Book picks similar to
The New Economics: A Bigger Picture by Andrew Simms
economics
the-world
start-here
academic
The Curse of Bigness: Antitrust in the New Gilded Age
Tim Wu - 2018
But concern over what Louis Brandeis called the "curse of bigness" can no longer remain the province of specialist lawyers and economists, for it has spilled over into policy and politics, even threatening democracy itself. History suggests that tolerance of inequality and failing to control excessive corporate power may prompt the rise of populism, nationalism, extremist politicians, and fascist regimes. In short, as Wu warns, we are in grave danger of repeating the signature errors of the twentieth century.In The Curse of Bigness, Columbia professor Tim Wu tells of how figures like Brandeis and Theodore Roosevelt first confronted the democratic threats posed by the great trusts of the Gilded Age--but the lessons of the Progressive Era were forgotten in the last 40 years. He calls for recovering the lost tenets of the trustbusting age as part of a broader revival of American progressive ideas as we confront the fallout of persistent and extreme economic inequality.
Talking to My Daughter About the Economy: or, How Capitalism Works—and How It Fails
Yanis Varoufakis - 2013
Now, he faces his most important—and difficult—audience yet. Using clear language and vivid examples, Varoufakis offers a series of letters to his young daughter about the economy: how it operates, where it came from, how it benefits some while impoverishing others. Taking bankers and politicians to task, he explains the historical origins of inequality among and within nations, questions the pervasive notion that everything has its price, and shows why economic instability is a chronic risk. Finally, he discusses the inability of market-driven policies to address the rapidly declining health of the planet his daughter’s generation stands to inherit.Throughout, Varoufakis wears his expertise lightly. He writes as a parent whose aim is to instruct his daughter on the fundamental questions of our age—and through that knowledge, to equip her against the failures and obfuscations of our current system and point the way toward a more democratic alternative.
Common Wealth: Economics for a Crowded Planet
Jeffrey D. Sachs - 2008
Sachs-one of the world's most respected economists and the author of The New York Times bestseller The End of Poverty- offers an urgent assessment of the environmental degradation, rapid population growth, and extreme poverty that threaten global peace and prosperity. Through crystalline examination of hard facts, Sachs predicts the cascade of crises that awaits this crowded planet-and presents a program of sustainable development and international cooperation that will correct this dangerous course. Few luminaries anywhere on the planet are as schooled in this daunting subject as Sachs, and this is the vital product of his experience and wisdom.
The Knowledge: How to Rebuild Our World from Scratch
Lewis Dartnell - 2014
It has built on itself for centuries, becoming vast and increasingly specialized. Most of us are ignorant about the fundamental principles of the civilization that supports us, happily utilizing the latest—or even the most basic—technology without having the slightest idea of why it works or how it came to be. If you had to go back to absolute basics, like some sort of postcataclysmic Robinson Crusoe, would you know how to re-create an internal combustion engine, put together a microscope, get metals out of rock, accurately tell time, weave fibers into clothing, or even how to produce food for yourself? Regarded as one of the brightest young scientists of his generation, Lewis Dartnell proposes that the key to preserving civilization in an apocalyptic scenario is to provide a quickstart guide, adapted to cataclysmic circumstances. The Knowledge describes many of the modern technologies we employ, but first it explains the fundamentals upon which they are built. Every piece of technology rests on an enormous support network of other technologies, all interlinked and mutually dependent. You can’t hope to build a radio, for example, without understanding how to acquire the raw materials it requires, as well as generate the electricity needed to run it. But Dartnell doesn’t just provide specific information for starting over; he also reveals the greatest invention of them all—the phenomenal knowledge-generating machine that is the scientific method itself. This would allow survivors to learn technological advances not explicitly explored in The Knowledge as well as things we have yet to discover. The Knowledge is a brilliantly original guide to the fundamentals of science and how it built our modern world as well as a thought experiment about the very idea of scientific knowledge itself.
