Author Archives: Peter Sahui

The data of cities

Posted on June 24, 2012 by Peter Sahui

A fascinating article in The Economist:   … Carlo Ratti, who heads the Senseable City Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was one of the first to sift through the data produced by telecoms networks. One aim was to find … Continue reading →

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The life of an analyst, in charts

Posted on March 5, 2012 by Peter Sahui

Elisabeth Fosslien’s “14 ways an economist says ‘I love you’” did the rounds of the blogosphere around Valentine’s Day, and her latest, “Portrait of the young grad as an analyst” is even better.   “Analyst” is a very broad job … Continue reading →

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Why the West industrialised before the rest: David Landes’ The Wealth and Poverty of Nations; Kenneth Pomeranz’s The Great Divergence

Posted on January 1, 2012 by Peter Sahui

Still in search of why the Industrial Revolution occurred, why it came first in Britain, and why the West beat the Rest to the punch, I turned to two more books: David Landes’ The Wealth and Poverty of Nations, and … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Reviews | 1 Comment

Steve Jobs 1955 – 2011

Posted on October 6, 2011 by Peter Sahui

When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: “If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you’ll most certainly be right.” It made an impression on me, and since then, for the … Continue reading →

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What traditional agriculture has to do with female labour force participation

Posted on July 26, 2011 by Peter Sahui

  I love to discover why something is the way it is, and my favourite historical reads are often those that deliver this kind of “big picture” revelation. It was in this vein that, a while back, I discussed research … Continue reading →

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Book review: Adapt, by Tim Harford

Posted on July 17, 2011 by Peter Sahui

Please note I am not an expert in the topics covered by this book; rather, my perspective is that of an interested lay reader.   Adapt: Why Success Always Starts With Failure, by Tim Harford (2011): At the very top … Continue reading →

Posted in Behaviour, Reviews, Societies | Leave a comment

Two books on the history of human civilisation: Civilization, by Niall Ferguson; Why the West Rules – For Now, by Ian Morris

Posted on July 10, 2011 by Peter Sahui

Conquest and imperialism have been part of human history since the first caveman speared his rival in a fight over a hunk of mammoth meat, and they reached their zenith with the European powers of the nineteenth century. But why … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Reviews | 5 Comments

Optimism, 140 characters at a time

Posted on July 1, 2011 by Peter Sahui

Interested in a curated feed of the most interesting news, knowledge and research around the Web? Check out my Twitter account (@PeterSahui), or click the button below!     (At this stage, the plan is to update the Twitter feed … Continue reading →

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Here’s a fascinating blog on economic history – Bloomberg’s “Echoes”

Posted on May 26, 2011 by Peter Sahui

So I’ve taken a bit of a break from reading non-fiction – the last non-fiction book I finished was Niall Ferguson’s Civilization: The West and the Rest, about a month ago. (Stay tuned for the review!) Since then, I’ve been … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Societies | 1 Comment

Three books on the history of finance and trade: Conquest, Tribute, and Trade, by Howard J Erlichman; Vermeer’s Hat, by Timothy Brook; The Ascent of Money, by Niall Ferguson

Posted on May 1, 2011 by Peter Sahui

Over the last year or so, I’ve become increasingly fascinated by economic and financial history. How trade forms bridges between civilisations; how empires funded their wars; how new things made their way into the homes and lives of ordinary people … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Reviews | Tagged , | 2 Comments