Экономика
Различные книги в жанре ЭкономикаAmerican Marriage
As states across the country battle internally over same-sex marriage in the courts, in legislatures, and at the ballot box, activists and scholars grapple with its implications for the status of gays and lesbians and for the institution of marriage itself. Yet, the struggle over same-sex marriage is only the most recent political and public debate over marriage in the United States. What is at stake for those who want to restrict marriage and for those who seek to extend it? Why has the issue become such a national debate? These questions can be answered only by viewing marriage as a political institution as well as a religious and cultural one. In its political dimension, marriage circumscribes both the meaning and the concrete terms of citizenship. Marriage represents communal duty, moral education, and social and civic status. Yet, at the same time, it represents individual choice, contract, liberty, and independence from the state. According to Priscilla Yamin, these opposing but interrelated sets of characteristics generate a tension between a politics of obligations on the one hand and a politics of rights on the other. To analyze this interplay, American Marriage examines the status of ex-slaves at the close of the Civil War, immigrants at the turn of the twentieth century, civil rights and women's rights in the 1960s, and welfare recipients and gays and lesbians in the contemporary period. Yamin argues that at moments when extant political and social hierarchies become unstable, political actors turn to marriage either to stave off or to promote political and social changes. Some marriages are pushed as obligatory and necessary for the good of society, while others are contested or presented as dangerous and harmful. Thus political struggles over race, gender, economic inequality, and sexuality have been articulated at key moments through the language of marital obligations and rights. Seen this way, marriage is not outside the political realm but interlocked with it in mutual evolution.
The Disaster Experts
In the wake of 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina, many are asking what, if anything, can be done to prevent large-scale disasters. How is it that we know more about the hazards of modern American life than ever before, yet the nation faces ever-increasing losses from such events? History shows that disasters are not simply random acts. Where is the logic in creating an elaborate set of fire codes for buildings, and then allowing structures like the Twin Towers—tall, impressive, and risky—to go up as design experiments? Why prepare for terrorist attacks above all else when floods, fires, and earthquakes pose far more consistent threats to American life and prosperity? The Disaster Experts takes on these questions, offering historical context for understanding who the experts are that influence these decisions, how they became powerful, and why they are only slightly closer today than a decade ago to protecting the public from disasters. Tracing the intertwined development of disaster expertise, public policy, and urbanization over the past century, historian Scott Gabriel Knowles tells the fascinating story of how this diverse collection of professionals—insurance inspectors, engineers, scientists, journalists, public officials, civil defense planners, and emergency managers—emerged as the authorities on risk and disaster and, in the process, shaped modern America.
Engineering the Financial Crisis
The financial crisis has been blamed on reckless bankers, irrational exuberance, government support of mortgages for the poor, financial deregulation, and expansionary monetary policy. Specialists in banking, however, tell a story with less emotional resonance but a better correspondence to the evidence: the crisis was sparked by the international regulatory accords on bank capital levels, the Basel Accords. In one of the first studies critically to examine the Basel Accords, Engineering the Financial Crisis reveals the crucial role that bank capital requirements and other government regulations played in the recent financial crisis. Jeffrey Friedman and Wladimir Kraus argue that by encouraging banks to invest in highly rated mortgage-backed bonds, the Basel Accords created an overconcentration of risk in the banking industry. In addition, accounting regulations required banks to reduce lending if the temporary market value of these bonds declined, as they did in 2007 and 2008 during the panic over subprime mortgage defaults. The book begins by assessing leading theories about the crisis—deregulation, bank compensation practices, excessive leverage, «too big to fail,» and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac—and, through careful evidentiary scrutiny, debunks much of the conventional wisdom about what went wrong. It then discusses the Basel Accords and how they contributed to systemic risk. Finally, it presents an analysis of social-science expertise and the fallibility of economists and regulators. Engagingly written, theoretically inventive, yet empirically grounded, Engineering the Financial Crisis is a timely examination of the unintended—and sometimes disastrous—effects of regulation on complex economies.
What Caused the Financial Crisis
The deflation of the subprime mortgage bubble in 2006-7 is widely agreed to have been the immediate cause of the collapse of the financial sector in 2008. Consequently, one might think that uncovering the origins of subprime lending would make the root causes of the crisis obvious. That is essentially where public debate about the causes of the crisis began—and ended—in the month following the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers and the 502-point fall in the Dow Jones Industrial Average in mid-September 2008. However, the subprime housing bubble is just one piece of the puzzle. Asset bubbles inflate and burst frequently, but severe worldwide recessions are rare. What was different this time? In What Caused the Financial Crisis leading economists and scholars delve into the major causes of the worst financial collapse since the Great Depression and, together, present a comprehensive picture of the factors that led to it. One essay examines the role of government regulation in expanding home ownership through mortgage subsidies for impoverished borrowers, encouraging the subprime housing bubble. Another explores how banks were able to securitize mortgages by manipulating criteria used for bond ratings. How this led to inaccurate risk assessments that could not be covered by sufficient capital reserves mandated under the Basel accords is made clear in a third essay. Other essays identify monetary policy in the United States and Europe, corporate pay structures, credit-default swaps, banks' leverage, and financial deregulation as possible causes of the crisis. With contributions from Richard A. Posner, Vernon L. Smith, Joseph E. Stiglitz, and John B. Taylor, among others, What Caused the Financial Crisis provides a cogent, comprehensive, and credible explanation of why the crisis happened. It will be an essential resource for scholars and students of finance, economics, history, law, political science, and sociology, as well as others interested in the financial crisis and the nature of modern capitalism and regulation.
