For nearly forty years, David Harvey has written and lectured on Capital, becoming one of the world’s most foremost Marx scholars.Based on his recent lectures, this current volume aims to bring this depth of learning to a broader audience, guiding first-time readers through a fascinating and deeply rewarding text. A Companion to Marx’s Capital offers fresh, original and sometimes critical interpretations of a book that changed the course of history and, as Harvey intimates, may do so again.David Harvey’s video lecture course can be found here: davidharvey.org/reading-capital/

    We think we're making smart, rational choices. But are we?In a series of illuminating, often surprising experiments, MIT behavioral economist Dan Ariely refutes the common assumption that we behave in fundamentally rational ways. Blending everyday experience with groundbreaking research, Ariely explains how expectations, emotions, social norms, and other invisible, seemingly illogical forces skew our reasoning abilities.Not only do we make astonishingly simple mistakes every day, but we make the same "types" of mistakes, Ariely discovers. We consistently overpay, underestimate, and procrastinate. We fail to understand the profound effects of our emotions on what we want, and we overvalue what we already own. Yet these misguided behaviors are neither random nor senseless. They're systematic and predictable--making us "predictably" irrational.From drinking coffee to losing weight, from buying a car to choosing a romantic partner, Ariely explains how to break through these systematic patterns of thought to make better decisions. "Predictably Irrational" will change the way we interact with the world--one small decision at a time.

    In fact, they said so quite clearly in the Constitution of the United States of America. Unfortunately, that beautiful, ingenious, and revolutionary document is being ignored more and more in Washington. If we are to enjoy peace, freedom, and prosperity once again, we absolutely must return to the principles upon which America was founded. But finally, there is hope . . . In THE REVOLUTION, Texas congressman and presidential candidate Ron Paul has exposed the core truths behind everything threatening America, from the real reasons behind the collapse of the dollar and the looming financial crisis, to terrorism and the loss of our precious civil liberties. In this book, Ron Paul provides answers to questions that few even dare to ask.Despite a media blackout, this septuagenarian physician-turned-congressman sparked a movement that has attracted a legion of young, dedicated, enthusiastic supporters . . . a phenomenon that has amazed veteran political observers and made more than one political rival envious. Candidates across America are already running as "Ron Paul Republicans.""Dr. Paul cured my apathy," says a popular campaign sign. THE REVOLUTION may cure yours as well.

    A sweeping narrative history of world trade—-from Sumer in 3000 BC to the firestorm over globalization today—-that brilliantly explores trade's colorful and contentious past and provides fresh insights into social, political, cultural, and economic history, as well as a timely assessment of trade's future.

    Greer fans will recognize many of the book's passages from previous essays, but will be delighted to see them fleshed out here with additional examples and analysis.The Long Descent is one of the most highly anticipated peak oil books of the year, and it lives up to every ounce of hype. Greer is a captivating, brilliantly inventive writer with a deep knowledge of history, an impressive amount of mechanical savvy, a flair for storytelling and a gift for drawing art analogies. His new book presents an astonishing view of our society's past, present and future trajectory--one that is unmatched in its breadth and depth. Reviewed by Frank KaminskiWired.com—  The Long Descent is a welcome antidote to the armageddonism that often accompanies peak oil discussions. "The decline of a civilization is rarely anything like so sudden for those who live through it" writes Greer, encouragingly; it's "a much slower and more complex transformation than the sudden catastrophes imagined by many soical critics today."The changes that will follow the decline of world petroleum production are likely to be sweeping and global, Greer concludes, but from the perspective of those who live through them these changes are much more likely to take gradual and local forms. Reviewed by Bruce SterlingAmericans are expressing deep concern about US dependence on petroleum, rising energy prices, and the threat of climate change. Unlike the energy crisis of the 1970s, however, there is a lurking fear that now the times are different and the crisis may not easily be resolved.The Long Descent examines the basis of such fear through three core themes:• Industrial society is following the same well-worn path that has led other civilizations into decline, a path involving a much slower and more complex transformation than the sudden catastrophes imagined by so many social critics today.• The roots of the crisis lie in the cultural stories that shape the way we understand the world. Since problems cannot be solved with the same thinking that created them, these ways of thinking need to be replaced with others better suited to the needs of our time.• It is too late for massive programs for top-down change; the change must come from individuals.Hope exists in actions that range from taking up a handicraft or adopting an “obsolete” technology, through planting an organic vegetable garden, taking charge of your own health care or spirituality, and building community.Focusing eloquently on constructive adaptation to massive change, this book will have wide appeal.John Michael Greer is a certified Master Conserver, organic gardener, and scholar of ecological history. The current Grand Archdruid of the Ancient Order of Druids in America (AODA), his widely-cited blog, The Archdruid Report (thearchdruidreport.blogspot.com) deals with peak oil, among other issues. He lives in Ashland, Oregon.

    New Deal or Raw Deal?: How FDR's Economic Legacy Has Damaged America

    economy, bring back lost industries and jobs, and recapture billions of untaxed dollars hoarded by criminal and offshore businesses. Their book became an immediate #1 New York Times bestseller, propelling a powerful grassroots tax reform movement that's spreading like wildfire across our nation.Now, three years later, the authors are back to answer the outspoken and misinformed critics of their innovative proposal. Offering eye-opening new insights not covered in the original book, FairTax: The Truth debunks the negative myths and gross misrepresentations of this groundbreaking idea. The FairTax plan is simple, brilliant, and it will work—enabling you to keep all the money in your paycheck; eliminating the fraud, hassle, and waste of our current system; and revolutionizing the way America pays for itself.

    In the modern experimentalist paradigm, these techniques address clear causal questions such as: Do smaller classes increase learning? Should wife batterers be arrested? How much does education raise wages? Mostly Harmless Econometrics shows how the basic tools of applied econometrics allow the data to speak.In addition to econometric essentials, Mostly Harmless Econometrics covers important new extensions--regression-discontinuity designs and quantile regression--as well as how to get standard errors right. Joshua Angrist and Jorn-Steffen Pischke explain why fancier econometric techniques are typically unnecessary and even dangerous. The applied econometric methods emphasized in this book are easy to use and relevant for many areas of contemporary social science.An irreverent review of econometric essentials A focus on tools that applied researchers use most Chapters on regression-discontinuity designs, quantile regression, and standard errors Many empirical examples A clear and concise resource with wide applications

    The discoveries made, however, are so far-reaching that a large portion of economics literature will have to be modified to accommodate another half to the macro economic spectrum of possibilities that conventional theorists have overlooked. In particular, Japan's Great Recession showed that when faced with a massive fall in asset prices, companies typically jettison the conventional goal of profit maximization and move to minimize debt in order to restore their credit ratings. This shift in corporate priority, however, has huge theoretical as well as practical implications and opens up a whole new field of study. For example, the new insight can explain fully the precise mechanism of prolonged depression and liquidity trap which conventional economics - based on corporate profit maximization - has so far failed to offer as a convincing explanation. The author developed the idea of yin and yang business cycles where the conventional world of profit maximization is the yang and the world of balance sheet recession, where companies are minimizing debt, is the yin. Once so divided, many varied theories developed in macro economics since the 1930s can be nicely categorized into a single comprehensive theory, i.e., the Holy Grail of macro economics The policy implication of this new discovery is immense in that the conventional aversion to fiscal policy in favor of monetary policy will have to be completely reversed when the economy is in the yin phase. The theoretical implications are also immense in the sense that the economics profession will no longer have to rely so much on various rigidities to explain recessions that have become the standard practice within the so-called New Keynesian economics of the last twenty years.

    Examining pathologies of desire in contemporary "free market" economies, Being Consumed puts forth a positive and inspiring vision of how the body of Christ can engage in economic alternatives. At every turn, Cavanaugh illustrates his theological analysis with concrete examples of Christian economic practices.

    He also provides a way out, as implied by the subtitle: free market, honest money, and private property. Dr. Paul has consistently battled for all three. Economics is topic about which most politicians are abysmally ignorant. As this books shows, Ron Paul is a master of the topic and the nation's teacher on a vast range of economic issues. He addresses monetary policy during critical times such as the late 1970s inflation mania, and was a lone voice pointing to the real cause of Federal Reserve monetary policy. Whereas most members of Congress are intimidated by Fed officials, Paul's confrontations with Greenspan are documented here word for word. In addition, he reveals the social and economic effects of loose credit, and shows the ill-effects of bailouts. He addresses high taxes, regulation, trade restrictions, and bravely denounces sanctions against foreign countries for fueling international tensions. He also explains his view of free trade, for the real thing but against misnamed treaties that embroil international traders in bureaucracy. He covers welfare, bureaucracy, war, and a a host of other economic topics in what is surely the most comprehensive, intelligent, and revealing book on economics ever written by a U.S. political figure -- all informed by the Austrian tradition of thought that has so influenced his thinking.

