The 10 books recommended by our finance experts

The experts at MAPFRE have made a selection for World Book Day in which they highlight classic works and the new challenges facing the economy.

Recommended by Ismael García Puente, fund selector and advisor at MAPFRE Gestión Profesional.

Published in 2021, The Psychology of Money makes the reader question their relationship with money and what they really want from it. The author gives 18 timeless keys to understanding the psychology of money and which habits and behaviors help not only to generate wealth, but also to keep it.

Recommended by Daniel Sancho, Chief Investment Officer at MAPFRE Gestión Profesional.

This publication is one of the most highly recommended in the personal finance genre. Kiyosaki discusses different topics such as the importance of financial education, the right mindset when building wealth, and how people are “trapped” in a cycle of working hard, paying debts, and trying to make ends meet.

Recommended by José Luis Jiménez, Investment Manager at MAPFRE.

This classic work finds its way into the list of recommendations thanks to its ability to spark critical thinking. The text includes fundamental Platonic doctrines such as the allegory of the cave, the theory of forms and dialectic philosophy. It also highlights the importance of the relationship between wisdom and moral virtue: without the latter it is impossible to achieve the former, a challenge underlying many of the problems in the financial sector.

Recommended by Eduardo Ripollés, Institutional Business Development Manager at MAPFRE AM.

Black swans are rare events that have a negative or even catastrophic impact which can destabilize the financial system. On the other hand, green swans, which Elkington discusses in this book, are associated with climate change.

The author makes a plea for a change in the system, which should be put at the service of people, the planet, and prosperity.

Recommended by Alberto Matellán, Chief Economist at MAPFRE Inversión.

Virtuous Leadership puts forward a method to achieve leadership in professional and private life based on classical virtues. Specifically, Havard focuses on magnanimity, humility, prudence, fortitude, self-control, and justice, virtues which must guide leadership.

Recommended by Carmen Mondéjar Santiago, Chief Fixed-income Investment Officer at MAPFRE AM.

Another of the best known economic works since its publication in 1944, this book has been translated into more than 20 languages. The Nobel laureate in economics argues that advances in economic planning necessarily go hand in hand with the loss of freedom and the progress toward totalitarianism.

Recommended by Javier Lendines, General Manager of MAPFRE AM.

This is philosopher Ayn Rand’s most famous work of fiction. In it, she presents a reality in which the U.S. economy is in ruins: companies are closing, and it is impossible to find basic foodstuffs. The state’s response is to expand regulations, control over activities, and collectivism.

Recommended by Carmen Mondéjar Santiago, Fixed-income Investment Manager at MAPFRE AM.

In his book, one of the most important 20th century pieces on investment, Graham teaches investors how to avoid strategic mistakes and how to develop a rational plan for buying stocks and increasing their value, always with an eye on the long term. Investors make their profits based on discipline and research, while speculators, with short-term bets, only take into account market trends.

Recommended by Alvaro Anguita, Managing Director of MAPFRE AM.

Written by Samuelson for his doctoral dissertation at Harvard University, this work is considered key to the study of economics and has defined how economic theory has been done for many years. In his mathematical analyses, the central themes include the dynamic nature and stability of economic systems, international trade theory, the analysis of public goods, and capital theory. Later, in 1970, Samuelson received the Nobel Prize in Economics.

Recommended by Manuel Aguilera, General Manager of MAPFRE Economics.

Published in 1936, this is the British economist’s most important work. In it, Keynes explains the relationship between employment, income, and interest rates. He argues that it is aggregate demand (consumption and investment) that determines the level of employment of resources and, consequently, production and income, as opposed to the opinion of classical economists, who relied on the trend of the market by itself to reach equilibrium with full employment.