The Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times columnist and best-selling author of The Lexus and the Olive Tree gives a bold, timely, and surprising picture of the state of globalization in the twenty-first century. In this brilliant #1 bestseller, "the most important columnist in America today" (Walter Russell Mead, The New York Times) demystifies the brave new world for readers, allowing them to make sense of the often bewildering global scene unfolding before their eyes. With his inimitable ability to translate complex foreign policy and economic issues, Thomas L. Friedman explains how the flattening of the world happened at the dawn of the twenty-first what it means to countries, companies, communities, and and how governments and societies can, and must, adapt. The World Is Flat is the timely and essential update on globalization, its successes and discontents, powerfully illuminated by one of our most respected journalists.

"Economics is haunted by more fallacies than any other studyknown to man." -- Henry Hazlitt, Economics in One Lesson(1946) Every day economic claims are used by the media or inconversation to support social and political positions. Those onthe left tend to distrust economists, seeing them as friends of theright. There is something to this, since professional economistsare almost all keen supporters of the free market. Yet whilefactions on the right naturally embrace economists, they also tendto overestimate the effect of their support on free-marketpolicies. The result is widespread confusion. In fact, virtuallyall commonly held beliefs about economics--whether espoused bypolitical activists, politicians, journalists or taxpayers--arejust plain wrong. Professor Joseph Heath wants to raise our economic literacyand empower us with new ideas. In Economics WithoutIllusions , he draws on everyday examples to skewer the sixfavourite economic fallacies of the right, followed by impaling thesix

Galbraith's classic on the "economics of abundance" is, in thewords of the New York Times, "a compelling challenge toconventional thought." With customary clarity, eloquence, andhumor, Galbraith cuts to the heart of what economic security means(and doesn't mean) in today's world and lays bare the hazards ofindividual and societal complacence about economic inequity. While"affluent society" and "conventional wisdom" (first used in thisbook) have entered the vernacular, the message of the book has notbeen so widely embraced--reason enough to rediscover The AffluentSociety.

Friedman makes clear once and for all that no one is immunefrom monetary economics-that is, from the effects of its theory andits practices. He demonstrates through historical events themischief that can result from misunderstanding the monetary system.Index.

In this short, powerful book, multimillionaire and bestsellingauthor Steven K. Scott reveals King Solomon’s breakthroughstrategies to achieve a life of financial success and personalfulfillment. Steve Scott flunked out of every job he held in his first six yearsafter college. He couldn’t succeed no matter how hard he tried.Then Dr. Gary Smalley challenged him to study the book of Proverbs,promising that in doing so he would achieve greater success andhappiness than he had ever known. That promise came true, makingScott a millionaire many times over. In The Richest Man Who Ever Lived, Scott reveals Solomon’s key forwinning every race, explains how to resolve conflicts and turnenemies into allies, and discloses the five qualities essential tobecoming a valued and admired person at work and in your personallife. Scott illustrates each of Solomon’s insights and strategieswith anecdotes about his personal successes and failures, as wellas those of such extraordinary people as Benjamin Franklin, ThomasEdis

Two years in the cauldron of capitalism-"horrifying and veryfunny" (The Wall Street Journal) In this candid and entertaining insider's look at the mostinfluential school in global business, Philip Delves Broughtondraws on his crack reporting skills to describe his madcap years atHarvard Business School. Ahead of the Curve recounts the mostedifying and surprising lessons learned in the quest for an MBA,from the ingenious chicanery of leveraging and the unlikelypleasures of accounting, to the antics of the "booze luge" andother, less savory trappings of student culture. Published duringthe one hundredth anniversary of Harvard Business School, this isthe unflinching truth about life in the trenches of an iconicAmerican institution.

This is a book about a handful of men with a curious claim to fame. By all the rules of schoolboy history books, they were nonentities: they commanded no armies, sent no men to their deaths, ruled no empires, took little part in history-making decisions. A few of them achieved renown, but none was ever a national hero; a few were roundly abused, but none was ever quite a national villain. Yet what they did was more decisive for history than many acts of statesmen who basked in brighter glory, often more profoundly disturbing than the shuttling of armies back and forth across frontiers, more powerful for good and bad than the edicts of kings and legislatures. It was this: they shaped and swayed men's minds. And because he who enlists a man's mind wields a power even greater than the sword or the scepter, these men shaped and swayed the world. Few of them ever lifted a finger in action; they worked, in the main, as scholars -- quietly, inconspicuously, and without much regard for what the world had to say abou

From the bestselling, prize-winning author of THE LAST TYCOONSand HOUSE OF CARDS, a revelatory history of Goldman Sachs, the mostdominant, feared, and controversial investment bank in theworld For much of its storied 142-year history, Goldman Sachs hasprojected an image of being better than its competitors--smarter,more collegial, more ethical, and far more profitable. Thefirm--buttressed by the most aggressive and sophisticated p.r.machine in the financial industry--often boasts of "The GoldmanWay," a business model predicated on hiring the most talentedpeople, indoctrinating them in a corporate culture where partnersstifle their egos for the greater good, and honoring the "14Principles," the first of which is "Our clients' interests alwayscome first." But there is another way of viewing Goldman--a secretivemoney-making machine that has straddled the line betweenconflict-of-interest and legitimate deal-making for decades; a firmthat has exerted undue influence over government since the ear

Ask a dozen talking heads about the course of action we should take to right the economy and you’ll get thirteen different answers. But what if we possessed a handful of basic principles that could guide our decisions—both the personal ones about how to save and spend but also those national ones that have been capturing the headlines? Robert H. Frank has been illustrating these principles longer and more clearly than anyone else. In The Economic Naturalist’s Field Guide, he reveals how they play out in Washington, on Wall Street, and in our own lives, covering everything from healthcare to tax policy to everyday decisions about what we do with our money. In today’s uncertain economic climate, The Economic Naturalist’s Field Guide’s insights have more bearing than ever on our pocketbooks, policies, and personal happiness.