    Although many of these essays focus on the growth of government and our loss of liberty, many others demonstrate how the tools of freemarket economics can be used to improve our lives in ways ordinary people can understand.

    Yet while the “Green Revolution” succeeded in South America and Asia, it never got to Africa. More than 9 million people every year die of hunger, malnutrition, and related diseases every year—most of them in Africa and most of them children. More die of hunger in Africa than from AIDS and malaria combined. Now, an impending global food crisis threatens to make things worse.In the west we think of famine as a natural disaster, brought about by drought; or as the legacy of brutal dictators. But in this powerful investigative narrative, Thurow & Kilman show exactly how, in the past few decades, American, British, and European policies conspired to keep Africa hungry and unable to feed itself. As a new generation of activists work to keep famine from spreading, Enough is essential reading on a humanitarian issue of utmost urgency.

    Cameron and Trivedi provide the most complete and up-to-date survey of microeconometric methods available in Stata. They begin by introducing simulation methods and then use them to illustrate features of the estimators and tests described in the rest of the book. They address each topic with an in-depth Stata example and demonstrate how to use Stata's programming features to implement methods for which Stata does not have a specific command.

    The many aspects of our lives that are governed by social networks make it critical to understand how they impact behavior, which network structures are likely to emerge in a society, and why we organize ourselves as we do. In Social and Economic Networks, Matthew Jackson offers a comprehensive introduction to social and economic networks, drawing on the latest findings in economics, sociology, computer science, physics, and mathematics. He provides empirical background on networks and the regularities that they exhibit, and discusses random graph-based models and strategic models of network formation. He helps readers to understand behavior in networked societies, with a detailed analysis of learning and diffusion in networks, decision making by individuals who are influenced by their social neighbors, game theory and markets on networks, and a host of related subjects. Jackson also describes the varied statistical and modeling techniques used to analyze social networks. Each chapter includes exercises to aid students in their analysis of how networks function.This book is an indispensable resource for students and researchers in economics, mathematics, physics, sociology, and business.

    These nearly unknown, larger-than-life, and sometimes eccentric personalities--such as GE's zealous, silver-tongued Lemuel Ricketts Boulware and the self-described "revolutionary" Jasper Crane of DuPont--make for a fascinating, behind-the-scenes view of American history.The winner of a prestigious academic award for her original research on this book, Kim Phillips-Fein is already being heralded as an important new young American historian. Her meticulous research and narrative gifts reveal the dramatic story of a pragmatic, step-by-step, check-by-check campaign to promote an ideological revolution--one that ultimately helped propel conservative ideas to electoral triumph.

    And the Human Action Study Guide, years in preparation, opens it up as never before.Everyone knows of the difficulty of the book, which is matched only by its centrality to a thorough understanding of economic logic and the free society. Even Mises himself hoped for a guide to be written. Many people tried but didn't make it to the end or became frustrated with the sheer difficulty of the task. Only Murphy managed it, and he does it with great authority and attention to detail, even as it makes the book newly accessible.Part of the genius here is the structure: summary, "Why It Matters," "Technical Notes," and "Study Questions." The writing is exactly what you would expect from Murphy. As with Man, Economy, and State, he has come to the rescue. It is crystal clear, very precise, and always interesting.Students and professors will use this book constantly as a one-stop reference for the Austrian School. Here is a remarkable and singular accomplishment.CONTENTS: Part One: Human Action Part Two: Action Within the Framework of Society Part Three: Economic Calculation Part Four: Catallactics or Economics of the Market Society Part Five: Social Cooperation Without a Market Part Six: The Hampered Market EconomyAuthor Robert Murphy explains the guide's structure:"The format of this study guide is straightforward. Each chapter starts with a summary that follows the numbered section headings and italicized subheadings as they appear in Mises's text. Then it provides an explanation of 'Why It Matters,' giving historical context and/or explaining the role that the chapter serves in the book. (One of the joys of writing this study guide was my discovery that there was a very systematic arrangement of the chapters and parts of the book, which I had not noticed during prior readings.)"

    With great skill, he examines the very foundations of today's economic philosophy and adds a compelling analysis of the forces behind economic crisis. His goal is nothing less than preventing the seemingly endless procession of damaging boom-bust cycles, unsustainable economic bubbles, crippling credit crunches, and debilitating inflation. His direct, conscientious, and honest approach will captivate any reader and is an invaluable aid in understanding today's economy.

    We witness teenagers being sued for "pirating" music, and we observe AIDS patients in Africa dying due to lack of ability to pay for drugs that are high priced to satisfy patent holders. Are patents and copyrights essential to thriving creation and innovation—do we need them so that we all may enjoy fine music and good health? Across time and space the resounding answer is: No. So-called intellectual property is in fact an "intellectual monopoly" that hinders rather than helps the competitive free market regime that has delivered wealth and innovation to our doorsteps. This book has broad coverage of both copyrights and patents and is designed for a general audience, focusing on simple examples. The authors conclude that the only sensible policy to follow is to eliminate the patents and copyright systems as they currently exist.

    Daron Acemoglu gives graduate students not only the tools to analyze growth and related macroeconomic problems, but also the broad perspective needed to apply those tools to the big-picture questions of growth and divergence. And he introduces the economic and mathematical foundations of modern growth theory and macroeconomics in a rigorous but easy to follow manner.After covering the necessary background on dynamic general equilibrium and dynamic optimization, the book presents the basic workhorse models of growth and takes students to the frontier areas of growth theory, including models of human capital, endogenous technological change, technology transfer, international trade, economic development, and political economy. The book integrates these theories with data and shows how theoretical approaches can lead to better perspectives on the fundamental causes of economic growth and the wealth of nations.Innovative and authoritative, this book is likely to shape how economic growth is taught and learned for years to come.Introduces all the foundations for understanding economic growth and dynamic macroeconomic analysisFocuses on the big-picture questions of economic growthProvides mathematical foundationsPresents dynamic general equilibriumCovers models such as basic Solow, neoclassical growth, and overlapping generations, as well as models of endogenous technology and international linkagesAddresses frontier research areas such as international linkages, international trade, political economy, and economic development and structural changeAn accompanying Student Solutions Manual containing the answers to selected exercises is available (978-0-691-14163-3/$24.95). See: https: //press.princeton.edu/titles/8970.html.For Professors only: To access a complete solutions manual online, email us at: acemoglusolutions@press.princeton.edu

    The hidden role of of chance in life and in the markets.The impact of the highly improbable

    This book is the first edited reference to examine the science behind neuroeconomics, including how it influences human behavior and societal decision making from a behavioral economics point of view. Presenting a truly interdisciplinary approach, Neuroeconomics presents research from neuroscience, psychology, and behavioral economics, and includes chapters by all the major figures in the field, including two Economics Nobel laureates.

    The how we got here is brilliantly described in a collection of pieces from Grant's Interest Rate Observer, the Wall Street insider's Bible. The where we are going is treated in Jim Grant's up-to-the-minute introduction. No fan of Greenspan or Bernanke, Grant tells the unvarnished truth about America.

    This is a set of eighteen audio CDs and an accompanying softcover course guidebook.Contains parts 1 - 3 of the Thinking About Capitalism course.

    Goldthwaite, a leading economic historian of the Italian Renaissance, has spent his career studying the Florentine economy. In this magisterial work, Goldthwaite brings together a lifetime of research and insight on the subject, clarifying and explaining the complex workings of Florence’s commercial, banking, and artisan sectors.Florence was one of the most industrialized cities in medieval Europe, thanks to its thriving textile industries. The importation of raw materials and the exportation of finished cloth necessitated the creation of commercial and banking practices that extended far beyond Florence’s boundaries. Part I situates Florence within this wider international context and describes the commercial and banking networks through which the city's merchant-bankers operated. Part II focuses on the urban economy of Florence itself, including various industries, merchants, artisans, and investors. It also evaluates the role of government in the economy, the relationship of the urban economy to the region, and the distribution of wealth throughout the society.While political, social, and cultural histories of Florence abound, none focuses solely on the economic history of the city. The Economy of Renaissance Florence offers both a systematic description of the city's major economic activities and a comprehensive overview of its economic development from the late Middle Ages through the Renaissance to 1600.

