What MoneyWeek writers read and watched in 2024

The best films and TV

No one has had a bigger roller-coaster of a year than Donald Trump. From the nadir of being indicted for multiple crimes and convicted for falsifying business records, he rose to being elected the next president of the United States. His whole life story is full of ups and downs. As The Apprentice, a film written by Gabriel Sherman and directed by Ali Abbasi, shows, Trump started out as a relatively small player in his father’s miniempire of property rentals. The film charts the rise of Trump (played by Sebastian Stan) in the late 1970s and 1980s, thanks in large part to the help of ruthless lawyer and fixer Roy Cohn (Jeremy Strong), who takes a liking to the young Trump.

The film initially resembles a slapstick satire, painting its subject as a buffoon. But it soon proves to be something more subtle than that, and Strong’s charismatic performance draws viewers into Trump’s rise to the top. Then, any sympathy we have developed for the subject evaporates as Trump turns into a loathsome creature. Even the brief moment of redemption towards the end is quickly undercut, leaving us in no doubt that the Trump portrayed is a horrible person. Although it failed to change many voters’ minds, it is a compelling drama.

This year also saw the 40th anniversary of the miners’ strike in the UK, which began in March 1984 and is widely seen as marking the end of trade unions as a force in British politics. There were two documentary series: Channel 4’s Miners’ Strike 1984: The Battle for Britain and the BBC’s Miners’ Strike – A Frontline Story. Both feature interviews from those who were on the frontlines. The Channel 4 documentary focuses on three particular stories; the BBC took a more traditional big-picture, chronological approach. Both are well worth watching.

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The best business books

Ever since Michael Lewis’s tales of Wall Street excess in Liar’s Poker in 1989, publishers have been looking for someone who can repeat the magic. The Trading Game, by former star trader Gary Stevenson, is the latest contender. It traces Stevenson’s journey from the East End of London to the trading floors of Canary Wharf and Tokyo, and is an account that fizzes with energy and emotion. Stevenson explains how he managed to get a foot in the door in an industry dominated by the old-school tie, before making millions from big bets on the survival of the financial system and the persistence of low interest rates.

Stevenson eventually became disillusioned and burned out, and the story then switches to his battles with the banks when they attempted to bully him into staying on and not paying the bonuses he had earned. He also describes how the money printing that followed the global financial crisis has boosted inequality, a topic that had previously won him a following on YouTube. His is a moving book that should be required reading for anyone thinking of a career in the City.

Former MoneyWeek contributor Marina Gerner won acclaim this year for The Vagina Business: The Innovative Breakthroughs that Could Change Everything in Women’s Health. The book makes a compelling case that the venture capital and biotechnology industries have neglected women in everything from the companies they choose to fund to the way that they conduct clinical trials. This extensively researched and well-written book is an entertaining read that gives you a real sense of the personalities involved – as well as how things are finally changing for the better.

The best investment books

Stock picking is a difficult business, not least because of the vast range of choice. The Event-Driven Edge in Investing: Six Special Situation Strategies to Outperform the Market, by fund manager Asif Suria, helps you narrow your search by outlining six buy signals. These are: mergers; executives buying shares in their own company; stock buybacks; the creation of a special purpose acquisition company (Spac) listed on the stock market with the purpose of acquiring another company; spin-offs; and changes to the company’s management.

Each signal gets its own chapter and Suria explains how it can spark changes in the share price and gives tips on how to increase returns. Most of the strategies he discusses are intended for investors looking to profit from a rise in a company’s share price, but those interested in betting on the share price falling will also find useful material here. The book is full of practical advice and is written in a style that is conversational and engaging with plenty of illustrative case studies, many of which are drawn from Suria’s own experience of managing money, including his mistakes. Anyone looking to build their own share portfolio should buy this book.

Most personal finance guides are written for middle-aged people, yet a mass of evidence suggests that younger people aren’t saving and investing enough. Rich AF: The Money Mindset That Will Change Your Life by Vivian Tu aims to change that by providing financial advice in a form that will appear to millennials and Generation Z. Older readers may roll their eyes at some of the slang, and MoneyWeek wouldn’t agree with all the advice given, but the book does provide comprehensive advice on everything from budgeting to maximising your earnings potential and investing. Definitely one for the teenagers or young adults in your life.

