A fact-based treatise on the Eurozone crisis, with analysis of possible solutions The Incomplete Currency is the only technical – yet accessible – analysis of the current Eurozone crisis from a global perspective. The discussion begins by explaining how the Euro's architecture, the relationship between finance and the real economy, and the functioning of the Eurosystem in general are all at the root of the current crisis, and then explores possible solutions rooted in fact, not theory. All topics are analysed and illustrated, making extensive use of examples, tables, and graphics, and the ideas presented are supported by data sets and their statistical elaborations throughout the book. An extensive digital component includes numerical simulations of public debt dynamics for different Eurozone countries, evaluations of the sustainability of programmes like the Fiscal Compact, and stress tests on the ability of institutions like the ESM to cope with major liquidity crises, and the spreadsheets used to calculate data in the book is provided for readers to access for themselves. The survival of the European monetary union has been questioned due to the accumulation of structural imbalances and the negative effects of the global financial crisis. This book lays out the full extent of the problem, explains what caused it, and provides possible solutions backed by extensive data. Dig down to the root of the Eurozone crisis Learn why austerity doesn't fix anything Understand how the Euro has changed economies Consider possible strategies for recovery In a macroeconomic context where the monetary policy is the prerogative of the European Central Bank and fiscal policy, hopeless austerity works against the economic recovery of the Eurozone countries. A positive attitude is difficult, but necessary. The Incomplete Currency is an insightful, important resource that guides readers toward real solutions.
Dive deeper into SPSS Statistics for more efficient, accurate, and sophisticated data analysis and visualization SPSS Statistics for Data Analysis and Visualization goes beyond the basics of SPSS Statistics to show you advanced techniques that exploit the full capabilities of SPSS. The authors explain when and why to use each technique, and then walk you through the execution with a pragmatic, nuts and bolts example. Coverage includes extensive, in-depth discussion of advanced statistical techniques, data visualization, predictive analytics, and SPSS programming, including automation and integration with other languages like R and Python. You'll learn the best methods to power through an analysis, with more efficient, elegant, and accurate code. IBM SPSS Statistics is complex: true mastery requires a deep understanding of statistical theory, the user interface, and programming. Most users don't encounter all of the methods SPSS offers, leaving many little-known modules undiscovered. This book walks you through tools you may have never noticed, and shows you how they can be used to streamline your workflow and enable you to produce more accurate results. Conduct a more efficient and accurate analysis Display complex relationships and create better visualizations Model complex interactions and master predictive analytics Integrate R and Python with SPSS Statistics for more efficient, more powerful code These «hidden tools» can help you produce charts that simply wouldn't be possible any other way, and the support for other programming languages gives you better options for solving complex problems. If you're ready to take advantage of everything this powerful software package has to offer, SPSS Statistics for Data Analysis and Visualization is the expert-led training you need.
Risk consideration is central to more accurate post-crisis valuation Corporate Valuation presents the most up-to-date tools and techniques for more accurate valuation in a highly volatile, globalized, and risky business environment. This insightful guide takes a multidisciplinary approach, considering both accounting and financial principles, with a practical focus that uses case studies and numerical examples to illustrate major concepts. Readers are walked through a map of the valuation approaches proven most effective post-crisis, with explicit guidance toward implementation and enhancement using advanced tools, while exploring new models, techniques, and perspectives on the new meaning of value. Risk centrality and scenario analysis are major themes among the techniques covered, and the companion website provides relevant spreadsheets, models, and instructor materials. Business is now done in a faster, more diverse, more interconnected environment, making valuation an increasingly more complex endeavor. New types of risks and competition are shaping operations and finance, redefining the importance of managing uncertainty as the key to success. This book brings that perspective to bear in valuation, providing new insight, new models, and practical techniques for the modern finance industry. Gain a new understanding of the idea of «value,» from both accounting and financial perspectives Learn new valuation models and techniques, including scenario-based valuation, the Monte Carlo analysis, and other advanced tools Understand valuation multiples as adjusted for risk and cycle, and the decomposition of deal multiples Examine the approach to valuation for rights issues and hybrid securities, and more Traditional valuation models are inaccurate in that they hinge on the idea of ensured success and only minor adjustments to forecasts. These rules no longer apply, and accurate valuation demands a shift in the paradigm. Corporate Valuation describes that shift, and how it translates to more accurate methods.