    It integrates the insights of mainstream organization theory into that framework, along with those of more radical thinkers like Ivan Illich, Paul Goodman, and R.A. Wilson.Part One examines the ways in which state intervention in the market, including subsidies to the inefficiency costs of large size and regulatory protection against the competitive consequences of inefficiency, skews the size of the predominant business artificially upward to an extent that simply could not prevail in a free market. Part Two examines the effects of such large organizational size on the character of the system as a whole. Part Three examines the internal pathologies and contradictions of organizations larger than a free market could support. And Part Four surveys the potential building blocks of an alternative, decentralized and libertarian economic order.

    There are very few books in which you can open up any page and immediately find a quotable and inspiring passage that will make you think hard, laugh out loud, or see things a completely new way. This is certainly one of them. He covers every topic related to economics and politics, from the business cycle, to trade, to the drug war, to environmentalism. His central thesis is that the threat to liberty comes from both the Left and the Right, and that neither really offers a consistent way out. The real problem is much deeper than either the Right or the Left recognizes. It is the institution of the state itself, which everyone seems to want to use to his own philosophical advantage. The problem, he writes, is not that we have chosen the wrong flavor of public policy but that we have public policy at all. All forms of policy-decisions made by state institutions that affect the uses of private property according to political priorities-amount to invasions of liberty. Relentlessly moving from left-wing to right-wing and back to left-wing policy is not progress; it means continued movement down the road to serfdom. Beautifully edited and pristinely argued, this is a work in applied Austro-libertarian theory, tracking issues and headlines as they occur and bringing the light of logic and evidence to bear on the question at hand. The articles collected can be read in a matter of five minutes each, and they are organized along topical lines. He is especially good in dealing with issues of national crisis, such as weather disasters, terrorist attacks, and economic downturns. He shows that liberty is more important in these times than any other. And while others back away during these times, he screams fights for freedom and a free market.

    One that will yield market-beating portfolio returns in both good times and bad. The Gone Fishin' Portfolio shows you what that strategy is, how it works, and why you should begin using it immediately.The innovative approach outlined throughout these pages will help investors enjoy a notably high probability of success by using an investment strategy based on the notion that nobody knows what the market is likely to do next, which, in effect, allows investors to capitalize on uncertainty.Details one of the safest and simplest ways to reach your long-term financial goals, and explores the financial and psychological challenges you're likely to face in the years ahead The "Gone Fishin' Portfolio" is based on a Nobel Prize-winning investment strategy that takes just twenty minutes to implement Discusses the relationship between risk and reward in financial markets, and reveals how the investment industry really works The Gone Fishin' Portfolio will allow you to reach your most important investment goals, beat Wall Street at its own game, and achieve the financial independence you deserve.

    Each topic is explained in simple / common language: The Federal Reserve System, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank; who created them and who benefits?Inflation, deflation, booms, busts, BAILOUTS, depressions and recessions; what are they, what causes them and who benefits?Honest money VS dishonest money: how are they different and who benefits?By the end of this short book, the reader will be familiar with these terms, will know "who benefits" and (more importantly) will know who ultimately pays the price...

    But to date there has been no comprehensive account of India's remarkable growth or the role policy has played in fueling this expansion. India: The Emerging Giant fills this gap, shedding light on one of the most successful experiments in economic development in modern history.Why did the early promise of the Indian economy not materialize and what led to its eventual turnaround? What policy initiatives have been undertaken in the last twenty years and how do they relate to the upward shift in the growth rate? What must be done to push the growth rate to double-digit levels? To answer these crucial questions, Arvind Panagariya offers a brilliant analysis of India's economy over the last fifty years--from the promising start in the 1950s, to the near debacle of the 1970s (when India came to be regarded as a basket case), to the phenomenal about face of the last two decades. The author illuminates the ways that government policies have promoted economic growth (or, in the case of Indira Gandhi's policies, economic stagnation), and offers insightful discussions of such key topics as poverty and inequality, tax reform, telecommunications (perhaps the single most important success story), agriculture and transportation, and the government's role in health, education, and sanitation.The dramatic change in the fortunes of 1.1 billion people has, not surprisingly, generated tremendous interest in the economy of India. Arvind Panagariya offers the first major account of how this has come about and what more India must do to sustain its rapid growth and alleviate poverty. It will be must reading for everyone interested in modern India, foreign affairs, or the world economy.An Economist Best Book of 2008.

    The narrative traces the advances in production, communications, and transportation that have enabled transnational companiess law of wages and other findings, the chronicle maintains that these developments will not only continue to drive down wages but lead to a profound revival of working class struggle. This analysis argues that the only way to reverse these trends is to implement various strategies to fight back, especially regarding the labor-community alliance and class-wide strategies for struggle.

    As an emblematic figure of the enslaved woman in the Atlantic world, Venus makes plain the convergence of terror and pleasure in the libidinal economy of slavery and, as well, the intimacy of history with the scandal and excess of literature. In writing at the limit of the unspeakable and the unknown, the essay mimes the violence of the archive and attempts to redress it by describing as fully as possible the conditions that determine the appearance of Venus and that dictate her silence.

    These trends mirror the experience of the Soviet Union in the early 1980s. Reinventing Collapse examines the circumstances of the demise of the Soviet superpower and offers clear insights into how we might prepare for coming events.Rather than focusing on doom and gloom, Reinventing Collapse suggests that there is room for optimism if we focus our efforts on personal and cultural transformation. With characteristic dry humor, Dmitry Orlov identifies three progressive stages of response to the looming crisis:Mitigation—alleviating the impact of the coming upheaval Adaptation—adjusting to the reality of changed conditions Opportunity—flourishing after the collapse He argues that by examining maladaptive parts of our common cultural baggage, we can survive, thrive, and discover more meaningful and fulfilling lives, in spite of steadily deteriorating circumstances.This challenging yet inspiring work is a must-read for anyone concerned about energy, geopolitics, international relations, and life in a post-Peak Oil world.Dmitry Orlov was born in Leningrad and immigrated to the United States at the age of twelve. He was an eyewitness to the Soviet collapse over several extended visits to his Russian homeland between the late eighties and mid-nineties. He is an engineer and a leading Peak Oil theorist whose writing is featured on such sites as www.lifeaftertheoilcrash.net and www.powerswitch.org.uk.

    Leaves of the Same Tree takes on this concept and illustrates how historians can use it both as an analytical tool and as a subject of analysis to add further depth to our understanding of Southeast Asian pasts. Following a synthesis of some of the major issues in the complex world of ethnic theory, the author identifies two general principles of particular value for this study: the ideas that ethnic identity is an ongoing process and that the boundaries of a group undergo continual--if at times imperceptible--change based on perceived advantage.

    It continues with a tour of the global economy, focussing on one country or region at a time, and ends with lectures on a number of global economic issues.

    On a chance encounter while flying to Chicago, he meets the CEO of Heartland, a major food company in the U.S. Sutter impresses the CEO with his knowledge and, after a whirlwind courtship, he joins Heartland as its new Chief Procurement Officer, based in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Hired to transform procurement at Heartland, Sutter has an enormous challenge: to bring its procurement practices into the 21st century and save the company $5 billion. Despite the knowledge and experience he gained at Autowerke, Sutter fights over the next 18 months to find his place at Heartland, institute world-class procurement models and methods, win over the procurement teams and senior executives, and meet his goal. At first, his reputation--and his marriage--suffer, along with the company's overall sales and revenue. Can he pull a rabbit out of the hat? The CPO: Transforming Procurement depicts the real-life challenges of transforming procurement, while demonstrating the benefits of innovative procurement and leadership methods. Written by global thought leaders in A.T. Kearney's procurement and supply management practice--consultants who have helped numerous companies chop billions of dollars in costs out of their procurement budgets--The CPO will prove invaluable for those in purchasing and procurement. It will also present essential information to those in the C suite looking for ways to boost profits and productivity. The CPO: Portrays best-in-class, real-life, actionable methods to turn procurement into a function that can save billions and improve the bottom line. Provides a fun way to learn essential lessons in procurement and change management. Shows how rejecting victimhood in all its aspects leads to personal and business success. Presents lessons in novel format--like The Goal, Who Moved My Cheese, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, and others--to engage you and show techniques in action. What you'll learn World-class methods and techniques for transforming the procurement function into a productivity powerhouse that directly and significantly contributes to improving the bottom line. Insights into assessing the procurement and supply chain management organization and locating the levers for change. How to calculate the return on supply management assets and understand supply and demand dynamics in the context of procurement. Principles of leadership and change management: Finding and shuffling talent to effect change, making the case for change, mobilizing and motivating people, and training workers at all levels to think and act in new and useful ways. The tools of transformation: employing circles of influence, rejecting victimhood, creating a plan to succeed, and more. Who this book is forThe CPO is a book for ambitious buyers, procurement managers, and C-level executives. CEOs will read it to have an understanding of how procurement transformation supports the strategic goals of the company, CFOs will read it to know what the return on procurement transformation could be, CPOs will read it to learn new methods and metrics and how to put them into profitable practices. It's also for those who want to enjoy a good book while learning how to transform their private lives along with their careers and the companies they work for. Table of Contents 44 chapters--titles to come.