The Road to Serfdom
Friedrich A. Hayek - 1944
Originally published in England in the spring of 1944—when Eleanor Roosevelt supported the efforts of Stalin, and Albert Einstein subscribed lock, stock, and barrel to the socialist program—The Road to Serfdom was seen as heretical for its passionate warning against the dangers of state control over the means of production. For F. A. Hayek, the collectivist idea of empowering government with increasing economic control would inevitably lead not to a utopia but to the horrors of nazi Germany and fascist Italy.First published by the University of Chicago Press on September 18, 1944, The Road to Serfdom garnered immediate attention from the public, politicians, and scholars alike. The first printing of 2,000 copies was exhausted instantly, and within six months more than 30,000 were sold. In April of 1945, Reader's Digest published a condensed version of the book, and soon thereafter the Book-of-the-Month Club distributed this condensation to more than 600,000 readers. A perennial best-seller, the book has sold over a quarter of a million copies in the United States, not including the British edition or the nearly twenty translations into such languages as German, French, Dutch, Swedish, and Japanese, and not to mention the many underground editions produced in Eastern Europe before the fall of the iron curtain.After thirty-two printings in the United States, The Road to Serfdom has established itself alongside the works of Alexis de Tocqueville, John Stuart Mill, and George Orwell for its timeless meditation on the relation between individual liberty and government authority. This fiftieth anniversary edition, with a new introduction by Milton Friedman, commemorates the enduring influence of The Road to Serfdom on the ever-changing political and social climates of the twentieth century, from the rise of socialism after World War II to the Reagan and Thatcher "revolutions" in the 1980s and the transitions in Eastern Europe from communism to capitalism in the 1990s.F. A. Hayek (1899-1992), recipient of the Medal of Freedom in 1991 and co-winner of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics in 1974, was a pioneer in monetary theory and the principal proponent of libertarianism in the twentieth century.On the first American edition of The Road to Serfdom:"One of the most important books of our generation. . . . It restates for our time the issue between liberty and authority with the power and rigor of reasoning with which John Stuart Mill stated the issue for his own generation in his great essay On Liberty. . . . It is an arresting call to all well-intentioned planners and socialists, to all those who are sincere democrats and liberals at heart to stop, look and listen."—Henry Hazlitt, New York Times Book Review, September 1944"In the negative part of Professor Hayek's thesis there is a great deal of truth. It cannot be said too often—at any rate, it is not being said nearly often enough—that collectivism is not inherently democratic, but, on the contrary, gives to a tyrannical minority such powers as the Spanish Inquisitors never dreamt of."—George Orwell, Collected Essays
The Third Pillar: How Markets and the State Leave the Community Behind
Raghuram G. Rajan - 2019
In The Third Pillar he offers up a magnificent big-picture framework for understanding how these three forces--the state, markets, and our communities--interact, why things begin to break down, and how we can find our way back to a more secure and stable plane.The "third pillar" of the title is the community we live in. Economists all too often understand their field as the relationship between markets and the state, and they leave squishy social issues for other people. That's not just myopic, Rajan argues; it's dangerous. All economics is actually socioeconomics - all markets are embedded in a web of human relations, values and norms. As he shows, throughout history, technological phase shifts have ripped the market out of those old webs and led to violent backlashes, and to what we now call populism. Eventually, a new equilibrium is reached, but it can be ugly and messy, especially if done wrong.Right now, we're doing it wrong. As markets scale up, the state scales up with it, concentrating economic and political power in flourishing central hubs and leaving the periphery to decompose, figuratively and even literally. Instead, Rajan offers a way to rethink the relationship between the market and civil society and argues for a return to strengthening and empowering local communities as an antidote to growing despair and unrest. Rajan is not a doctrinaire conservative, so his ultimate argument that decision-making has to be devolved to the grass roots or our democracy will continue to wither, is sure to be provocative. But even setting aside its solutions, The Third Pillar is a masterpiece of explication, a book that will be a classic of its kind for its offering of a wise, authoritative and humane explanation of the forces that have wrought such a sea change in our lives.
Artifice
Patrick Gooch - 2018
But an unscrupulous trader in works of art knows their true worth; and exploits the situation, involving Cleverden in his shady activities. A major heist is planned by the trader, which first necessitates the theft of many of Turner`s paintings. These are held to ransom in exchange for priceless artifacts displayed in the British Museum. Once again, Alan Cleverden is unwittingly swept up in this unlawful venture. One word to the authorities, he would most certainly serve time. A pawn in a highly-charged affair, the odds are against him as he tries to free himself from the trader`s clutches; ensure the safety of the Turners; and return to their original owners the paintings acquired by his grandfather during the Second World War. A fast-paced thriller, Artifice is a must read for those who appreciate fine art, and are drawn to mysteries that hold you spellbound to the very last page. Patrick Gooch has enjoyed an interesting and varied career. He studied History of Art, and went on to lecture at the Central School of Art and Design in London. Patrick worked in marketing, travelling throughout Europe and Central and South America. It was while travelling that he began writing. Married with two sons, he lives close to the Ashdown Forest in East Sussex. “Absorbing and convincing heist thriller” Kevin McManus, author of 'New Blood'.
