Citi CEO says bank has transformed since crisis

WASHINGTON – Facing sharp questions from bailout overseers, Citigroup Inc. CEO Vikram Pandit said Thursday the bank is "fundamentally different" than the tangled behemoth that took more than $45 billion in government aid during the recent financial crisis.

"I am pleased to say we are in a far different and much healthier position," Pandit said in testimony before the Congressional Oversight Panel. The independent watchdog group oversees the $700 billion financial bailout.

Pandit said Citi's experience during the crisis showed the need for a clearer process to deal with large, failing financial firms — a key priority of the Obama administration.

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From the founders of the trailblazing software company 37signals, here is a different kind of business book – one that explores a new reality. Today, anyone can be in business. Tools that used to be out of reach are now easily accessible. Technology that cost thousands is now just a few bucks or even free. Stuff that was impossible just a few years ago is now simple. That means anyone can start a business. And you can do it without working miserable 80-hour weeks or depleting your life savings. You can start it on the side while your day job provides all the cash flow you need. Forget about business plans, meetings, office space – you don't need them.

The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable

Lost in Extremistan with nothing but a Bell Curve

If, as Socrates would have it, the only true knowledge is knowledge of one's own ignorance, then Nassim Nicholas Taleb is the world's greatest living teacher. In The Black Swan, Taleb's second book for laypeople, he gives a full treatment to concepts briefly explored in his first book "Fooled by Randomness." The Black Swan is basically a sequel to that book, but much more focused, detailed and scholarly. This is a book of serious philosophy that reads like a stand-up comedy routine. (Think Larry David...)

Personal Money Managements