    Argues the claims of nuclear energy as a clean, reliable and safe form of power.

    Based on extensive interviews, this story comes alive with first-person accounts of a massive Enron/Shell oil spill from an elderly woman whose livelihood it threatens, of the young people who stood down a former dictator to take back control of their water, and of Bolivia's dramatic and successful challenge to the policies of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. Featuring a substantial introduction, a conclusion, and introductions to each of the chapters, this well-crafted mix of storytelling and analysis is a rich portrait of people calling for global integration to be different than it has been: more fair and more just.

    The history and evolution of our currency.traces the rise and "inevitable fall" of every paper currency that has every existed, save the most recent ones that are collapse, and or still exist

    The time has come for a revolution in the organization of major U.S. sports! Fans of the World, Unite! is a clarion call to sports fans. Appealing to anyone who is in despair due to the greed and incompetence of team owners, this book proposes a significant restructuring of sports leagues. It sets out a rational program for a revolution that will serve the best interests of the fans and of the sport itself. But Stephen F. Ross and Stefan Szymanski are no Marxists: they show how a revolution in the organization of sports might even benefit the owners. By harnessing the power of markets, sports leagues can be made both more responsive to the needs of the fans, and more efficient.Ross and Szymanski have spent many years evaluating the ways in which leagues work across the globe. Drawing on their extensive study of leagues, the authors boil down their plan to two major reforms. Borrowing from NASCAR, they propose that team owners should not own sports leagues as well. Rather, league ownership should be separate. Their second proposal is drawn from soccer: introduce competition through a promotion and relegation system. In this type of system, the worst teams in the league are kicked out at the end of the season and replaced by the best performing teams in the next division down. This gives poor performing teams incentive to step up their game, and allows fresh blood to enter the leagues if the poor performers fail to do so.The main goal of these reforms is to align the financial interest of those who own the league with the best interests of the fans and the sport. Having laid out the problem and the solution, the authors skillfully address practical implications of introducing their scheme, suggesting how leagues might at least make some changes, if not all of those suggested.The time for change has come! Armed with this book, and with fairness on their side, fans can set forth to begin a revolution.

    Game theory plays a crucial role in our lives and provides startling insights into all endeavors in which humans cooperate or compete, including biology, computer science, politics, agriculture, and, most importantly, economics.For example, game theory*has become an invaluable tool for economists, underpinning the theories of five Nobel Prize winners in economics;*helps corporate decision makers through the alternatives of complex negotiations where thousands of jobs and billions of dollars may be at stake;*plays a crucial role in international diplomacy and military strategy, influencing the fates of nations even when that influence may well be invisible to the uninitiated; and provides insights into the origins of human behaviors, not only for psychologists seeking to understand why we act as we do, but also for evolutionary biologists asking how those patterns of actions—as human strategies—were handed down.You can even see game theory at work in the interactions you engage in every day, such as an obvious "game," like buying a car, or a less obvious one, like trying to decide where to go on a Saturday night or how you ought to dress.A basic working knowledge of this profoundly important tool can help us cut through an often confusing clutter of information—allowing us to make better decisions in our own lives or better understand the decisions facing other players in games. In Games People Play: Game Theory in Life, Business, and Beyond, award-winning Professor Scott P. Stevens of James Madison University has designed a course meant for anyone looking to gain that knowledge. In 24 insightful lectures, he presents you with the fundamentals of game theory in a manner that is both engaging and easy to understand.

    THE HALO EFFECT is the outcome of that pseudoscience, a myth that Philip Rosenzweig masterfully debunks in THE HALO EFFECT. THE HALO EFFECT highlights the tendency of experts to point to the high financial performance of a successful company and then spread its golden glow to all of the company's attributes - clear strategy, strong values, and brilliant leadership. But in fact, as Rosenzweig clearly illustrates, the experts are not just wrong, but deluded. Rosenzweig suggests a more accurate way to think about leading a company, a robust and clearheaded approach that can save any business from ultimate failure.

    Too often, the sales process is all about fear. Customers are afraid that they will be talked into making a mistake; salespeople dread being unable to close the deal and make their quotas. No one is happy. Mahan Khalsa and Randy Illig offer a better way. Salespeople, they argue, do best when they focus 100 percent on helping clients succeed. When customers are successful, both buyer and seller win. When they aren?t, both lose. It's no longer sufficient to get clients to buy?a salesperson must also help the client reduce costs, increase revenues, and improve productivity, quality, and customer satisfaction. This book shares the unique FranklinCovey Sales Performance Group methodology that will help readers: ? Start new business from scratch in a way both salespeople and clients can feel good about ? Ask hard questions in a soft way ? Close the deal by opening minds

    The author s multidisciplinary approach to the subject is in keeping with a trend in economic thought established by the Austrian school of economics; a discourse that had witnessed a significant revival over the last thirty years.Areas covered in this book include an introduction to the theory of dynamic efficiency as an alternative to the standard paretian criteria, an explanation of the differences between the Austrian and the neoclassical approach to economics, a generalized definition of socialism that allows the joint application of the analysis of interventionism, a dynamic Austrian approach to the analysis of free market environmentalism, nationalism, the reform of Social Security and the theory of banking and an evaluation of the role of Spanish Scholastics of the Sixteenth Century. "

    Their powerful images are accompanied by moving first-person testimonies from the victims, and the uplifting story of efforts by local communities to seek justice and to prevent further drilling.

    It is the first book of its kind that deals with the critical role of feelings in the selling and buying process. Sell the Feeling lays out a simple six-step process of influence for salespeople, advisors, and professionals--even those who don't consider themselves in sales. Written as an entertaining and inspiring story and illustrated with off-the-wall cartoons, this book makes the process easy to grasp and retain. Many professionals are hindered by their own negative emotions and attitudes about selling. Sell the Feeling shows readers not only how to master their buyers' psychology, but how to master their own "inner game" of selling. Sell the Feeling is destined to become a classic work on sales and influence.

    She shows the reader how to get past what are often self-imposed plateaus and progress to significant wealth-building, all with a deceptively simple but highly effective changes in those subconscious attitudes and inherited beliefs about money.

    Book by

    In this book David Downs carefully investigates that offering from historical, sociocultural, and theological standpoints.   Downs first pieces together a chronological account of Paul’s fund-raising efforts on behalf of the Jerusalem church, based primarily on information from the Pauline epistles. He then examines the sociocultural context of the collection, including gift-giving practices in the ancient Mediterranean world relating to benefaction and care for the poor. Finally, Downs explores how Paul framed this contribution rhetorically as a religious offering consecrated to God.

    In this personal and anecdotal handbook, she turns her attention to the baby boomer and shows how, ultimately, reaching your fifties and beyond is just the beginning.Starting from her own experiences whether it be her childhood, the death of her husband, her battle with prejudice against women in the media, laughter and the love of friends, irritations with brainless ageism, the importance of travel, sex and good health all is of huge relevance and will give the fifty-something-plus-year-old a huge jolt of recognition, or a shocked gasp, or a laugh. Interspersed with practical advice and the occasional nostalgic rant, this is a fun celebration and an inspiration for the nations 17 million baby boomers.

    Offers the author's personal overview of analyses of dozens of historic national security issues drawn from his Air Force and RAND careers spanning the latter half of the 20th century.

    In a world riven by social and economic crises, from rising inequality to the decay of democratic institutions and profound technological disruption, Polanyi's path-breaking account of the dynamics of market capitalism and his defence of society and nature against the dangerous tendencies of the market capitalist system are more relevant than ever. This book brings together Polanyi's most important articles and essays to give a unique selection of his essential shorter writings, mixing classic texts with significant but previously little-known pieces. It highlights the coherence and richness of Polanyi's theoretical and political approach, making it indispensable for understanding his overarching intellectual contribution. The volume includes his interwar writings, which deal with the world economic crisis and the socialist alternative to conservative and fascist developments; his reflection on political theory and the international situation after the war; and his comparative studies of economic institutions. Polanyi's political writings are complemented and supported by the critique of economic determinism and what he termed 'our obsolete market mentality'. This book is an invaluable companion to Polanyi's masterpiece, The Great Transformation, and an essential resource for students and scholars of political economy, sociology, history and political philosophy.

