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Summer Reading List: 16 Books That Will Help You Understand The Next Decade
Ahhhh…Summer! After more than a year of quarantine, we finally seem to be getting a grip on the pandemic. Things look infinitely more bright than they did a year ago and, almost against all odds, we can look forward to taking our masks off as we put our sunblock on. Hopefully, we can move back to some semblance of normalcy.
Still, it all feels like more of an interlude than a conclusion. Clearly, we have no shortage of challenges that face us today. Economic inequality, environmental sustainability, diversity & inclusion, technological disruption and geopolitical instability are all things that we need to deal with and overcome.
Fortunately, there are a number of people who have been thinking deeply about these things and some have written books about them. So I decided to focus this summer’s list on books that can help us understand the challenges we will face over the next decade. My hope is that the accumulated wisdom they contain will inspire us to meet them and, in time, to prevail.
How to Avoid a Climate Disaster by Bill Gates
Climate change is clearly the most urgent and severe crisis that we face today. Even other dangers, such as war and terrorism, are often excacerbated, if not directly caused by climate related events such as drought. There is a general consensus among scientists that we need to get to zero emissions by 2050 and that much of the work needs to be done by 2030.
One of the biggest misconceptions is that once we simply shift over to electric cars and solar panels the problem will be solved. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, transportation and electricity generation only make up about 40% of carbon emissions so, even if we completely decarbonize those two sectors, we won’t even solve half the problem.
I’ve been following the climate crisis for a number of years but this book by Bill Gates is by far the most comprehensive, clear-eyed and useful that I’ve read. I wholeheartedly recommend it.
Reimagining Capitalism in a World on Fire by Rebecca Henderson
For over a generation we’ve put our faith in the idea that the purpose of a business is to…