In The Great Shame, Thomas Keneally--the bestselling, BookerPrize-winning author of Schindler's List--combines the authority ofa brilliant historian and the narrative grace of a great novelistto present a gripping account of the Irish diaspora. The nineteenth century saw Ireland lose half of its population tofamine, emigration, or deportation to penal colonies inAustralia--often for infractions as common as stealing food. Amongthe victims of this tragedy were Thomas Keneally's own forebearers,and they were his inspiration to tell the story of the Irish whostruggled and ultimately triumphed in Australia and North America.Relying on rare primary sources--including personal letters, courttran*s, ship manifests, and military documents--Keneallyoffers new and important insights into the impact of the Irish inexile. The result is a vivid saga of heroes and villains, fromGreat Famine protesters to American Civil War generals to greatorators and politicians.

Now in paperback, Joseph Nye's "indispensable" guide to reshaping America's role in the world (Publishers Weekly) Joseph Nye coined the term "soft power" to describe a nation's ability to attract and persuade. Whereas hard power-the ability to coerce-grows out of a country's military or economic might, soft power arises from the attractiveness of its culture, political ideals, and policies. Hard power remains crucial in a world of states trying to guard their independence and of non-state groups willing to turn to violence. But as a new administration-whether Republican or Democrat-maps out its foreign policy, Nye emphasizes the importance of husbanding our military power and nurturing our soft power. It is soft power that will help prevent terrorists from recruiting supporters from among the moderate majority. And it is soft power that will help the United States deal with critical global issues that require multilateral cooperation. America needs to move in a new direction. Isn't it time that we listene

Why trying to be the best … competing like crazy … makes youmediocre Every few years a book—through a combination of the author’sunique voice, storytelling ability, wit, and insight—simply breaksthe mold. Bill Bryson’s A Walk in the Woods is one example. RichardFeynman’s “Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman!” is another. Now comes Youngme Moon’s Different, a book for “people who don’tread business books.” Actually, it’s more like a personalconversation with a friend who has thought deeply about how theworld works … and who gets you to see that world in a completelynew light. If there is one strain of conventional wisdom pervading everycompany in every industry, it’s the absolute importance of“competing like crazy.” Youngme Moon’s message is simply “Get offthis treadmill that’s taking you nowhere. Going tit for tat andadding features, augmentations, and gimmicks to beat thecompetition has the perverse result of making you lik

The book is... timely, and if it will irritate some of theexperts it will also help bring some neglected issues and theoriesinto public focus. This ... has always been Mrs. Jacobs' mostnotable taient and her most constructive contribution.

From Wall Street to the West Coast, from blue-collarbillionaires to blue-blood fortunes, from the Google guys tohedge-fund honchos, All the Money in the World gives us the lowdownon today richest Americans. Veteran journalists Peter W. Bernsteinand Annalyn Swan delve into who made and lost the most money in thepast twenty-five years, the fields and industries that haveproduced the greatest wealth, the biggest risk takers, the mostcompetitive players, the most wasteful family feuds, the trophywives, the most conspicuous consumers, the biggest art collectors,and the most and least generous philanthropists. Incorporating exclusive, never-before-published data from Forbesmagazine, All the Money in the World is a vastly entertaining,behind-the-scenes look at today's Big Rich.

A brilliant reconsideration of the Gilded Age in America, whenan oligarchy of wealth triumphed over democracy, when dreams offreedom and equality died of their impossibility. Jay Gould, the“Mephisto of Wall Street,” never runs for office, but he rules.This was his time (and John D. Rockefeller’s and AndrewCarnegie’s), and this was his country. At the end of the Civil War, with the rebellion put down andslavery ended, America belonged to Lincoln’s “plain people.” But“government of the people” and economic democracy were betrayed bypolitical parties that fanned memories of the war to distractAmericans from government of the corporation. Synthesizing the research of a new generation of scholars, JackBeatty gives us a fresh look at the “revolution from above” ofindustrialization that forged modern America. In Age of Betrayal,Supreme Court justices turn the Fourteenth Amendment’s promise of“equal protection of the laws” to the freed slave into the shieldof the corpora

Translated into more than twenty languages and named one ofthe best business books of the year by reviewers around the world, Wikinomics has become essential reading for business peopleeverywhere. It explains how mass collaboration is happening notjust at Web sites like Wikipedia and YouTube, but at traditionalcompanies that have embraced technology to breathe new life intotheir enterprises. This national bestseller reveals the nuances that drivewikinomics, and share fascinating stories of how masses of people(both paid and volunteer) are now creating TV news stories,sequencing the human gnome, remixing their favorite music,designing software, finding cures for diseases, editing schooltexts, inventing new cosmetics, and even buildingmotorcycles.