Book picks similar to
A Short History of Poverty Measurement by Abhijit V. Banerjee
economics
history-of-economics
non-finction
india
Opportunity Knocks: The Story of How Hope and Opportunity Can Change Everything
Tim Scott - 2020
As the son of a single mother from North Charleston, South Carolina, he struggled to get through school and had his dreams of a college football career shattered by a car wreck. But thanks to his mother and a few mentors along the way, he learned that "failure isn't failure unless you quit." He also learned that it's hard work and perseverance, not a government handout, that will get you ahead in life.Today, Senator Scott is the only black Republican in the Senate, and he believes that investment and commerce are the best ways to rebuild our most impoverished communities. This is the idea behind his signature piece of legislation, the "opportunity zones" program, which President Trump has strongly endorsed. The program provides tax incentives for businesses that invest in low-income urban areas, seeking to replace things like welfare and government assistance. In Opportunity Knocks, Senator Scott will tell his life story with a focus on adversity and opportunity. He will teach readers about the principles of hard work and hope while addressing the dangers of veering too far toward socialist policies. The book will also not shy away from discussions of racism and racial inequality in the United States, and will recount some of Senator Scott's own brushes with racism as well as the many discussions he's had with people who want to help, including President Trump.
Indian Economy Since Independence
Uma Kapila - 2007
Revised annually, this collection of articles by India's topmost economists and experts contains original readings, notes, and excerpts from plan documents, presenting a comprehensive and critical analysis of Indian economy since independence (1947–2006).
The Missing Class: Portraits of the Near Poor in America
Katherine S. Newman - 2007
While government programs assist the poor, and politicians woo the more fortunate, the "Missing Class" is largely invisible and left to fend for itself. Missing Class parents often work at a breakneck pace to preserve the progress they have made and are but one divorce or unexpected hospitalization away from sliding into poverty. Children face an even more perilous and uncertain future because their parents have so little time to help them with their schoolwork or guide them during their adolescent years. With little supervision, the younger generation often flounders in school, sometimes falling prey to the same problems that are prevalent in the much poorer communities that border Missing Class neighborhoods. Paradoxically, the very efforts that enabled parents to get ahead financially often inhibit their children from advancing; they are in real danger of losing what little ground their parents have gained.The Missing Class is an urgent and timely exploration that describes-through the experiences of nine families-the unique problems faced by this growing class of people who are neither working poor nor middle class. Katherine Newman and Victor Tan Chen trace where these families came from, how they've struggled to make a decent living, and why they're stuck without a safety net. An eloquent argument for the need to think about inequality in a broader way, The Missing Class has much to tell us about whether the American dream still exists for those who are sacrificing daily to achieve it.
Confessions Subprime Lender
Richard Bitner - 2008
In Confessions of a Subprime Lender: An Insider's Tale of Greed, Fraud, and Ignorance, he reveals the truth about how the subprime lending business spiraled out of control, pushed home prices to unsustainable levels, and turned unqualified applicants into qualified borrowers through creative financing. Learn about the ways the mortgage industry can be fixed with his twenty suggestions for critical change.
Crunch: If the Economy's Doing So Well, Why Do I Feel So Squeezed? (BK Currents)
Jared Bernstein - 2008
In "Crunch" he answers these as well as dozens of others he has fielded from working Americans by email, on blogs, and at events where he speaks. Chances are if there's a stumper you've always wanted to ask an economist, it's solved in this book.
The Irish Slaves
Rhetta Akamatsu - 2010
They were helpless. It sounds like a familiar story, but these people were not African. They were Irish, and they were slaves before African slavery became widespread. This is their story.