Energy Politics
It is not uncommon to hear states and their leaders criticized for «mixing oil and politics.» The U.S.-led Iraq War was criticized as a «war for oil.» When energy exporters overtly use energy as a tool to promote their foreign policy goals, Europe and the United States regularly decry the use of energy as a «weapon» rather than accept it as a standard and legitimate tool of diplomacy. In Energy Politics , Brenda Shaffer argues that energy and politics are intrinsically linked. Modern life—from production of goods, to means of travel and entertainment, to methods of waging war—is heavily dependent on access to energy. A country's ability to acquire and use energy supplies crucially determines the state of its economy, its national security, and the quality and sustainability of its environment. Energy supply can serve as a basis for regional cooperation, but at the same time can serve as a source of conflict among energy seekers and between producers and consumers. Shaffer provides a broad introduction to the ways in which energy affects domestic and regional political developments and foreign policy. While previous scholarship has focused primarily on the politics surrounding oil, Shaffer broadens her scope to include the increasingly important role of natural gas and alternative energy sources as well as emerging concerns such as climate change, the global energy divide, and the coordinated international policy-making required to combat them. Energy Politics concludes with examinations of how politics and energy interact in six of the world's largest producers and consumers of energy: Russia, Europe, the United States, China, Iran, and Saudi Arabia.
Transformation
We have all experienced moments when we have felt that our life had completely fallen apart. These moments are the greatest opportunities for transformation. Transformation is uncomfortable. In fact, it is a process of discomfort. Through the sharing of personal experiences, the author walks the reader through a process of turning the pain from his past into power in the present; thus, changing the trajectory of his life into a prosperous future. The step-by-step process of disassembling one’s perspective and refocusing it is gently and gingerly balanced against the backdrop of universal truths throughout this book. Though every individual’s journey is unique, the book provides a path to clarity regardless of the seemingly ambiguous collective sum of the journey traveled thus far. Readers are exposed to a basic formula of daily disciplines that, if done consistently, will usher in a keen sense of awareness of oneself and a deeper understanding of internal peace. Over time, the Four Disciplines of Intention will equip readers to operate from “the space of knowing.” There are questions at the end of each chapter that fuel an internal evolution. This book changes lives. It is a must read.
The Power Within You
From a down and out, fired airplane factory worker to multi-millionaire, Chris Carley broke all the rules in her home-based business and never looked back. Overweight and depressed, she visualized a world of abundance for herself and brought it to life. Starting with a small $79 loan from her father, Chris strategically promoted her at home business with handmade flyers, turning her into a success in less than five years. Since then, she has gone on to make millions in an industry that only a few people fully understand. Along the way, she has been a keynote speaker and has helped mentor and teach thousands her marketing strategies. This book will change your mindset and help you reach the success you have been seeking. Are you ready to create the life of your dreams?
The Arsonist in the Office
The Arsonist in the Office is your survival guide for enduring the toxic workplace (and toxic people) and a call to action for a bold new approach to addressing tough issues. If you have ever led an organization or participated on a team and felt completely frustrated by the sabotage of another colleague, leader, or even client, this book is for you. Leaders, colleagues and organizations across the world have adopted this new movement – to not just “create” a great culture but to protect it. Building a great culture is always a worthy goal but fireproofing it – is just as important. The book provides detailed practical tools and tactics you need to know how to fireproof yourself and your culture from your organization’s arsonists! Pete Havel is an innovative voice in the world of corporate transformation, and his book teaches top leaders at all levels how to effectively stop toxic movements and eliminate the arsonist lurking within an organization or team. This is a book that will ignite and empower everyone who reads it!
Vaporized
Vaporized was selected as the winner of the 2016 International Book of the Year prize by getAbstract from a field of 10,000 business and strategy titles. The prize was announced at the Frankfurt Book Fair on October 19, 2016Digital technology has upturned entire industries and irrevocably altered the way we live, work and do business. Now, it is set to transform every sector and economic system on the planet in almost unimaginable ways — even those once thought to be immune from its effects. In his groundbreaking new book Vaporized, digital pioneer and business futurist Robert Tercek takes us inside the world’s largest cultural and economic transformation since the industrial revolution, and explains what it means to consumers, employers and policy makers. Dynamic and engaging, Tercek does for digital business theory what Malcolm Gladwell has done for sociology, translating a complex, arcane subject in approachable and relevant terms. In contrast to the digital-era doomsayers and hand-wringing pundits, Tercek offers an insightful, optimistic analysis of the future and a practical blueprint for survival that no business leader, from the Fortune 500 CEO to the small startup owner, can afford to ignore.
Six Steps to Small Business Success
* The first edition of this book won the prestigious Book of the Year Award presented by the Professional Association of Small Business AccountantsMany entrepreneurs fail, not because they have bad ideas, but because they don't have the knowledge it takes to convert their ideas into success. In Six Steps to Small Business Success, five seasoned CPAs provide practical advice, step-by-step guidance, and proven ideas to help you dream big, think realistically, and plan and manage carefully, ultimately achieving more than you ever imagined.Take these six simple steps to convert your dreams into reality:1. PRE-BUSINESS PLANNING. Learn from others who have succeeded how a little front end planning can ensure your success.2. START-UP: FINANCES, BUDGETS, AND NUMBERS. Discover the key fundamentals that must be put in place for your business to grow.3. HUMAN RESOURCES(PEOPLE). Learn best practices in hiring, training, managing, and terminating employees.4. OPERATIONS: WORK FLOW, CUSTOMERS, AND SALES. Learn how to make good decisions about products and customers.5. BUILDING A SALABLE BUSINESS AND THE SALE. Learn how to plan for your eventual sale.6. TRANSITIONING TO LIFE AFTER BUSINESS. Finally, learn how to plan for life after work – personal adjustments, wealth management, leaving a legacy.