Listen free for 30 days
-
Risky Business
- Why Insurance Markets Fail and What to Do About It
- Narrated by: Alex Boyles
- Length: 7 hrs and 27 mins
Add to basket failed.
Add to wishlist failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Buy Now for £23.79
No valid payment method on file.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
The Price of Time
- The Real Story of Interest
- By: Edward Chancellor
- Narrated by: Luis Soto
- Length: 15 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In The Price of Time, Edward Chancellor traces the history of interest from its origins in ancient Mesopotamia, through debates about usury in Restoration Britain and John Law's ill-fated Mississippi scheme, to the global credit booms of the twenty-first century. We generally assume that high interest rates are harmful, but Chancellor argues that, whenever money is too easy, financial markets become unstable. He takes the story to the present day, when interest rates have sunk lower than at any time in the five millennia since they were first recorded.
-
-
great book full of key insights.
- By Anonymous User on 23-05-23
-
The Illusion of Control
- Why Financial Crises Happen, and What We Can (and Can't) Do About It
- By: Jon Danielsson
- Narrated by: Bruce Mann
- Length: 10 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Finance plays a key role in the prosperity of the modern world—but it also brings grave dangers. We seek to manage those threats with a vast array of sophisticated mathematical tools and techniques of financial risk management. Too often, though, we fail to address the greatest risk—the peril posed by our own behavior. Jon Danielsson argues that critical risk is generated from within, through the interactions of individuals and perpetuated by their beliefs, objectives, abilities, and prejudices.
-
-
Fun, informative and scary
- By Paul E. on 19-07-22
-
The Great American Drug Deal
- A New Prescription for Innovative and Affordable Medicines
- By: Peter Kolchinsky
- Narrated by: Sean Pratt
- Length: 8 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Developing life-changing drugs is risky and expensive, but that’s not what makes them unaffordable. Drug pricing is a staple of every news cycle and political debate. And while we’ve struggled for decades to agree on solutions that serve all patients without jeopardizing the invention of new medicines, many Americans suffer because they can’t afford the drugs they need. Do we really have to choose between affordability and innovation?
-
-
Thought provoking book, well narrated
- By Megan on 17-10-20
-
Code Red
- An Economist Explains How to Revive the Healthcare System without Destroying It
- By: David Dranove
- Narrated by: Jonathan Walker
- Length: 9 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The U.S. healthcare system is in critical condition--but this should come as a surprise to no one. Yet until now the solutions proposed have been unworkable, pie-in-the-sky plans that have had little chance of becoming law and even less of succeeding. In Code Red, David Dranove, one of the nation's leading experts on the economics of healthcare, proposes a set of feasible solutions that address access, efficiency, and quality.
-
Follow the Money
- How Much Does Britain Cost?
- By: Paul Johnson
- Narrated by: Rich Keeble
- Length: 9 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This is a forensic examination—by the man best placed to do so—of what it costs to run the United Kingdom's economy. To follow the money. To provide an explanation, of where that money comes from and where it goes to, how that has changed and how it needs to change. We are heading off, in fact, on a journey to not just follow the money, but to track it and pin it down, to find out how much of our money government takes and spends to keep the country we recognise as the UK running.
-
-
A highly readable explanation of our political challenges
- By Amazon Customer on 02-03-23
-
The Big Con
- How the Consulting Industry Weakens Our Businesses, Infantilizes Our Governments and Warps Our Economies
- By: Mariana Mazzucato, Rosie Collington
- Narrated by: Amy Finegan
- Length: 8 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Mazzucato and Collington expertly debunk the myth that consultancies always add value to the economy. With a wealth of original research, they argue brilliantly for investment and collective intelligence within all organizations and communities, and for a new system in which public and private sectors work innovatively for the common good. We must recalibrate the role of consultants and rebuild economies and governments that are fit for purpose.
-
-
An insightful analysis
- By Andrew on 03-06-23
-
The Price of Time
- The Real Story of Interest
- By: Edward Chancellor
- Narrated by: Luis Soto
- Length: 15 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In The Price of Time, Edward Chancellor traces the history of interest from its origins in ancient Mesopotamia, through debates about usury in Restoration Britain and John Law's ill-fated Mississippi scheme, to the global credit booms of the twenty-first century. We generally assume that high interest rates are harmful, but Chancellor argues that, whenever money is too easy, financial markets become unstable. He takes the story to the present day, when interest rates have sunk lower than at any time in the five millennia since they were first recorded.
