Once again, the number of books submitted for the Business Book Prize increased slightly compared to the previous year.
(Photo: Sharon McCutcheon/Unsplash)
Dusseldorf The book industry has seen changeable times. Two years of lockdowns and business closures on the one hand. On the other hand, many people who read more during the pandemic. This is noticeable in the first year without a previous lockdown. So far, Germans have bought fewer books in 2022.
The pre-pandemic level is far away. Compared to the first half of 2019, sales fell by three percent, in local bookstores by as much as 11.1 percent. This also applies to non-fiction books (minus 14.9 percent). The area “social sciences, law, economy” is doing a little better with a minus of 7.7 percent. But the development shows how important it is to focus more on the topic of business and reading.
For the 16th time, the Handelsblatt is awarding the German Business Book Prize this year in cooperation with the Frankfurt Book Fair and Goldman Sachs. And there are many business books worth reading. Once again, the number of books submitted for the Business Book Prize increased slightly compared to the previous year.
Almost all well-known publishers in Germany took part in the tender. “There was great quality across the board this year, many books were at a similar level. That made the selection very difficult and there were a number of tight decisions,” says jury chairman Hans-Jürgen Jakobs, Senior Editor at Handelsblatt.
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Ten titles made it onto the shortlist, one of which will win the German Business Book Prize 2022. The prize is endowed with 10,000 euros. A top-class jury will choose the best business book of the year, which will be chosen at a celebratory gala on the evening of October 21 as part of the Frankfurt Book Fair. In addition, for the first time this year, there will be a readers’ prize, which you, dear readers, can vote for from four weeks before the award ceremony.
The search is on for a successor to one of the most renowned German economists: Markus K. Brunnermeier, who teaches economics at the US University in Princeton, won the 2021 prize for his book “The resilient society. How we can better master future crises”, published by Aufbau Verlag. It will be followed by one of the ten books that the Handelsblatt is presenting briefly today (see picture gallery) and which will be presented in more detail in the coming weeks.
These books are shortlisted for 2022
When making the selection, the editors always had the guiding principle of the business book prize in mind: “Understanding business”. Which titles help in particular to better understand economic relationships and make them more accessible, and which authors manage to make current topics particularly easy to understand?
They ask: How can we overcome the current crises? Whether war, scandals, pandemic or climate change? What are the global questions behind it, which are the national ones? What contribution can and what must the economy make? Which politics? And which each one?
Can the economy and people adapt quickly enough to technical changes? Does Germany even have enough labour, enough skilled workers for the tasks of the future? And what does all this mean for future generations? What do our children need to know about economic relationships?
What the selected titles have in common is that the decision as to which direction society should take must be based on a basic understanding of economics. And that the economy concerns everyone. The books analyze, explain, enlighten, and are dedicated to their subject in a way that is both profound and understandable at the same time. And thus offer new food for thought in order to understand the economy a little better.
More: All details on the German Business Book Prize 2022 can be found here.