate to Homo sapiens to the role of Silicon Valley in the future of warfare, the Financial Times book award—now in its 20th year—has a broad definition of what makes a good business book. FT journalist Andrew Hill, the prize’s organizer, talks us through the six excellent books that made the 2024 shortlist.