-
-
great book full of key insights.
- By Anonymous User on 23-05-23
-
The Illusion of Control
- Why Financial Crises Happen, and What We Can (and Can't) Do About It
- By: Jon Danielsson
- Narrated by: Bruce Mann
- Length: 10 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Finance plays a key role in the prosperity of the modern world—but it also brings grave dangers. We seek to manage those threats with a vast array of sophisticated mathematical tools and techniques of financial risk management. Too often, though, we fail to address the greatest risk—the peril posed by our own behavior. Jon Danielsson argues that critical risk is generated from within, through the interactions of individuals and perpetuated by their beliefs, objectives, abilities, and prejudices.
-
-
Fun, informative and scary
- By Paul E. on 19-07-22
-
The Great American Drug Deal
- A New Prescription for Innovative and Affordable Medicines
- By: Peter Kolchinsky
- Narrated by: Sean Pratt
- Length: 8 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Developing life-changing drugs is risky and expensive, but that’s not what makes them unaffordable. Drug pricing is a staple of every news cycle and political debate. And while we’ve struggled for decades to agree on solutions that serve all patients without jeopardizing the invention of new medicines, many Americans suffer because they can’t afford the drugs they need. Do we really have to choose between affordability and innovation?
-
-
Thought provoking book, well narrated
- By Megan on 17-10-20
-
Code Red
- An Economist Explains How to Revive the Healthcare System without Destroying It
- By: David Dranove
- Narrated by: Jonathan Walker
- Length: 9 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The U.S. healthcare system is in critical condition--but this should come as a surprise to no one. Yet until now the solutions proposed have been unworkable, pie-in-the-sky plans that have had little chance of becoming law and even less of succeeding. In Code Red, David Dranove, one of the nation's leading experts on the economics of healthcare, proposes a set of feasible solutions that address access, efficiency, and quality.
-
Follow the Money
- How Much Does Britain Cost?
- By: Paul Johnson
- Narrated by: Rich Keeble
- Length: 9 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This is a forensic examination—by the man best placed to do so—of what it costs to run the United Kingdom's economy. To follow the money. To provide an explanation, of where that money comes from and where it goes to, how that has changed and how it needs to change. We are heading off, in fact, on a journey to not just follow the money, but to track it and pin it down, to find out how much of our money government takes and spends to keep the country we recognise as the UK running.
-
-
A highly readable explanation of our political challenges
- By Amazon Customer on 02-03-23
-
The Big Con
- How the Consulting Industry Weakens Our Businesses, Infantilizes Our Governments and Warps Our Economies
- By: Mariana Mazzucato, Rosie Collington
- Narrated by: Amy Finegan
- Length: 8 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Mazzucato and Collington expertly debunk the myth that consultancies always add value to the economy. With a wealth of original research, they argue brilliantly for investment and collective intelligence within all organizations and communities, and for a new system in which public and private sectors work innovatively for the common good. We must recalibrate the role of consultants and rebuild economies and governments that are fit for purpose.
-
-
An insightful analysis
- By Andrew on 03-06-23
-
The Bond King
- How One Man Made a Market, Built an Empire, and Lost It All
- By: Mary Childs
- Narrated by: Mary Childs
- Length: 11 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Before Bill Gross was known among investors as the Bond King, he was a gambler. In 1966, a fresh college grad, he went to Vegas armed with his net worth ($200) and a knack for counting cards. Ten thousand dollars and countless casino bans later, he was hooked, so he enrolled in business school. The Bond King is the story of how that whiz kid made American finance his casino.
-
-
Interesting bio of Bill Gross
- By Amazon Customer on 17-01-23
-
Influence Empire
- The Story of Tencent and China's Tech Ambition
- By: Lulu Yilun Chen
- Narrated by: Richard Burnip, Lulu Yilum Chen
- Length: 9 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 2019, a Chinese entity called Tencent overtook Facebook to become the world's fifth-largest company. It was a watershed moment, a wake-up call for those in the West accustomed to regarding the global tech industry through the prism of Silicon Valley: Facebook, Google, Apple and Microsoft. Yet to many of the two billion-plus people who live just across the Pacific Ocean, it came as no surprise at all.
