Show Me the Money

A challenging and thought-provoking book that explores the subjects of finance, economics and business. Money may ‘make the world go around’ but we need to understand how it works and more importantly how to make it work for us. Alvin Hall, TV presenter, author and financial educator, presents the topic in a marvellously imaginative way, exploring complex subjects in simple terms that children can understand. He has a real skill in translating abstract concepts into ideas that are accessible to a young audience, showing for example how a business works, how it expands or specialises, as well as bigger areas such as capital reserves, supply and demand, inflation and the global economy. He draws on examples that have plenty of street-cred such as Ben and Jerry the ice cream millionaires, Tiger Woods, Richard Branson, and brands such as Coca Cola, Microsoft, Intel and Google. The presentation is bright and colourful with slick strip cartoons, photographic timelines, charts and graphs sometimes turned into a Monopoly Board or a snakes and ladders game. The layout is occasionally demanding with text reading across a spread and the use of sophisticated symbols, but it has an energy that carries the reader along. A cautionary note on whether wealth equals happiness reveals that the best things in life are still free. An excellent resource on a complex and confusing subject, it’s hard to think of a more useful tool for a young adult in today’s economic climate.