Most Popular Books by John Cassidy

Behind the alarming headlines about job losses, bank bailouts, and corporate greed is a little-known story of bad ideas. For fifty years or more, economists have been busy developing elegant theories of how markets work—how they facilitate innovation, wealth creation, and an efficient allocation of society''s resources. But what about when markets don''t work? What about when they lead to stock market bubbles, glaring inequality, polluted rivers, real estate crashes, and credit crunches? In How Markets Fail, John Cassidy describes the rising influence of what he calls utopian economics—thinking that is blind to how real people act and that denies the many ways an unregulated free market can produce disastrous unintended consequences. He then looks to the leading edge of economic theory, including behavioral economics, to offer a new understanding of the economy—one that casts aside the old assumption that people and firms make decisions purely on the basis of rational self-interest. Taking the global financial crisis and current recession as his starting point, Cassidy explores a world in which everybody is connected and social contagion is the norm. In such an environment, he shows, individual behavioral biases and kinks—overconfidence, envy, copycat behavior, and myopia—often give rise to troubling macroeconomic phenomena, such as oil price spikes, CEO greed cycles, and boom-and-bust waves in the housing market. These are the inevitable outcomes of what Cassidy refers to as "rational irrationality"—self-serving behavior in a modern market setting. Combining on-the-ground reporting, clear explanations of esoteric economic theories, and even a little crystal-ball gazing, Cassidy warns that in today''s economic crisis, conforming to antiquated orthodoxies isn''t just misguided—it''s downright dangerous. How Markets Fail offers a new, enlightening way to understand the force of the irrational in our volatile global economy.

A Financial Times Most Anticipated Book of 2025 A Publishers Weekly Top 10 Book of 2025 A sweeping, dramatic history of capitalism as seen through the eyes of its fiercest critics. Capitalism has long been understood as a driving force behind the biggest political, economic, and social dislocations of our time. But in this sweeping, kaleidoscopic history of the economic system that has shaped our world, the Pulitzer Prize finalist John Cassidy adopts a bold new approach: he examines global capitalism through the eyes of its critics. From the English Luddites, who rebelled against early factory automation, to communists in Germany and Russia in the early twentieth century, Latin American dependistas, the international Wages for Housework campaign of the 1970s, and the modern degrowth movement, this absorbing narrative traverses the globe. It visits with familiar names—Smith, Carlyle, Marx, Luxemburg, Keynes, Polanyi—but also focuses on many lesser-known figures, including William Thompson, the Irish proto-socialist whose work influenced Marx; Flora Tristan, the French proponent of a universal labor union; John Hobson, the original theorist of imperialism; J.C. Kumarappa, the Indian exponent of Gandhian economics; Eric Williams, the Trinidadian author of a famous thesis on slavery and capitalism; and Joan Robinson, the Cambridge economist and critic of the Cold War. Blending rich biography, panoramic history, and lively exploration of economic theories, Capitalism and Its Critics tells an expansive story that illuminates the deep roots of many of the most urgent issues we face today, from widening inequality and the ecological crisis to technological transformation and resurgent authoritarian politics.

The history of the dot-com stock rise and fall from an economics reporter and staff writer for The New Yorker . The Internet stock bubble wasn''t just about goggle-eyed day traders trying to get rich on the Nasdaq and goateed twenty-five-year-olds playing wannabe Bill Gates. It was also about an America that believed it had discovered the secret of eternal prosperity: it said something about all of us, and what we thought about ourselves, as the twenty-first century dawned. Business journalist John Cassidy''s Dot.con brings this tumultuous episode to life. Moving from the Cold War Pentagon to Silicon Valley to Wall Street and into the homes of millions of Americans, Cassidy tells the story of the great boom and bust in an authoritative and entertaining narrative. Featuring all the iconic figures of the Internet era—Marc Andreessen, Jeff Bezos, Steve Case, Alan Greenspan, and many others—and with an afterword on the aftermath of the bust— Dot.con is a panoramic and stirring account of human greed and gullibility. "Required reading for generations of B-school students as yet unborn. . . . A marvelous book." — Wall Street Journal "Deserves to be the boom''s standard account. It is informative, perceptive, and gracefully written." — New Republic "The first good book about one of capitalism''s most embarrassing debacles." —Salon.com

Put the brush in your hand. Stick it in the water, then smush it around in one of the colors. Now take a deep breath and plop it down on the page . . . You’re an artist. Yes, really! Young or old, there is an artist in each of us. If yours is hiding (perhaps behind a shred of self-consciousness?), just remember: Art is personal expression. You have your talent. Nobody else has anything like it! If you are ready to discover (or re-discover) your genius, Paint This Book! is here to help. The paints, the brush, and the watercolor paper are all included—plus irresistible encouragement and exercises from authors John Cassidy and Thacher Hurd: Work small: Quick, spontaneous strokes will happen more naturally. Trust your instincts: Watercolor can turn to mush with a lot of revision. You’re better than you think you are! Choose your techniques: You’ll learn about light and shadow (page 43), perspective (page 51), and more. But it’s up to you whether to use these skills often, or never! Either way, there are many artists who do the same. Don’t forget: Sometimes a shimmer of color on the page can look even fruitier than a realbowl of fruit. Between these covers, there are no mistakes. Just add imagination (and water)!

Crazy Action Contraptions gives young builders everything they need to create ten marvelous machines. Contains simple instructions and 60 assorted LEGO pieces. Consumable. Illustrations.

This is Klutz''s flagship title - more than 2.5 million copies sold, and every one of them packaged with three aerodynamically sound bean bags. Klutz taught America how to juggle! Now it''s your turn to learn.

Learn how to juggle with this amusing how-to book.

John Cassidy''s poem ''Walking on Frogs'' could almost be a description of the way his poems work. As the critic Dick Davis has said, they have ''a wary ease'' in which ''placid surfaces mask a buried violence or vitality''. Walking on Frogs is his third book of poems. His second, Night Cries (Bloodaxe Books, 1982), was a Poetry Book Society Recommendation.

An illustrated collection of children''s songs includes such classics as Jambalaya, Frere Jacques, The M.T.A. Song, Swing Low Sweet Chariot, The Chicken Song, and Peace Like a River..

Includes activities in magnetism, light wave craziness, optical illusions, hair dryer science, and bacterial stories.

This utterly encouraging book is a masterclass in how to draw for kids and grownups with Sir Quentin Blake, beloved illustrator to Roald Dahl. Can you find the pointy end of a pencil? Then you can draw! Start with a Scribble will banish your inner critic and kick-start your inner genius, as you learn to capture the spirit of things with a little how-to and a lot of just-do. An artist-quality pen and two watercolor pencils (red and black) are included. Inside, you’ll find: Prompts to inspire you (e.g., “emotional rabbits”) Doodles to finish (“Mrs. Thudkins takes her floppaterasis for a walk”) Techniques to try (only when the mood strikes you), from shading to perspective And plenty of wide-open space to play around in. Sir Quentin’s sage advice appears throughout, from “it’s best to name your animal after you draw it” to “don’t worry too much yet about ankles.” The most important lesson? YOU are the only person qualified to express your unique you-ness. Publisher’s note:Start with a Scribble is an updated North American edition of Drawing for the Artistically Undiscovered (Klutz, 1999).