The highest rated WordPress development and design book on the market is back with an all new third edition. Professional WordPress is the only WordPress book targeted to developers, with advanced content that exploits the full functionality of the most popular CMS in the world. Fully updated to align with WordPress 4.1, this edition has updated examples with all new screenshots, and full exploration of additional tasks made possible by the latest tools and features. You will gain insight into real projects that currently use WordPress as an application framework, as well as the basic usage and functionality of the system from a developer's perspective. The book's key features include detailed information and real-world examples that illustrate the concepts and techniques at work, plus code downloads and examples accessible through the companion website. Written by practicing WordPress developers, the content of this edition focuses on real world application of WordPress concepts that extend beyond the current WordPress version. WordPress started in 2003 with a single bit of code to enhance the typography of everyday writing, and has grown to be the largest self-hosted website platform in the world. This book helps you use WordPress efficiently, effectively, and professionally, with new ideas and expert perspectives on full system exploitation. Get up to speed on the new features in WordPress 4.1 Learn cutting edge uses of WordPress, including real-world projects Discover how to migrate existing websites to WordPress Understand current best practices and tools in WordPress development WordPress was born out of a desire for an elegant, well-architected personal publishing system built on PHP and MySQL, and has evolved to be used as a full content management system through thousands of plugins, widgets, and themes. Professional WordPress is the essential developer's guide to this multifunctional system.
Unlock the meaning of your data with QlikView The Qlik platform was designed to provide a fast and easy data analytics tool, and QlikView Your Business is your detailed, full-color, step-by-step guide to understanding Qlikview's powerful features and techniques so you can quickly start unlocking your data’s potential. This expert author team brings real-world insight together with practical business analytics, so you can approach, explore, and solve business intelligence problems using the robust Qlik toolset and clearly communicate your results to stakeholders using powerful visualization features in QlikView and Qlik Sense. This book starts at the basic level and dives deep into the most advanced QlikView techniques, delivering tangible value and knowledge to new users and experienced developers alike. As an added benefit, every topic presented in the book is enhanced with tips, tricks, and insightful recommendations that the authors accumulated through years of developing QlikView analytics. This is the book for you: If you are a developer whose job is to load transactional data into Qlik BI environment, and who needs to understand both the basics and the most advanced techniques of Qlik data modelling and scripting If you are a data analyst whose job is to develop actionable and insightful QlikView visualizations to share within your organization If you are a project manager or business person, who wants to get a better understanding of the Qlik Business Intelligence platform and its capabilities What You Will Learn: The book covers three common business scenarios – Sales, Profitability, and Inventory Analysis. Each scenario contains four chapters, covering the four main disciplines of business analytics: Business Case, Data Modeling, Scripting, and Visualizations. The material is organized by increasing levels of complexity. Following our comprehensive tutorial, you will learn simple and advanced QlikView and Qlik Sense concepts, including the following: Data Modeling: Transforming Transactional data into Dimensional models Building a Star Schema Linking multiple fact tables using Link Tables Combing multiple tables into a single fact able using Concatenated Fact models Managing slowly changing dimensions Advanced date handling, using the As of Date table Calculating running balances Basic and Advanced Scripting: How to use the Data Load Script language for implementing data modeling techniques How to build and use the QVD data layer Building a multi-tier data architectures Using variables, loops, subroutines, and other script control statements Advanced scripting techniques for a variety of ETL solutions Building Insightful Visualizations in QlikView: Introduction into QlikView sheet objects – List Boxes, Text Objects, Charts, and more Designing insightful Dashboards in QlikView Using advanced calculation techniques, such as Set Analysis and Advanced Aggregation Using variables for What-If Analysis, as well as using variables for storing calculations, colors, and selection filters Advanced visualization techniques – normalized and non-normalized Mekko charts, Waterfall charts, Whale Tail charts, and more Building Insightful Visualizations in Qlik Sense: Introducing Qlik Sense – how it is different from QlikView and what is similar? Creating Sense sheet objects Building and using the Library of Master Items Exploring Qlik Sense unique features – Storytelling, Geo Mapping, and using Extensions Whether you are jus
Avoid «Shirtsleeves to Shirtsleeves» by Finding Your Voice Growing up in a family with significant wealth or a family business can often feel like an exercise in silence. What should you ask? Whom should you ask? When? Is it ever right to talk about such things? The Voice of the Rising Generation speaks directly to those who find themselves living in that silence, the so-called «next generation.» Great wealth or a family business can act like a «black hole,» sapping the dreams and aspirations of future generations who feel that they can never measure up to the fortune's founder. This book, written by a psychologist, an educator, and a wise counselor who single-handedly changed the landscape of family wealth, diagnoses with economy and precision the cause of entitlement and dependency. It is not too much money or too few chores. It is the failure of rising generations to individuate, that is, to pursue their dreams, develop their resilience, and find their voice. Many books are addressed to parents and grandparents who worry about the effects of wealth on their descendants. Almost alone in the field, this book speaks directly to 20-, 30- and 40-somethings, encouraging them—literally, giving them courage—to meet the challenge of integrating wealth's power into their lives, rather than disappearing into the black hole. Readers will: Come to understand the true causes of entitlement and dependency Identify the psychological characteristics of the rising generation and the challenges proper to its development Clarify their own dreams, work, and vocation Navigate personal relationships and communication within the context of wealth Recognize the special challenges faced when rising is delayed until mid-life. If you are a young person who is starting your life's journey and wondering about the effects of parental gifts, trusts, or a family business, this book will offer you questions, reflections, and lessons-learned to help you find your own way. If you are a parent, grandparent, elder, or mentor, The Voice of the Rising Generation can serve the young people in your life as a gift more precious than gold.