    It is also relevant to those who are financially literate but new to the concerns of distribution.

    It is an expose written by Aaron Clarey, a credit analyst who worked at various banks in the Twin Cities and saw first hand the unethical, if not, illegal dealings that led up to the housing bubble and subsequent crash. Stories of commission-addicted bankers, bribed appraisers, FBI investigations, IRS raids, offshore bank accounts and more regale the reader with a blood-boiling story of corruption, incompetence and limitless greed. However, the book goes beyond exposing those responsible for the housing crash, and does an exemplary job of explaining, in clear and simple language, the economics behind the housing crisis and the consequences for us all. If you are looking for an excellent expose on the banking industry, an explanation why your house is worth $100,000 less than it was before, or are just curious as to what happened, look no further. This is the book to read.

    The challenge is based on a critical analysis of the literature on environmental and resource limits to growth, on the disconnect between higher incomes and happiness, and on the failure of economic growth to meet other key economic, social and environmental policy objectives. Shortly after World War II, economic growth became the paramount economic policy objective in most countries, a position that it maintains today. This book presents three arguments on why rich countries should turn away from economic growth as the primary policy objective and pursue more specific objectives that enhance well-being. The author contends that continued economic growth worldwide is unrealistic due to environmental and resource constraints.If rich countries continue to push growth, poorer countries, where the benefits are more evident, will lag. Rising incomes increase happiness and well-being only up to a level that has since been surpassed in rich countries. Moreover, economic growth has not brought full employment, eliminated poverty or reduced the burden of the economy on the environment. By combining a systems approach with more conventional economic analysis, Peter Victor provides new insights into a pressing issue at the frontier of ecological economics in a way that will appeal to a wide audience. Academics, students, activists and interested lay readers will find this well argued book illuminating and compelling.

    From investment banks, guard unions, and the makers of Taser stun guns to health care providers, telephone companies, and the U.S. military (which relies heavily on prison labor), this network of perversely motivated interests has turned the imprisonment of one out of every 135 Americans into a lucrative business.Called “an essential read for anyone who wants to understand what’s gone wrong with criminal justice in the United States” by ACLU National Prison Project director Elizabeth Alexander, this incisive and deftly researched volume shows how billions of tax dollars designated for the public good end up lining the pockets of those private enterprises dedicated to keeping prisons packed.“An important analysis of a troubling social trend” (Booklist) that is sure to inform and outrage any concerned citizen, Prison Profiteers reframes the conversation by exposing those who stand to profit from the imprisonment of millions of Americans.

    

    In four sections Mindy Caliguire helps you discover and embrace who you are, set healthy boundaries and embrace simplicity as a lifestyle that brings freedom. You use this book in small chunks of daily reading, covering the whole book in the course of four weeks. Also included are four guided group discussions for use with a small group or a spiritual friend. Are you ready to start your journey toward simplicity?

    He illustrates how companies like Microsoft and Nokia use this powerful wisdom, and how you too can pass through the five stages of innovation:Metal (Admit you are stuck)Water (Conceive new winning options)Wood (Assemble your resources)Fire (Break out your innovation)Earth (Make it sustainable)With this book, you have the ancient strategies you need to lead the way to a more productive - and profitable - future.

    Donald Mackenzie is one of the most perceptive analysts of the workings of the financial world. In this book, MacKenzie argues that economic agents and markets need to be analyzed in their full materiality: their physicality, their corporeality, their technicality. Markets are populated not by disembodied, abstract agents, but by embodied human beings and technical systems. Concepts and systematic ways of thinking that simplify market processes and make them mentally tractable are essential to how markets function.In putting forward this material sociology of markets, the book synthesizes and contributes to the new field of social studies of finance: the application to financial markets not just of economics but of wider social-science disciplines, in particular science and technology studies. The topics covered include hedge funds (the book contains the first social-science study of a hedge fund based on direct observation); the development of financial derivatives exchanges (non-existent in 1970, but now trading products equivalent to $13,000 for every human being on earth); arbitrage; how corporate profit figures are constructed; and the crucial new markets in carbon emissions.The book will appeal to research students and academics across the social sciences, and the general reader will enjoy the book's explanations and analyses of some of the most important phenomena of today's turbulent markets.

    With rising mobility and soaring capital flows, individuals and businesses are gaining freedom to work and invest in nations with lower tax rates. That freedom is pressuring governments to cut taxes on income, investment, and wealth. In Global Tax Revolution, Chris Edwards and Daniel Mitchell chronicle tax reforms around the world in recent decades. They describe the dramatic business tax cuts of Ireland, the flight of successful people from high-tax France, and the introduction of simple flat taxes in more than two dozen nations. Like other aspects of globalization, tax competition is generating intense political opposition. Numerous governments and international organizations are fighting to restrict tax cuts. Edwards and Mitchell challenge those efforts, arguing that tax competition is helping to advance prosperity, expand human rights, and rein in bloated governments. The authors argue that the U.S. economy can be revitalized by embracing competition and overhauling the federal tax code. They discuss how current tax rules suppress wages and investment and describe the tax changes needed for workers and businesses to succeed in the fast-paced global economy. Rather than idly complaining about jobs and capital moving offshore, this book argues that policymakers need to embrace major tax reforms to ensure rising standards of living for Americans in the years ahead.

    Conversations can lead to an engaged and energized workforce, or to one that is alienated and uninspired. If you want to change the culture you must change the conversations.All too often workplace conversations—between managers and direct reports, peer-to-peer, or with external stakeholders— create parent-child relationships. People hide facts, sugarcoat reality and claim helplessness to try to control interactions and get what they want. The Showkeirs expose the destructiveness of these manipulative conversations, and demonstrate how we can move to honest and authentic interactions that create adult relationships. By intentionally and thoughtfully changing conversations, organizations will engender increased commitment, true accountability, and improved workplace performance.Drawing on more than 25 years of experience as organizational consultants, their book offers examples of parent-child and adult-adult workplace conversations in a variety of settings, circumstances and industries. They also provide a hands-on guide, including sample scripts, for dealing with a host of potentially difficult conversations.Authentic Conversations goes to the heart of why so many people today are disengaged, uninspired, and uncommitted to their organization’s success. It challenges the conventional wisdom about managing people and sets out specific, concrete ways to consciously make conversations the primary driver for change.

    Action is taken infrequently, and adjustments are large when they occur. Interest in economic models that exhibit ''lumpy'' behavior of this kind has exploded in recent years, spurred by growing evidence that it is typical in many important economic decisions, including price setting, investment, hiring, durable goods purchases, and portfolio management.In The Economics of Inaction, leading economist Nancy Stokey shows how the tools of stochastic control can be applied to dynamic problems of decision making under uncertainty when fixed costs are present. Stokey provides a self-contained, rigorous, and clear treatment of two types of models, impulse and instantaneous control. She presents the relevant results about Brownian motion and other diffusion processes, develops methods for analyzing each type of problem, and discusses applications to price setting, investment, and durable goods purchases.This authoritative book will be essential reading for graduate students and researchers in macroeconomics.

    Using insights from political economy and commodity studies, the essays in Taking Southeast Asia to Market trace the myriad ways recent alignments among producers, distributors, and consumers are affecting people and nature throughout the region. In case studies ranging from coffee and hardwood products to mushroom pickers and Vietnamese factory workers, the authors detail the Southeast Asian articulations of these processes while also discussing the broader implications of these shifts. Taken together, the cases show how commodities illuminate the convergence of changing social forces in Southeast Asia today, as they transform the terms, practices, and experiences of everyday life and politics in the global economy.

    Opening its account at the dawn of the colonial era, Fiery Dragons tells the story of Burma's financial system - of its banks, moneylenders and 'microfinanciers' - through to the present day, to the events that in our times bring the Burmese people out into their streets to demand something better. It argues that Burma's financial system matters, and that the careful study of this system can tell us much about Burma (and something about other developing countries, too).While financial systems and institutions matter in all countries, the book argues that they especially count in Burma. Events in the financial and monetary sphere have been unusually - spectacularly - prominent in Burma's turbulent modern history. From the Chettiars and the alienation of the land to the backlash against the foreign moneylender. From the great state banks of the democracy years to the Orwellian 'people's banks' of the Burma way to socialism. From Burma's bizarre demonetization experiences to the rise and crash of the entrepreneurial bankers. And from the money launderers to the practitioners of microfinance. The story of Burma's financial system and its players is one that has shaped the country. It is a dramatic story, and an important one.

