Book Bits: 18 July 2026

● Speed: How It Explains the World
Vaclav Smil
Review via The Wall Street Journal
We are often told that the speed of innovation today is faster than ever before and accelerating exponentially. But as we prod and marvel at our smartphones or develop parasocial relationships with our chatbots, it’s useful to remember that a few decades spanning the turn of the 20th century saw the invention of lightbulbs, the electric automobile, home refrigeration and powered flight. How fast are we really going now by comparison? And is faster necessarily better?
That is the question posed in “Speed,” a marvelously encyclopedic book by Vaclav Smil, an environmental scientist and professor emeritus at the University of Manitoba.

● Cheating: The Human Project and its Betrayal
Fred Harrison
Summary via publiher (Shepheard-Walwyn)
Five thousand years ago, humanity made a huge mistake. The income generated from shared land, known as economic rent, was taken by chiefs and priests instead of being used for everyone’s benefit. Every unfair tax, every preventable death from poverty, and every financial crash since can be traced back to this original betrayal. Drawing on evolutionary science and years of accurate economic predictions, including the 2008 financial crisis, Fred Harrison reveals the “culture of cheating” built into the foundations of modern society. He explains how mainstream economics deliberately removed the idea of rent and how governments choose to tax wages instead of land, harming prosperity and shortening lives. With five major crises: political gridlock, environmental collapse, mass migration, authoritarianism, and uncontrolled artificial intelligence, set to clash around 2028, Harrison makes an evidence-based case for tax reform: replacing taxes on labour with Annual Ground Rents and sharing rents between nations to resolve conflicts from Gaza to the global climate crisis.

● Stop Making Stupid Investments: 7 Rules to Avoid the Hype and Build Real Wealth
David Leiter
Summary via publisher (Wiley)
In Stop Making Stupid Investments: 7 Rules to Avoid the Hype and Build Real Wealth, experienced real estate and finance leader David Leiter delivers a practical, common-sense strategy guide for building wealth through intelligent investing. Leiter explains the 7 rules that helped guide him as he built a large and resilient portfolio over 30 years. He demystifies complicated financial concepts and explores powerful investing techniques in a straightforward way without the usual jargon.

● No Experience Necessary: Why Betting on Yourself in Your Twenties Is the Best Decision You’ll Ever Make
Ronnen Harary
Q&A with author via Brands Untapped
Q: What prompted you to write it?
A: The book was a bit of a give-back for me. I’m an entrepreneur at heart, I’ve put a lot of toys out into the world, and this is kind of like my solo record. I was thinking back to my 20s, remembering how special that decade was and all the things that are accrued to you in your 20s that you don’t necessarily have in your 30s and 40s… I felt that this was my opportunity to contribute something to the dialogue and discussion around the power of youth and the power of your 20s. It was really a thesis that I wanted to get out, and I used my story as the mechanism to do that.

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