Big Bear Mountain - The Complete Series
Bianca James - 2016
Women are a complete mystery to him. Every time he opens his mouth to speak to one, it leads to a big misunderstanding. Or a huge argument.But his bear gets other ideas after they rescue a feisty and spirited city girl from the slopes of the treacherous and unforgiving Big Bear Mountain.Curvy, junior executive, Elle needs to get away from the city in a hurry. A big hurry. Finding out her boss is a money laundering crook doesn’t leave her with too many options, especially when the cartel find out how much she knows about their operation.They’re coming after her and a quick getaway into the mountains seems like a pretty good plan.When her car is hanging over the edge of a cliff, though – not so much.Bear JusticeBig Bear Mountain erupts when a blazing female PI clashes with the hot-as-sin town sheriff.Medically discharged after being injured during a covert operation, Jack Raven tries to adjust to post army life as the Sheriff of Big Bear Mountain. His bear is quite at home, but in his human form, Jack’s finding small town law enforcement challenging, to say the least.And challenges don’t come much greater than the audacious and bossy private investigator, Cassie Hunter who has come to town to claim her inheritance while conducting a covert operation of her own.If Jack isn’t finding it hard enough to deal with her, his bear has locked sights on the curvaceous and outlandish woman as his mate.Assassins, bombs, kidnappers, guns and a mystery more than a century old – that’s what Cassie brings to Jack’s quiet mountain town.Bear AmbushFormer Navy pilot Lt Jim ‘Spider’ Webb has been far too busy saving lives on Big Bear Mountain to look for a mate for his bear. But finding that elusive fated mate means everything to the bear.Erin Parker is on a mission. The curvy, sassy reporter is snooping around the mountain for a big career making scoop. She’s in the wrong place, for sure and it’s definitely the wrong time.The cartel is back and this time they’ve come in force, hell bent on vengeance.Can Spider save his fellow shifters and protect Erin from the wrath of the cartel? Or is there more to this inquisitive and high-spirited girl than meets the eye?Unexpected Mate (Dragon Shifter Romance)*** A 20,000 word standalone bonus story with no cliffhanger ***#1 Best Seller in Superhero Fantasy eBooksDeclanDisgraced and outcast from his dragon shifter clan for refusing to enter into an arranged coupling, Declan roams the city as a motorcycle vigilante; dispatching ruthless justice as only a dragon can. A dragon needs more to do than just guard his enormous treasure hoard.Declan has given up on ever finding his perfect mate, his princess. But sometimes fate takes a hand in unexpected ways and in unexpected places. OliviaA sassy, curvy girl who’s been fooled once already by an enigmatic and handsome bad-boy biker who told her he loved her and adored her soft curves.
Money: The True Story of a Made-Up Thing
Jacob Goldstein - 2020
In Money, Jacob Goldstein shows how money is a useful fiction that has shaped societies for thousands of years, from the rise of coins in ancient Greece to the first stock market in Amsterdam to the emergence of shadow banking in the 21st century.At the heart of the story are the fringe thinkers and world leaders who reimagined money. Kublai Khan, the Mongol emperor, created paper money backed by nothing, centuries before it appeared in the west. John Law, a professional gambler and convicted murderer, brought modern money to France (and destroyed the country's economy). The cypherpunks, a group of radical libertarian computer programmers, paved the way for bitcoin.One thing they all realized: what counts as money (and what doesn't) is the result of choices we make, and those choices have a profound effect on who gets more stuff and who gets less, who gets to take risks when times are good, and who gets screwed when things go bad.Lively, accessible, and full of interesting details (like the 43-pound copper coins that 17th-century Swedes carried strapped to their backs), Money is the story of the choices that gave us money as we know it today.
The co-host of the popular NPR podcast Planet Money provides a well-researched, entertaining, somewhat irreverent look at how money is a made-up thing that has evolved over time to suit humanity's changing needs.
Black Ops: American Jihad
William W. Johnstone - 2006
A direct descendant of the legendary mountain man Smoke Jensen, he is destined to continue his ancestor's legacy of heroism. For the courage, strength, and honor of a man never dies...
Into The Dark
Lieutenant Colonel Art Jensen finds himself a soldier without an army after he is caught on tape killing an Iraqi terrorist in a Baghdad firefight--only to have the media make him out to be a murderer. A career spent serving his beloved country now seems to be over... Until Jensen receives a new set of orders--secret orders. He is promoted to brigadier general, and placed in charge of the Special Function Unit--a new, covert "black ops" team. A team of one. The terrorists are already here. Financed and trained by a billionaire Saudi prince determined to bring the infidel America to its knees, a number of sleeper cells within the U.S are being activated. Officially, the politically protected prince is untouchable, and his campaign of terror stands ready to begin. But Art Jensen is no longer a soldier bound by orders--he's a weapon, bound by duty and honor, and he has one mission: to destroy the enemy within.
