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Ramon, a Stanford University student, is outraged to find out that a nearby mega-store hiked prices the night of a disaster and he plans to take action against the price-gouging retailer.

Most of us in Ramon’s situation would be equally outraged, but we should stop and reconsider. There is more to the price hike than meets the eye. Ramon is forced to reconsider everything he thought he knew after crossing paths with an economics professor. In talking with Ramon, the professor effortlessly explains hard to grasp economic ideas in easily understood language.

The Price of Everything masterfully illuminates how free markets—despite drawbacks--has lead to one of the greatest economic revolutions in history.

In terms everyone can easily understand Whitney Tilson and Glenn Tongue dissect the greed and folly that spread from Wall Street to Main Street and caused the mortgage mess. More Mortgage Meltdown serves as an excellent reminder that the ugly side to human nature has far reaching and lasting consequences.

In explaining what happened and why, Tilson and Tongue bring a working knowledge of psychology, a firm understanding investing, and research that leaves few stones unturned. They were not the first people to determine what a crisis we were in but, to their credit, they were smart enough to listen to others and take appropriate action.

The presentation of material is clear, logical, and well-researched. However, those looking for a silver bullet as to what caused the meltdown will end up disappointed. There were many contributing factors that could have caused many possible outcomes.

Companies will never have complete information when making investment decisions. However, even in this uncertain environment they must continue to make investment decisions. Waiting for more information might lead to better decisions -- on the other hand it might mean you lose an opportunity to invest.

I eagerly tore into The fall of northern rock - being excited to read a book from a British bank insider. However, this book disappointed my expectations at every turn.

Far from an executive with access to insider information, it turns out that Brian Walters is nothing more than an uninteresting middle manager in a Leeds branch. Walters, a 36 year banking vet, writes in an somewhat awkward style that fails to assemble a series of talking points into a readable story.

Given his lack of altitude in the organization, it's not surprising that the book offers few insider details. Those few thrown in are often trivial. Most of the research for the book comes from public sources such as newspapers and public inquiries.

The book offers nothing that mainstream media hasn't picked up on.

On the plus side, its a quick read.

(Overall rating half of one star out of five.)

This article was first published on the 29th of March 2008 at Noise Free Investing. 

Jack’s first compensation committee meeting went smoother than he had thought it would. The night before he had spend countless hours reading the previous CEO’s compensation agreement, the agreement competitors had with their CEO’s, and recommendations of the consulting firm he had hired.