The Great Betrayal
Rod Liddle - 2019
A lot of us leavers, despite being elderly and thick, knew. The establishment wouldn't let it happen.Quite how the establishment stopped us from leaving the European Union, though, we could never have guessed. A mandate which became a process and resulted in the UK being the laughing stock of the world. We might have guessed at the relentless howls of outrage from that extreme block of transgressed remainers, the hostility of the House of Commons, the civil service and the BBC. That was a given, and it all played its part. But beyond our imagination was the readiness of politicians to ignore or subvert the vote, the sheer ineptitude of those charged with negotiating our withdrawal, the spite of the EU and the intercession of that usual thing, events. The Great Betrayal tells the story of a failed Brexit and a betrayal of the British people, drawn from interviews with those at the very centre of what became, in the end, a surreal charade.
Journeys Through Babudom and Netaland: Governance in India
T.S.R. Subramanian - 2004
just after Babri Masjid. An excellent narrative, clear and thoughtful. a very unique volume that should be read by scholar and layperson alike
The Fifteen Biggest Lies about the Economy: And Everything Else the Right Doesn't Want You to Know about Taxes, Jobs, and Corporate America
Joshua Holland - 2010
Labor unions hurt their members. Government regulation destroys jobs. These are just a few of the biggest lies in the web of misinformation spun by conservatives and the Chamber of Commerce. Holland's book dissects each malicious fiction to show how the Right is just plain wrong on the economy—wrong on jobs, wrong on the deficit, wrong on taxes, wrong on trade.Takes down old and new conservative myths about the economy, including healthcare, stimulus, progressive taxes, Wall Street regulation, and moreFilled with recent quotes from conservative politicians and pundits, from the misleading to the laughable to the totally outrageousTackles specific aspects of the Republicans' economic agenda, including their 2010 alternatives to Obama's budgetDeftly written and rigorously documented by Alternet senior writer/editor Joshua HollandWith the economy set to be the driving issue before and after the 2010 midterm elections, The Fifteen Biggest Lies about the Economy sets the record straight on every part of the conservatives' economic agenda.
How the Poor Can Save Capitalism: Rebuilding the Path to the Middle Class
John Hope Bryant - 2014
I urge everyone to read How the Poor Can Save Capitalism and discover for themselves John’s great ideas for creating an America with more shared opportunity and shared responsibility.” —Former US President Bill Clinton"John and I want the same things. And the goals of this book are the same goals of my Rebuild The Dream campaign. He has provided the roadmap to economic recovery for this country at a time when economic inequality is at its peak. I for one will be following the steps laid out in the HOPE plan." —Van Jones, Former Advisor to President Obama and host of CNN's CrossfireHow the Poor Can Save Capitalism reveals Operation HOPE founder and successful businessman John Hope Bryant’s strategy for restoring the American middle class and eradicating poverty. “For capitalism to thrive, the poor and middle class must thrive,” Bryant writes. “We must make financial literacy – teaching each and every one of our children the language of money – the new civil rights issue for the twenty-first century America.” According to Bryant, capitalism isn’t to blame for a struggling economy; we’re just doing it wrong. Important statistics Bryant shares in the book: • 76% of Americans are living from paycheck to paycheck, while 60% of American GDP is consumer-driven. • 1 in 4 of the Americans who qualify for the Earned Income Tax Credit never ask for it – that’s $9 to $10 billion in unclaimed funds that could be put towards mortgages, car payments, education, etc.• 47% of U.S. employers require a credit report as part of the hiring process.In the book, Bryant exposes the historical roots of poverty, explains why the solutions tried so far have proved insufficient, and offers a way forward. He lays out what he calls a Marshall Plan for our times, a series of straightforward, actionable steps to build financial literacy and expand opportunity so that the poor can join the middle class.Praised by Dr. Bernice A. King of the King Center as “a practical idealist who dreams big and then moves with precision to action,” John Hope Bryant aspires to create a thriving economy that works not just for the 1% or even the 99%, but for the 100%.