    Rather than being narrowly economic, the book addresses many of the broader aspects of development, including literacy, morality, demographics and the environment.The distinctive features of this book are its sweep and that it does not shy away from controversial issues. For example, there is no question that aspects of Maoism were disastrous but Bramall argues that there was another side to the whole programme. More recently, the current system of government has presided over three decades of very rapid economic growth. However, the author shows that this growth has come at a price. Bramall makes it clear that unless radical change takes place, Chinese growth will not be sustainable.This large, comprehensive text is relevant to all those studying the economic history of China as well as its contemporary economy. It is also useful more generally for students and researchers in the fields of international and development economics.

    Bradley, Jr. at Reason.com Capitalism took the blame for Enron although the company was anything but a free-market enterprise, and company architect was hardly a principled capitalist. On the contrary, Enron was a politically dependent company and, in the end, a grotesque outcome of America's mixed economy. That is the central finding of Robert L. Bradley's "Capitalism at Work": The blame for Enron rests squarely with "political capitalism"--a system in which business firms routinely obtain government intervention to further their own interests at the expense of consumers, taxpayers, and competitors. Although Ken Lay professed allegiance to free markets, he was in fact a consumate politician. Only by manipulating the levers of government was he able to transform Enron from a $3 billion natural gas company to a $100 billion chimera, one that went in a matter of months from seventh place on Fortune's 500 list to bankruptcy. But "Capitalism at Work" goes beyond unmasking Enron's sophisticated foray into political capitalism. Employing the timeless insights of Adam Smith, Samuel Smiles, and Ayn Rand, among others, Bradley shows how fashionable anti-capitalist doctrines set the stage for the ultimate business debacle. Those errant theories, like Enron itself, elevated form over substance, ignored legitimate criticism, and bypassed midcourse correction. Political capitali

    You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.

    Even the Economic Policy Foundation, a business-funded think tank, has estimated that companies annually steal an incredible $19 billion in unpaid overtime. The scope of these abuses is staggering, but activists, unions, and policy makers—along with everyday Americans in congregations and towns across the country—have begun to take notice.While the first edition of Wage Theft in America documented the scope of the problem, this new edition adds the latest research on wage theft and tells what community, religious, and labor activists are now doing to address the crisis—from passing state and local wage-theft bills to establishing mayoral task forces and tapping agencies that help low-wage workers in spotting wage theft. Offering a sweeping analysis of the crisis, citing hard-hitting statistics and heartbreaking first-person accounts of exploitation at the hands of employers, this new and updated edition of Wage Theft in America offers concrete solutions and a road map& for putting an end to this insidious practice.

    He navigated a steep learning curve, achieved his goals and now shares an insightful, first-hand account of an intriguing journey that included bumps and highlights. 1,000 Days in Shanghai is a breathtaking manual for anyone contemplating a business career in the increasingly vibrant arena of today's China. It is also a personal account, done with great sensitivity, revealing between the lines a deep respect for the spirit that propels China's social and industrial revolution today. --Hans Michael Jebsen, Chairman, Jebsen and Co., Ltd. To really understand China's economic development, one needs to look at the history of individual projects. This applies in particular to those who are considering a venture on site. This book by Martin Posth is a unique document on the subject: evidence of profound knowledge, didactically sound, with comprehensible conclusions--simply readable! --Prof. Heinrich v. Pierer, Former Chairman of the Supervisory Board, Siemens AG, Former Chairman of the German Asian-Pacific Business Commission, Co-Chairman of the German-Chinese Dialog ForumThis book is a must-read for anyone seeking to work in or via China. The personal experiences of a pioneering manager can also help management to see the transformation of China in a new light. Anybody wanting to be successful in China should heed the practical lessons that Martin Posth draws. --Prof. Dr. Eberhard Sandschneider, Otto-Wolff-Director, Research Institute, Executive Officer, German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP)In establishing the Volkswagen works in Shanghai at the beginning of Deng Xiaoping's reform era, Martin Posth made a breach in the wall behind which the People's Republic of China had dug its trenches up until then. His experiences are useful for anyone wanting to work the Chinese market with any degree of success. The fascinating reading that his report makes, and heeding his lessons, can help any entrepreneur to avoid costly mistakes. --Dr. Theo Sommer, DIE ZEIT, Editor-at-LargeFor the Chinese, this book by Martin Posth is a historic document on the Open Door Policy for foreign investors. It is a must-read. --Prof. Xu Kuangdi, Mayor of Shanghai 1995-2001; Chairman, China Federation of Industrial Economics (CFIE); Co-Chairman of the German-Chinese Dialog Forum

    How did they do it? Each of these extraordinary advisors has developed a Unique Process a new way of doing business based on their own wisdom that takes their relationships with their clients and other players in the industry to an entirely new level. In Unique Process Advisors, you'll hear from each of the ten advisors in their own words as they share how they made this transformation. Renowned coach Dan Sullivan is your guide on this tour. His insights between stories illuminate what it takes for any advisor to become a Unique Process? Advisor. If you're an advisor looking for a way to create a much bigger future financially, creatively, and personally, this is sure to be an eye-opening and inspiring read. These ten advisors were first featured in the Creative Destruction series published from 2003 to 2007. Already, hundreds of others have joined their ranks as Unique Process Advisors. In the next decade, thousands more will follow, creating processes that transform not just the way these advisors do business, but also the lives of countless others, and ultimately, the financial services industry itself.

    The Anatomy of Success grew out of the author's own experiences and observations, and his own life was changed when he applied his theories to himself. His exciting and inspiring book is certain to change lifes of many others.

    On the other hand, all real estate clients feel that their situations are unique. Where most real estate professionals are wasting time trying to force clients to recognize differences in their capabilities (Vendor-centric), elite, Third Level service providers create client preference by finding and aligning to what is unique about the client, the property, client preferences and process (Client-centric). If you can find and align to that uniqueness, the client will view you as a strategic partner and not just another real estate vendor. Selling Real Estate Services shows professionals how to win in competitions. Once a company decides to incur debt to finance a project, their only remaining decision is which lender to choose. If the competing lenders can't build preference for their unique services, they will be condemned to compete on price or lose the business. This book shows them how to build preference away from price, and how to win, by addressing competitive real estate situations. It is full of strategies, case studies, proven techniques, and instructive anecdotes gleaned from the author's years of teaching real estate professionals; it is instant help for CRE service providers that have trouble differentiating themselves in a hyper competitive market.

    An original treatment of the subject rather than a textbook synthesis, the book contains new analysis that generates novel results, including some that overturn long-standing conventional wisdom. This fresh approach should change thinking, research, and teaching for decades to come.Building on the work of James Mirrlees, Anthony Atkinson and Joseph Stiglitz, and subsequent researchers, and in the spirit of classics by A. C. Pigou, William Vickrey, and Richard Musgrave, this book steps back from particular lines of inquiry to consider the field as a whole, including the relationships among different fiscal instruments. Louis Kaplow puts forward a framework that makes it possible to rigorously examine both distributive and distortionary effects of particular policies despite their complex interactions with others. To do so, various reforms--ranging from commodity or estate and gift taxation to regulation and public goods provision--are combined with a distributively offsetting adjustment to the income tax. The resulting distribution-neutral reform package holds much constant while leaving in play the distinctive effects of the policy instrument under consideration. By applying this common methodology to disparate subjects, The Theory of Taxation and Public Economics produces significant cross-fertilization and yields solutions to previously intractable problems.

    This clarity has produced a new science called neuroeconomics, which addresses diverse questions, such as why people save, buy stocks, steal, and overspend. The many different methods used in neuroeconomics have, however, often yielded unclear findings about the quality of these decisions, primarily because the field has lacked both guidelines for categorizing the different aspects of quality, and guidelines for selecting methods to study these aspects.Before this book, in which Peter Politser guides the reader through the different regions of study, there was no scientific guide for those interested in neuroeconomics. Politser shows how to evaluate specific elements of choice, such as regret, expectation, risk, ambiguity, time preference, and learning, and surveys economic and behavioral models of decision making skills. He reviews the neural correlates of decisional impairments and inconsistenciesclarifying, for example, why we do not recall what we experience, experience what we expect, or like what we want, and provides detailed tables of decision-making skills, their neural correlates, and possible impairments. Politser also considers what the field of neuroeconomics may add to future conceptions of decision making, and outlines the limitations of various studies of different capacities. He then introduces a broader field for the design and interpretation of neuroeconomic studiesa neuroepidemiology of decision making. Everyone who wants to understand the research in neuroeconomics or use its methods should read this book. Its accessible text, along with an extensive glossary, will guide those with little economic or neuroscience background, and make the book an excellent supplement for courses on neuroscience and decision making.