The best politics books

Keir Starmer’s popularity has plunged in the last six months, a remarkable verdict on the man who delivered the first Labour government in 14 years and with a majority that came close to that of Tony Blair’s 1997 and 2001 landslides. Why is he so unlikeable? Keir Starmer: The Biography by Tom Baldwin was originally intended to be a ghostwritten autobiography, so you might have to look elsewhere for answers to that question. Baldwin’s sympathies are obviously with the prime minister. Still, the author is honest enough to paint a picture of some of the warts, and he interviews a wide range of people, including many who are critical of Starmer. The book makes a convincing case that our PM is essentially a problem-solver, who considers himself dedicated to making people’s lives better and is willing to recognise and correct his mistakes.

A number of political figures, including former PM Liz Truss and Tory MP Graham Brady, published memoirs this year, but the one that made the biggest splash was written by the “big dog” himself, Boris Johnson. As you might expect, Johnson’s 800-page autobiography, Unleashed, was long on half-truths, evasions and outright lies, and short on self-awareness and contrition. Given that it is supposedly an autobiography, some insight into his personal life would also have been nice.

But despite the book’s many flaws, it is an entertaining read that takes us behind the scenes of an eventful career as mayor of London, foreign secretary and prime minister during a pandemic. The author’s trademark mix of schoolyard insults and highbrow references – along with plenty of shameless chutzpah – will grab the attention and amuse. This is a political memoir not to miss, whatever your political leanings. Just don’t be entirely surprised if you end up throwing it across the room in exasperation.

The best dramas

The state of Britain’s National Health Service remains at the top of most voters’ concerns. The National Theatre’s Nye, written by Tim Price and directed by Rufus Norris, tells the story of how the beloved institution came into being in the first place. It tells the story of Nye Bevan, the pioneer who created one of the few parts of the post-war welfare state to remain largely intact. Set in a hospital ward as Bevan (Michael Sheen) recovers from an operation, it tells the story of his life in a series of flashbacks.

The play is moving and sad, and at points, the interplay between the medical setting and the vignettes gives it a surreal, even nightmarish quality. It does a remarkably good job of charting Bevan’s evolution from being a self-indulgent parliamentary gadfly to becoming a reluctant supporter of the wartime coalition, through to the savvy politician who outmanoeuvred both Herbert Morrison and Winston Churchill to push his measures through. The play sticks in the memory and is a worthy celebration of the value of public service. It’s now available to watch via the NT At Home streaming service.

Sue Gray’s time in Downing Street as Keir Starmer’s chief of staff was brief, but long enough for Emma Sidi to enjoy great success at the Edinburgh Fringe and on tour with Emma Sidi is Sue Gray. Sidi solves the problem of the fact that we know very little about the secretive former civil servant by producing a range of characters who act in polar opposite ways from how they are deemed to be in real life. So the secretive and earnest Gray becomes a ditzy party girl, living life in the “civvy serv” to the full. While this is all hilarious good fun, the show takes a slightly more solemn turn in the final quarter of an hour, when Sidi steps out of character at the end and wonders if we are not doomed to find out with each new leader we elect that they are all very much the same as each other.

Three other books we enjoyed

No issue is more polarising than that of immigration. Supporters of tougher migration controls blame new arrivals for crime, pushing down wages and placing a burden on social services. Opponents point to the economic benefits of more open borders. How Migration Really Works: 22 Things You Need to Know About the Most Divisive Issue in Politics by Hein de Haas attempts an objective analysis, using facts and academic studies to move the debate on from slogans and simplistic solutions. Over 20 chapters he seeks to debunk what he sees as the myths pushed by both sides in this debate. He may not succeed in changing minds, but his attempt is worth reading.

Many newcomers to investing are put off by the jargon, suspecting that it must all be very complicated. It really isn’t, as Ryan King explains in Stop Waiting, Start Investing: Build Wealth With 10 Minutes of Work. Experienced investors may find King’s recommendations, which are based on using low-cost index funds and investment apps, a little basic, but they are ideal for those with limited time and patience who just want to get started. It’s a perfect gift for the friend who thinks that investing isn’t for them.

Donald Trump is now talking about a peace deal that would allow Russia to hold on to captured territory. But the fact that Ukraine is still fighting and in control of most of its territory is down to the heroism of its people and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky’s leadership. Simon Shuster’s The Showman: The Inside Story of the Invasion That Shook the World and Made a Leader of Volodymyr Zelensky is a good take on what has happened so far and will give you a feel for what is still at stake.

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