Your step-by-step guide to learning Autodesk Revit Architecture This detailed introduction to Revit Architecture features straightforward explanations and real-world, hands-on tutorials to teach new users the software's core features and functions. Presented in the context of real-world workflows, and using real-world projects, each chapter contains a discussion of the «why» and «how» that is reinforced with a step-by-step tutorial so you'll gain practical and applicable experience with the core features of Revit Architecture. The new pedagogical approach emphasizes learning skills to help you prepare for the Revit certification exams. Learn at your pace with step-by-step exercises, illustrated with full-color screenshots and downloadable Revit tutorial files Work with floors, ceilings, walls, and curtain walls Use modeling and massing to explore design ideas Use the Family Editor to create and manage families Understand effective worksharing, BIM workflows, and file management Use rendering and visualization techniques to make your design come alive Prepare for Revit certification exams With Autodesk Revit Architecture Essentials, you are only a step away from better, faster building design.
The world’s most forward-looking CEOs recognize the real challenge facing business today: a fundamental shift in the nature of commerce. While sustainability programs, government action, and nonprofits are all parts of the solution, CEOs and other leaders must focus on social, environmental, and economic benefit—not only because it will make the world a better place, but because it will ensure lasting profitability and success in the business climate of tomorrow. The Breakthrough Challenge is both an inspiring call-to-action and a guide for this transformation, based on the work of The B Team, a major initiative uniting leaders in sustainability. As a founding advisor and member of The B Team, John Elkington and Jochen Zeitz map out an agenda for change. The most important goal for businesses must be redefining the bottom line to account for true long-term costs throughout the supply chain. To achieve this, leaders must rethink everything: what counts on balance sheets, how to incentivize performance, who does what in the C-suite, and even what inspires us. The Breakthrough Challenge draws on over 100 exclusive interviews to show this shift in action, sharing the pioneering work of leaders such as Paul Polman, CEO of Unilever; Arianna Huffington, founder and CEO of The Huffington Post; Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, chairman of the Nestlé Group; and Linda Fisher, pioneering Chief Sustainability Officer at DuPont, among many others. Change-as-usual strategies are not enough to move business from breakdowns to breakthroughs. The Breakthrough Challenge shows leaders how to achieve a true transformation and refocus the definition of profitability on the lasting wellbeing of people and planet—for the lasting success of their business.
A passionate, detailed, quantified argument for state-level tax reform An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of States explains why eliminating or lowering tax burdens at the state level leads to economic growth and wealth creation. A passionate argument for tax reform, the book shows that even states with small populations can benefit enormously with the right policies. The authors’ detailed exposition evaluates the impact state and local government policies have on a state’s relative performance and economic growth overall, backed up with economic data and analysis. Facts don’t lie. But they do point clearly to the failure of so-called progressive tax schemes designed more to curry favor with selected constituencies than to create an economic system that leads to individual wealth as the reward for hard work and entrepreneurial risk taking. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of States is a detailed and critical look at income taxation across the nation, and drills down into an analysis of the economic growth or malaise that results from tax policy. Arguing eloquently that a state cannot tax itself into prosperity, just as the impoverished cannot spend themselves into wealth, the authors point out what many inherently know but often fear to say out loud. The book provides detailed quantitative analysis, and discusses the policy variables that can have enormous effects on the financial well-being of states and individual residents, such as: Personal and corporate income tax rates Total tax burden as a percentage of personal income Estate and inheritance taxes Right-to-work laws An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of States shows everyone how to evaluate state-level fiscal and economic policies to become more competitive.
Building an analysis ecosystem for a smarter approach to intelligence Keith Carter's Actionable Intelligence: A Guide to Delivering Business Results with Big Data Fast! is the comprehensive guide to achieving the dream that business intelligence practitioners have been chasing since the concept itself came into being. Written by an IT visionary with extensive global supply chain experience and insight, this book describes what happens when team members have accurate, reliable, usable, and timely information at their fingertips. With a focus on leveraging big data, the book provides expert guidance on developing an analytical ecosystem to effectively manage, use the internal and external information to deliver business results. This book is written by an author who's been in the trenches for people who are in the trenches. It's for practitioners in the real world, who know delivering results is easier said than done – fraught with failure, and difficult politics. A landscape where reason and passion are needed to make a real difference. This book lays out the appropriate way to establish a culture of fact-based decision making, innovation, forward looking measurements, and appropriate high-speed governance. Readers will enable their organization to: Answer strategic questions faster Reduce data acquisition time and increase analysis time to improve outcomes Shift the focus to positive results rather than past failures Expand opportunities by more effectively and thoughtfully leveraging information Big data makes big promises, but it cannot deliver without the right recipe of people, processes and technology in place. It's about choosing the right people, giving them the right tools, and taking a thoughtful—rather than formulaic–approach. Actionable Intelligence provides expert guidance toward envisioning, budgeting, implementing, and delivering real benefits.