    The Life and Times of Raúl Prebisch provides the first book-length account of his life and work, a story cast against the backdrop of Latin America, the Cold War, the rise of the United Nations, and the struggle for equity between first and third worlds. A wunderkind, Prebisch occupied key positions at the Argentine ministry of finance in his twenties and was the general manager of the Argentine Central Bank before forty. Exiled by Juan Perón after World War II, he became arguably the most influential Latin American official at the UN, heading such international organizations as the Economic Commission for Latin America and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.

    The result of two years work by 19 experienced policymakers and two Nobel prize-winning economists, 'The Growth Report' is the most complete analysis to date of the ingredients which, if used in the right country-specific recipe, can deliver growth and help lift populations out of poverty. About the Commission on Growth and Development Launched in April 2006, the Commission on Growth and Development brings together twenty-one leading practitioners from government, business, and the policymaking arenas, mostly from the developing world. The Commission is chaired by Nobel Laureate Michael Spence, former Dean of the Stanford Graduate Business School, and Danny Leipziger, Vice-President, World Bank, is the Commission's Vice-Chair. Over a period of two years the Commission sought to gather the best understanding there is about the policies and strategies that underlie rapid and sustained economic growth and poverty reduction. The Commission's audience is the leaders of developing countries. The Commission is supported by the Governments of Australia, Sweden, the Netherlands, and United Kingdom, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and the World Bank.

    Combining an original argument with a number of case studies, Mark Purcell explores the condition of democracy in contemporary Western cities. Whereas many scholars focus on what Purcell calls procedural democracy - i.e., electoral politics and access to it - he instead assesses substantive democracy. By this he means the people's ability to have some say over issues of social justice, material well being, and economic equality. Neoliberalism, which advocates a diminished role for the state and increasing power for mobile capital, has diminished substantive democracy in recent times, he argues. He looks at case studies where this has occurred and at others that show how neoliberalism can be resisted in the name of substantive democracy. Ultimately, he utilizes Henri Lefebvre's notion of the right to the city, which encompasses substantive as well as procedural democracy for ordinary urban citizens.

    Nevada is part of the "new American heartland," as its pastimes, people, and politics have become more central to the nation. The rise of a service and leisure economy over the past sixty years has propelled sexuality into the heart of contemporary markets. Yet, neoliberal laws in the United States promote business but limit sexual commerce. How have Nevada's legal brothels survived, while the rest of the country criminalizes prostitution? How do brothels operate? Who works in them? This book brings social theory on globalizing economies, politics, leisure consumption, and emotional labor in interactive service work together with research on contemporary prostitution and sexual commerce. The authors employ an innovative, multi-method sociological approach, combining historical analysis of how the brothels came to be with over a decade's worth of ethnographic research on the current state of the industry.

    Written in a clear and accessible style, it acquaints the reader with the most important models for understanding strategies chosen by firms with market power and shows how such firms adapt to different market environments. It covers a wide range of topics including recent developments on product bundling, branding strategies, restrictions in vertical supply relationships, intellectual property protection, and two-sided markets, to name just a few. Models are presented in detail and the main results are summarized as lessons. Formal theory is complemented throughout by real-world cases that show students how it applies to actual organizational settings. The book is accompanied by a website containing a number of additional resources for lecturers and students, including exercises, answers to review questions, case material and slides.

    But market descriptions of economy are incomplete. Drawing on a range of materials from small ethnographic contexts to global financial markets, the author shows that economy is dialectically made up of two value realms, termed mutuality and impersonal trade. One or the other may be dominant; however, market reason usually cascades into and debases the mutuality on which it depends. Using this cross-cultural model, the author explores mystifications of economic life, and explains how capital and derivatives can control an economy. The book offers a different conception of economic welfare, development, and freedom; it presents an approach for dealing with environmental devastation, and explains the growing inequalities of wealth within and between nations.

    Many developing countries, often at the behest of international financial institutions such as the IMF, opened their capital accounts and liberalized their domestic financial markets as part of the wave of liberalization that characterized the 1980s and 1990s and in doing so exposed their economies to increased risk and volatility. Now with even the IMF acknowledging the risks inherent in capital market liberalization, the central intellectual battle over the effects of capital market liberalization has for the most part ended. Though this new understanding of the consequences of capital market liberalization is reshaping many policy discussions among academics and international institutions, ideological and vested interests remain.Critical policy debates also remain, such as how much government should intervene and what tools are available. Although capital market liberalization might not produce the promised benefits, many economists and policymakers still worry about the costs of intervention. Do these costs exceed the benefits? What are the best kinds of interventions, under what circumstances? To answer these questions, we have to understand why capital market liberalization has failed to enhance growth, why it has resulted in greater instability, why the poor appear to have borne the greatest burden, and why the advocates of capital market liberalization were so wrong. Bringing together some of the leading researchers and practitioners in the field, this volume provides an analysis of both the risks associated with capital market liberalization and the alternative policy options available to enhance macroeconomic management.

    The focus is on criticisms that Marx himself might have been expected to face in his day and age. In addition, it offers a chronological study of the evolution of that analysis from the early 1840s through three "drafts" documents of the late 1840s, the Grundrisse of 1857-1858, and the Economic Manuscripts of 1861-1863. It also provides three studies in application, focusing on Marx's "evolutionary" orientation in his evaluation of the transition to communism and his rejection of "egalitarianism" under both capitalist and communist regimes; his evolving perspective on the role of the industrial "entrepreneur"; and his evolving appreciation of the prospects for welfare reform within capitalism. Throughout, Hollander emphasizes Marx's relation with orthodox canonical classicism.

    He joined the navy at the age of 12. He rose rapidly through the ranks in the years of naval struggle with the French to the rank of first lieutenant. Following the naval defeat of the French the opportunities for advancement closed and Hodgskin increasingly ran into disciplinary trouble with his superiors, eventually leading to his court martial and dismissal in 1812. This prompted his first book An Essay on Naval Discipline (1813). After studying for 3 years in Edinburgh, he returned to London in 1823 as a journalist. He joined forces with Joseph Clinton Robinson in founding the Mechanics Magazine. Despite his high profile in the agitated revolutionary times of the 1820s, he retreated into the realm of Whig journalism after the Reform Act of 1832. He became an advocate of free trade and spent 15 years writing for The Economist. His other works include Popular Political Economy (1827).

    In order to solve these models, economists need to use many mathematical tools. This book presents various methods in order to compute the dynamics of general equilibrium models. In part I, the representative-agent stochastic growth model is solved with the help of value function iteration, linear and linear quadratic approximation methods, parameterised expectations and projection methods. In order to apply these methods, fundamentals from numerical analysis are reviewed in detail. In particular, the book discusses issues that are often neglected in existing work on computational methods, e.g. how to find a good initial value.In part II, the authors discuss methods in order to solve heterogeneous-agent economies. In such economies, the distribution of the individual state variables is endogenous. This part of the book also serves as an introduction to the modern theory of distribution economics. Applications include the dynamics of the income distribution over the business cycle or the overlapping-generations model.In an accompanying home page to this book, computer codes to all applications can be downloaded.

    

    In this collection, esteemed post-Keynesian scholars reassess the relevance of Keynes's 'The General Theory' to a broad array of topic areas, ranging from the environment, investment finance, exchange rates, and socialism, as well as inquiries into general post-Keynesian theory.

    The growing North-South gap of the last two centuries has been moderated recently by the better economic performance of China, India and others in East Asia, implying the expansion of the 'middle income' category. This volume of analytical studies seeks to explain these major differences in economic performance in recent decades by considering the dynamics of international economic growth, diverging growth rates, economic structures, and sources of demand, successes and collapses in the developing world, and recent episodes of real income stagnation of countries. Several chapters critically review recent misleading claims and the conventional wisdom regarding the relationship of trade liberalization, financial development, development, aid, infrastructure spending, violent conflict, good governance, and industrial policy to economic growth.

    This collection analyzes the nature and public health impact of a wide range of dangerous commercial products from around the world, and it addresses the question of how policies should be changed to better protect the public, workers, and the environment.