-
-
Good story on the tech in China
- By RichGold on 21-12-22
-
The Cashless Revolution
- China's Reinvention of Money and the End of America's Domination of Finance and Technology
- By: Martin Chorzempa
- Narrated by: Tommy Kang
- Length: 8 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The future of finance–the way Wall Street operates and how individuals manage their money–is on the verge of upheaval. And the force underlying the change comes from China, where finance and technology are being merged into a system with consequences that resonate far beyond China’s border. The changes of this global revolution in finance and technology–fintech–will be as powerful as those wrought in social media, retailing and advertising by giants such as Amazon, Facebook, Google, and Twitter, which have overturned how we shop and communicate.
-
-
Essential Read for Finance Professionals
- By Graffico on 07-02-23
-
The Crisis of Democratic Capitalism
- By: Martin Wolf
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 13 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Liberal democracy is in recession and authoritarianism is on the rise. The ties that ought to bind open markets to free and fair elections are being strained and spurned, even in democracy's notional heartlands. Around the world, powerful voices argue that capitalism is better without democracy; others that democracy is better without capitalism. This book is a forceful rejoinder to both views, offering a deep and lucid assessment of why the marriage between capitalism and democracy has grown so strained and making clear why a divorce would be an almost unthinkable calamity.
-
-
Fabulous Book
- By Raim Dragonetti on 20-02-23
-
Megathreats
- Our Ten Biggest Threats, and How to Survive Them
- By: Nouriel Roubini
- Narrated by: Kamran Khan
- Length: 10 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Renowned economist Nouriel Roubini was nicknamed 'Dr Doom,' until his prediction of the 2008 housing crisis and Great Recession came true—when it was too late. Now he is back with a much scarier prediction, one that we ignore at our peril. There are no fewer than ten overlapping, interconnected threats that are so serious, he calls them Megathreats.
-
-
Read by an AI
- By BDD on 14-03-23
-
Culture
- A New World History
- By: Martin Puchner
- Narrated by: John Sackville
- Length: 10 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Can anyone really own a culture? This magnificent account argues that the story of global civilisations is one of mixing, sharing, and borrowing. It shows how art forms have crisscrossed continents over centuries to produce masterpieces. From Nefertiti's lost city and the Islamic Golden Age to twentieth century Nigerian theatre and Modernist poetry, Martin Puchner explores how contact between different peoples has driven artistic innovation in every era - whilst cultural policing and purism have more often undermined the very societies they tried to protect.
-
-
Exceptional!
- By Epikurios on 08-03-23
-
For Profit
- A History of Corporations
- By: William Magnuson
- Narrated by: Dan Woren
- Length: 13 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
We have long been suspicious of corporations recklessly pursuing profit and amassing wealth and power. But the story of the corporation didn't have to be like this. For most of history, they were not amoral entities, but public institutions designed to promote the societies that granted them charter. Magnuson reveals how the corporation has evolved since its beginnings in the ancient world. What happens in this next chapter of the global economy depends on whether we can return to their public-minded spirit or whether we have sunk irrevocably into the swamp of high profit at all costs.
-
-
Excellent history
- By Chris Pilling on 04-05-23
-
Power Failure
- The Rise and Fall of General Electric
- By: William D. Cohan
- Narrated by: Eric Martin
- Length: 28 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Perhaps no company reflects American ingenuity, innovation and industrial fortunes as well as the iconic General Electric Company. Producing storied leaders and almost every product imaginable, GE built a cult of leadership success that hid cracks in its foundation. In this masterful history, William D. Cohan, one of America's most eminent financial journalists, argues that GE's legacy is both a paragon and a cautionary tale through which to understand American business.
-
-
Extremely well-researched account of GE’s history
- By Raphael on 23-04-23
-
Chip War
- The Fight for the World's Most Critical Technology
- By: Chris Miller
- Narrated by: Stephen Graybill
- Length: 12 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Power in the modern world—military, economic, geopolitical—is built on a foundation of computer chips. America has maintained its lead as a superpower because it has dominated advances in computer chips and all the technology that chips have enabled. In Chip War economic historian Chris Miller recounts the fascinating sequence of events that led to the United States perfecting chip design, and how faster chips helped defeat the Soviet Union (by rendering the Russians’ arsenal of precision-guided weapons obsolete).
