Squandering Aimlessly : MY ADVENTURES in the AMERICAN MARKETPLACE - Hardcover

David Brancaccio

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0684864983 ISBN 13: 9780684864983

Publisher: Simon & Schuster, 2000

Synopsis

A record of a financial odyssey across contemporary America from the host of public radio's popular show "Marketplace" explores the issues that would arise it one were to suddenly become wealthy, including investment ideas, house buying, and more.

About this title

Review:

David Brancaccio's Squandering Aimlessly is a rare treat--an insightful look at economic matters that is also a terrific read. Through his award-winning Marketplace radio program, Brancaccio has become a popular commentator with a distinctive take on financial issues. In his first book, he smoothly transfers this perspective to the description of an entertaining literary pilgrimage designed to answer the eternal question "How should one spend an unexpected windfall?" It was, after all, a query Brancaccio felt compelled to explore. "As host of a public radio program about money, I am asked all the time about what to do with it," he writes. "I needed to answer that question for myself before I could have anything meaningful to say about other people's money."

In a journey as personal as it is universal, Brancaccio crisscrosses America to examine possible responses to a monetary bolt from the blue: "spend it on a shopping spree, do good, start a business, gamble with it, give it away, invest it in the markets, buy a house, go back to school, retire early, save it for a rainy day." Hooking up with an array of savvy individuals who are focused upon these divergent alternatives, he ultimately discovers that true fiscal fulfillment is achieved only when individual needs and wants are really understood and successfully balanced. More to the immediate point, however, he also uncovers a perfect way to judge the expenditure of any honest-to-goodness surplus: the ability to answer yes when asked if the money's use, whatever it is, will have a lasting, positive impact on your life. --Howard Rothman

About the Author:

David Brancaccio is host and senior editor of Marketplace, public radio's popular and award-winning business program produced at the University of Southern California and distributed nationwide by Public Radio International. A broadcaster and reporter for more than two decades, he has worked in San Francisco, Washington, D.C., and his home state of Maine. He has also served for three years as London correspondent for Marketplace. He has a B.A. from Wesleyan University, an M.A. in journalism from Stanford University, and no M.B.A. whatsoever. He is a frequent lecturer and moderator and lives in Los Angeles.

About this edition

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0684864983
• ISBN 13: 9780684864983
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 283