    James Heartfield accuses the 'Green Capitalists' of profiteering over climate change and other environmental scares. Green capitalists like Zac Goldsmith and Al Gore are manufacturing scarcity to boost prices. The technological revolution has removed scarcity from most of our lives, but the green capitalists are trying to re-invent it. Chapters on 1. The age of plenty, 2. The retreat from production, 3. The green capitalists, 4. Manufactured scarcity, 5. Green consumerism, 6. The economy of wasting time, 7. Green imperialism, 8. Environmental economics, 9. Green socialism?, 10. The unnatural limits to growth, plus an appendix, The revolution in technique. Bibliography and index. 136 pp. Author James Heartfield wrote Let's Build! Why we need five million new homes in the next 10 years (2006) The Creativity Gap (2005) The Death of the Subject Explained (2002). www.heartfield.org

    Unlike many discussions of democracy that treat authority as a problem primarily of domestic politics or normative values, this book puts the international economy at the center of the analysis.The book shows how changes in the international economy from the inter-war years to the end of the twentieth century impacted upon the success and failures of democracy. It makes the argument by considering a range of different cases, and it traces the success and failure of democracies over the past century. It includes detailed studies of democracies in both developed and developing countries, and offers a comparative analysis of their fate. It will appeal to all those interested in democracy, the future of the state and the impact of the international economy on domestic politics.

    Representation Through Taxation challenges this conventional wisdom. Emphasizing that there are limits to what organized interests can credibly promise in return for favorable treatment, Gehlbach shows that politicians may instead give preference to groups - organized or not - that by their nature happen to take actions that are politically valuable. Gehlbach develops this argument in the context of the postcommunist experience, focusing on the incentive of politicians to promote sectors that are naturally more tax compliant, regardless of their organization. In the former Soviet Union, tax systems were structured around familiar revenue sources, magnifying this incentive and helping to prejudice policy against new private enterprise. In Eastern Europe, in contrast, tax systems were created to cast the revenue net more widely, encouraging politicians to provide the collective goods necessary for new firms to flourish.

    KEY TOPICS: Measuring social value, earned income, donations and government income, entrepreneurial fundraising and marketing, and social enterprise business plans. MARKET: For the entrepreneur who seeks to understand the social and non-for-profit sectors.

    Ordinary people with few skills and even fewer tools (all you need is a wrench!) can tackle projects ranging from furniture and shop benches to more ambitious projects like wind turbines, truck racks, small buildings—even electric vehicles.Grid beam’s modular pieces and bolt-together construction make the system fast and straightforward to work with. It has all the advantages of an industrial building system: standard, modular sizes; uniform materials; and interchangeable parts. Projects knock flat and are easy to transport. Since the pieces can be used over and over again, grid beam is easy both on your wallet and on the environment—the authors have been using some of their components for over thirty years.How to Build with Grid Beam includes hundreds of photos of real projects built over a sixty-year period, showing the many uses of grid beam, from shelves for college students to projects involving alternative energy. The versatility of grid beam is inspiring for beginners, more experienced do-it- yourselfers, and innovators who will develop their own designs. Even school-age children can use grid beam to build simple projects.Phil Jergenson is an innovator who built the first grid beam vehicle.Richard Jergenson built his first grid beam project in 1977.Wilma Keppel is a writer and editor who is also a welder, carpenter, and grid beam builder.

    Distributism, a program that traces its popularity to Catholic writers Hilaire Belloc and G.K. Chesterton, promotes the widespread ownership of property by tempering the market with guilds or similar associations.

    The 13 chapters are intentionally written to be taught easily in one semester without skipping material or losing any information. Public Finance contains all the necessary tools and core chapters that are integral to any Public Finance course in a clear and easy-to-read format. The concise sections and lucid examples are engaging for students, without being dense or tedious. This First Edition text incorporates research from across the discipline and provides empirical tie-ins to the real world. The author also covers special topic chapters that define public finance, like education, social security, and healthcare.

    But little is known about these marriage and migration streams beyond the highly publicized and often sensationalized phenomena of mail-order and military brides. Less commonly known is that most international couples are immigrants of the same ethnicity. In For Better or For Worse, Hung Cam Thai takes a closer look at marriage and migration, with a specific focus on the unions between Vietnamese men living in the United States and the women who marry them. Weaving together a series of personal stories, he underscores the ironies and challenges that these unions face. He includes the voices of working-class immigrant men dealing with marginalization in their adopted country. These men speak about wanting "traditional" wives who they hope will recognize their gendered authority. Meanwhile, young Vietnamese college-educated women, undesirable to bachelors in their own country who are seeking subservient wives, express a preference for men of the same ethnicity but with a more liberal outlook on gender-men they imagine they will find in the United States.A sense of foreboding pervades the book as Thai captures the incompatible viewpoints of the couples who appear to be separated not only geographically but ideologically.

    An evolution of libertarianism, Agorism embraces all non-coercive human action and opposes all force- or fraud-based attempts to stifle innovation, trade, thought, and wealth. If you have ever suspected that government, academia, and other entities are trying to pull the wool over your eyes in order to control your money, your morality, and your life, you'll find answers and remedies in AN AGORIST PRIMER. In one concise volume, Samuel Edward Konkin III explains the theory, principles, and -- most important of all -- the practice of Agorism. If you think that consistency between means and ends matters, this is the book for you! From the preface: "Agorism is a way of thinking about the world around you, a method of understanding why things work the way they do, how they do, and how they can be dealt with - how you can deal with them. "Agorism was meant to improve the lot of everyone, not a chosen elite or unwashed underclass. Hence an introductory work that presents ideas without going through the long intellectual history and conflict of competing ideas that produced them. "As the creator of agorism, it is most incumbent on me first to attempt to reduce it to basic intelligibility." Samuel Edward Konkin III is the author of the seminal work on libertarianism and Agorism, New Libertarian Manifesto. Over the course of thirty years, he wrote, edited, and published newsletters and magazines such as Laissez Faire, New Libertarian Notes, and 101 issues of the longest-running publication of its kind, New Libertarian Weekly. Known to his friends as SEK3, Mr. Konkin graduated cum laude from the University of Alberta, serving as head of the Young Social Credit League there. He received his Masters in Theoretical Chemistry at New York University, but left NYU without submitting his Ph.D. dissertation in Quantum Mechanics to pursue his lifelong efforts to promote Counter-Economics and Agorism. He founded the New Libertarian Alliance, the Movement of the Libertarian Left and the outreach organization The Agorist Institute. His body of work is available from KoPubCo. PRAISE FOR SAMUEL EDWARD KONKIN III "Konkin's writings are to be welcomed. Because we need a lot more polycentrism in the movement. Because he shakes up Partyarchs who tend to fall into unthinking complacency. And especially because he cares deeply about liberty and can read and write, qualities which seem to be going out of style in the libertarian movement." --Murray N. Rothbard, Ph.D.

    When governments fail, more sinister forces thrive: warlords, arms smugglers, narcotics enterprises, kidnap gangs, terrorist networks, armed militias. Why do governments fail? This book explores an old idea that has returned to prominence: that authority, effectiveness, accountability and responsiveness is closely related to the ways in which governments are financed. It matters that governments tax their citizens rather than live from oil revenues and foreign aid, and it matters how they tax them. Taxation stimulates demands for representation, and an effective revenue authority is the central pillar of state capacity. Using case studies from Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe and Latin America, this book presents and evaluates these arguments, updates theories derived from European history in the light of conditions in contemporary poorer countries, and draws conclusions for policy-makers.

    The tightly knit, fiercely independent society of the yeomen farmers—”plain folk,” as historians have often dubbed them—was being swallowed up by the rising tide of a rapidly changing, cotton-based economy. A social network based on family, religion, and community was falling prey to crippling debt and resulting loss of land ownership. For many of the rural people of Hunt County and similar places, it seemed like the end of the world.In Yeomen, Sharecroppers, and Socialists historian Kyle G. Wilkison analyzes the patterns of plain-folk life and the changes that occurred during the critical four decades spanning the end of the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth centuries. Political protest evolved in the wake of the devastating losses experienced by the poor rural majority, and Wilkison carefully explores the interplay of religion and politics as Greenbackers, Populists, and Socialists vied for the support of the dispossessed tenant farmers and sharecroppers.With its richly drawn contextualization and analysis of the causes and effects of the epochal shifts in plain-folk society, Kyle G. Wilkison’s Yeomen, Sharecroppers, and Socialists will reward students and scholars in economic, regional, and agricultural history.