Holy Bible: New Testament: New Life Version
Anonymous - 2014
The New Life™ Version—used around the world in mission work—is now available as an ebook edition. Containing the complete New Testament text, helpful descriptive subheads throughout, and topical study outlines to further explain the scriptures, this NLV Bible is for everyone. Its limited vocabulary makes it perfect for younger readers, in English-as-a-second-language use, or even for longer-term Christians who just want a fresh perspective on the scriptures.
This unique scripture version, originally designed to reach people who did not speak English as their native language, uses a limited vocabulary of 850 words to simply and clearly share God's truth. For example, the term "justified" is rendered "made right with God," and "blaspheme" is rendered "speak against God." Ideal for seekers, new believers, or even mature Christians who want a new perspective on the Bible.
My Next Mistake
Sarah J. Brooks - 2019
Whoever created him used the following recipe: Dreamy eyes, playful smile, and rock-hard muscles that give you chills. Add a pinch of humor, coupled with quick-witted intelligence and a mysterious aura that will make you feel slightly insecure. When I met him on a winter climbing excursion, I didn’t expect to wake up in his tent the next morning. It may be minus ten degrees outside, but he makes me melt. I believe I’ve just met the father of my future children... But the more I want to know about him, the more questions I find. Why does he live completely alone in a villa in the mountains? Why does he never talk about his past? And where does the sadness in his eyes, which flashes every now and then, come from? Fate ensures that I get answers I would never have expected. Even worse, when a devastating fire breaks out in the mountains, Cole has to leave his shelter - and suddenly his face can be seen on every TV channel in the country. What the hell is going on here? And who is this man I love? "My next Mistake" is a full-length standalone romance with no cheating and no cliffhangers, but with a gorgeous protective alpha male, plenty of steam and a guaranteed HEA. I've also included a preview of my romance novel "Unexpected Surprise" for you. Happy reading! - Sarah J. Brooks (USA Today Bestselling Author)
God's Plan for Man: Contained in Fifty-Two Lessons, One for Each Week of the Year
Finis Jennings Dake - 1990
Originally published in 26 books of two lessons and a supplement in each book.
Let Them Eat Shrimp: The Tragic Disappearance of the Rainforests of the Sea
Kennedy Warne - 2010
Many people have never heard of these salt-water forests, but for those who depend on their riches, mangroves are indispensable. They are natural storm barriers, home to innumerable exotic creatures—from crabeating vipers to man-eating tigers—and provide food and livelihoods to millions of coastal dwellers. Now they are being destroyed to make way for shrimp farming and other coastal development. For those who stand in the way of these industries, the consequences can be deadly. In Let Them Eat Shrimp, Kennedy Warne takes readers into the muddy battle zone that is the mangrove forest. A tangle of snaking roots and twisted trunks, mangroves are often dismissed as foul wastelands. In fact, they are supermarkets of the sea, providing shellfish, crabs, honey, timber, and charcoal to coastal communities from Florida to South America to New Zealand. Generations have built their lives around mangroves and consider these swamps sacred. To shrimp farmers and land developers, mangroves simply represent a good investment. The tidal land on which they stand often has no title, so with a nod and wink from a compliant official, it can be turned from a public resource to a private possession. The forests are bulldozed, their traditional users dispossessed. The true price of shrimp farming and other coastal development has gone largely unheralded in the U.S. media. A longtime journalist, Warne now captures the insatiability of these industries and the magic of the mangroves. His vivid account will make every reader pause before ordering the shrimp.
Poor Economics: A Radical Rethinking of the Way to Fight Global Poverty
Abhijit V. Banerjee - 2011
But much of their work is based on assumptions that are untested generalizations at best, harmful misperceptions at worst.Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo have pioneered the use of randomized control trials in development economics. Work based on these principles, supervised by the Poverty Action Lab, is being carried out in dozens of countries. Drawing on this and their 15 years of research from Chile to India, Kenya to Indonesia, they have identified wholly new aspects of the behavior of poor people, their needs, and the way that aid or financial investment can affect their lives. Their work defies certain presumptions: that microfinance is a cure-all, that schooling equals learning, that poverty at the level of 99 cents a day is just a more extreme version of the experience any of us have when our income falls uncomfortably low.This important book illuminates how the poor live, and offers all of us an opportunity to think of a world beyond poverty.Learn more at www.pooreconomics.com