-
-
Excellent
- By John Roberts on 29-12-22
-
The Power Law
- Venture Capital and the Art of Disruption
- By: Sebastian Mallaby
- Narrated by: Will Damron
- Length: 16 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It is no exaggeration to say that venture capital has been central to the greatest legal creation of wealth anywhere and has enabled much of the world we live in, yet we know surprisingly little about this strange tribe of financiers. In The Power Law, Sebastian Mallaby turns his unprecedented access to the industry's central players into a riveting, character-driven account of venture capital and the world it has made.
-
-
Its just betting, but with $Millions
- By Chris on 18-07-22
-
The Ultimate Financial Plan
- Balancing Your Money and Life
- By: Jim Stovall, Tim Maurer
- Narrated by: Basil Sands
- Length: 10 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The latest volume in the bestselling Ultimate series, Jim Stovall and Tim Maurer's The Ultimate Financial Plan: Balancing Your Money and Life is a one-stop, comprehensive, personal financial planning book exploring the intersection of money and life. The Ultimate Financial Plan examines the connection between actions, thoughts, and feelings when it comes to all things financial.
-
Dead in the Water
- Murder and Fraud in the World's Most Secretive Industry
- By: Kit Chellel, Matthew Campbell
- Narrated by: Tim Bentinck
- Length: 10 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In July 2011, the oil tanker Brillante Virtuoso was drifting through the treacherous Gulf of Aden when a crew of pirates attacked and set her ablaze in a devastating explosion. But when David Mockett, a maritime surveyor working for Lloyd's of London, inspected the damaged vessel, he was left with more questions than answers. Soon after his inspection, he was murdered. Dead in the Water is a shocking expose of the criminal inner-workings of international shipping, an old-world industry at the backbone of our global economy.
-
-
interesting story,
- By Mr Williams on 19-03-23
Summary
An engaging and accessible examination of what ails insurance markets—and what to do about it—by three leading economists
Why is dental insurance so crummy? Why is pet insurance so expensive? Why does your auto insurer ask for your credit score? The answer to these questions lies in understanding how insurance works. Unlike the market for other goods and services—for instance, a grocer who doesn’t care who buys their broccoli or carrots—insurance providers are more careful in choosing their customers, because some customers are more expensive than others.
Unraveling the mysteries of insurance markets, Liran Einav, Amy Finkelstein, and Ray Fisman explore such issues as why insurers want to know so much about us and whether we should let them obtain this information; why insurance entrepreneurs often fail (and some tricks that may help them succeed); and whether we’d be better off with government-mandated health insurance instead of letting businesses, customers, and markets decide who gets coverage and at what price. With insurance at the center of divisive debates about privacy, equity, and the appropriate role of government, this book offers clear explanations for some of the critical business and policy issues you’ve often wondered about, as well as some you haven’t yet considered.
More from the same
What listeners say about Risky Business
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Jiri
- 09-03-23
Great book, awful audiobook!
Book itself contains interesting information. However, audiobook producers destroyed listener experience. Note for editor: DON’T PUT URL TO AUDIOBOOKS! It’s awful listening to spelling of URL. Put these in PDF not read them!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Adrian W. Rich
- 09-05-23
Cotton Candy-level insights. Nothing profound in the insurance industry.
Cotton Candy-level insights. Nothing profound in the insurance industry. A few nuggets but not worth the read if expecting an expose. Think Jerry Springer vs 60 Minutes.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Allen Wastler
- 13-04-23
Good, interesting info, but ...
Very thought provoking. Some gaps in analysis, like the financial/tax/estate planning appeal of life insurance versus selection. Worth a listen, BUT ... reading citation footnotes, INCLUDING THE WHOLE URL, is ridiculous and ruins the train of thought for the listener.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Simon Lusted
- 10-03-23
unlistenable
narrator constantly breaking flow to read out long URL sources (like I care). it's inexplicable and ruins the experience. it's not occassional. don't buy this book.