The Power of Impact Investing
Judith Rodin - 2014
While philanthropy continues to be a transformative force for good, global philanthropic funds, even when combined with the development or aid budgets of many national governments, add up to mere billions of dollars. Meanwhile, the cost of solving the world’s problems runs into the trillions.In The Power of Impact Investing, Rockefeller Foundation president Judith Rodin and Margot Brandenburg, two of the foremost experts in the field, explain what impact investing is, how it compares to philanthropy and traditional investments, where opportunities are evolving around the world, and how to get started.By sharing moving stories of impact investors and the exciting social enterprises benefiting from these investments, Rodin and Brandenburg offer a compelling resource for anyone interested in better understanding the power of impact investing—including retail investors, high-net-worth individuals, and heads of family offices, foundations, banks, and pension funds—while also offering experienced impact investors an opportunity to deepen their knowledge and benefit from the perspectives of other investors.
Growing Pains: the future of democracy (and work)
Gwynne Dyer - 2018
But how did this come about? And what does it mean for the future?Populism and ultra-nationalism brought about the rise of Hitler and Mussolini in the 1930s. Now, as Trump sits in the White House, Britain negotiates its way out of the EU, and countries across Europe see substantial gains in support for the extreme Right, award-winning journalist, author, and historian Gwynne Dyer asks how we got here, and where we go next. Dyer examines the global challenges facing us all today and explains how they have contributed to a world of inequality, poverty, and joblessness, conditions which he argues inevitably lead to the rise of populism. The greatest threat to social and political stability lies in the rise of automation, which will continue to eliminate jobs, whether politicians admit that it is happening or not. To avoid a social and political catastrophe, we will have to find ways of putting real money into the pockets of those who have no work. But this is not a book without hope. Our capacity for overcoming the worst has been tested again and again throughout history, and we have always survived. To do so now, Dyer argues, we must embrace radical solutions to the real difficulties facing individuals, or find ourselves back in the 1930s with no way out.
Decisions: Life and Death on Wall Street (Kindle Single)
Janet M. Tavakoli - 2015
A prominent bank CEO seems on the verge of a nervous breakdown.In Washington D.C., a former Wall Street regulator checks into a hotel using the name of a hedge fund manager for an illicit meeting with a prostitute. In a D.C. suburb, the CFO of a beleaguered mortgage giant chooses a drastic personal end to “relentless pressure”.In a picturesque suburb of Zug, Switzerland, the CFO of a major insurance company decides to end his life. In London, a financier kills himself in a way he once said he never would.In her new memoir, Janet Tavakoli shines a bright light on the money-driven culture of Wall Street and Washington, and the life and death consequences of our decisions that put profit above all.Approximately 16,000 words of text (not including front and back matter and references. 105 total pages)Praise for Decisions"Tavakoli takes us on a scenic tour of the recent lowlights of Wall Street and Washington...demystified and rendered tragically human. It's a compelling tale.” Jake Bernstein, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting "Merrill Debauchery Only Begins This Woman's Tale... 'Neither Bill nor I believed Calvi committed suicide,' Tavakoli writes. 'Bill joked that he'd never hang himself. It was too gruesome.'"Bloomberg News "Janet Tavakoli is a born storyteller with an incredible tale to tell. She takes us on a br /isk journey from the depravity of 1980s Wall Street to the systemic recklessness that crushed the global economy.”Nomi Prins, author of All the Presidents' Bankers “An authority on credit derivatives, has written a reflective memoir about life in the world of finance. Tavakoli is not a woman who employs words carelessly, and when she says fraud she means ... fraud.”
All About Alpha
Praise for Janet M. Tavakoli“She knows her stuff, has strong opinions, and turns a colourful quote.”
Financial Times
“Janet Tavakoli knows more about the inside of the financial world than nearly anyone else!”Jim Rogers, Author of Street Smarts - Adventures on the Road and in the Markets“Intelligent analyst whose command of the arcane world...mixed with a brutally honest analytical framework makes it a pleasure to read her work.”
Asia Times Online