In a natural follow-up to his international bestseller "TheCrash of 2008: The New Paradigm for Financial Markets", GeorgeSoros reflects on what went wrong with the global economy, and howto get it back on track. The dire economic situation we findourselves in is not a result of economic forces alone, but of thepolicies pursued, and not pursued, by world leaders. In thiscollection of his recent writings on the global financialsituation, George Soros presents his views and analysis of keyeconomic policy choices leading up to, during, and following thefinancial crisis of 2008-2009. Soros explores domestic andinternational policy choices, like how to manage the (then)potential implosion of Fannie Mae Freddie Mac; options for"setting a floor" on the collapsing housing market; deployingmeasures to stem global contagion from the sub-prime crisis;alternative options for bailing out lesser developed countries andwhy this was vital; how to bring the credit default swap industryunder control; the structural pro

Pack your cutlass and blunderbuss--it's time to go a-pirating "The Invisible Hook" takes readers inside the wily world of late seventeenth- and early eighteenth-century pirates. With swashbuckling irreverence and devilish wit, Peter Leeson uncovers the hidden economics behind pirates' notorious, entertaining, and sometimes downright shocking behavior. Why did pirates fly flags of Skull and Bones? Why did they create a "pirate code"? Were pirates really ferocious madmen? And what made them so successful? "The Invisible Hook" uses economics to examine these and other infamous aspects of piracy. Leeson argues that the pirate customs we know and love resulted from pirates responding rationally to prevailing economic conditions in the pursuit of profits."The Invisible Hook" looks at legendary pirate captains like Blackbeard, Black Bart Roberts, and Calico Jack Rackam, and shows how pirates' search for plunder led them to pioneer remarkable and forward-thinking practices. Pirates understood the advantages of consti

In early 2009, many economists, financiers, and media punditswere confidently predicting the end of the American-led capitalismthat has shaped history and economics for the past 100 years. Yetthe U.S. economic model, far from being discredited, may bestrengthened by the financial crisis. In this provocative book,Anatole Kaletsky re-interprets the financial crisis as part of anevolutionary process inherent to the nature of democraticcapitalism. Capitalism, he argues, is resilient. Its first form,Capitalism 1.0, was the classical laissez-faire capitalism thatlasted from 1776 until 1930. NeYest was Capitalism 2.0, New DealKeynesian social capitalism created in the 1930s and eYestinguishedin the 1970s. Its last mutation, Reagan-Thatcher marketfundamentalism, culminated in the financially-dominatedglobalization of the past decade and triggered the recession of2009-10. The self-destruction of Capitalism 3.0 leaves the fieldopen for the neYest phase of capitalism's evolution. Capitalism islikely to transform

The New York Times bestseller-an investment book for thecoming age of high inflation. On the heels of the most recent economic crisis, America isheaded toward another: high inflation and dollar devaluation. Thesigns are clear: Federal debt is compounding while growth hasstalled, and America's foreign creditors are questioning thedollar's reserve currency status. Meanwhile, the "hidden" federaldebt, much larger than the official debt, makes things evenworse. But the good news, according to Charles Goyette, is that thosewho are prepared can protect themselves-and even profit-in this newera. Drawing on historical examples and a clear, down-to-earthanalysis, he explains the importance of gold, silver, and otheralternative investments when inflation takes off. He also givesreaders the investing tools to protect their savings and capitalizeon the opportunities ahead. Savvy readers don't have to be leftholding the bag after decades of government irresponsibility.

Econometric Modeling provides a new and stimulating introduction to econometrics, focusing on modeling. The key issue confronting empirical economics is to establish sustainable relationships that are both supported by data and interpretable from economic theory. The unified likelihood-based approach of this book gives students the required statistical foundations of estimation and inference, and leads to a thorough understanding of econometric techniques. David Hendry and Bent Nielsen introduce modeling for a range of situations, including binary data sets, multiple regression, and cointegrated systems. In each setting, a statistical model is constructed to explain the observed variation in the data, with estimation and inference based on the likelihood function. Substantive issues are always addressed, showing how both statistical and economic assumptions can be tested and empirical results interpreted. Important empirical problems such as structural breaks, forecasting, and model selection are covered,

It is in Books IV and V of The Wealth of Nations that AdamSmith offers his considered response to the French Physiocrats,perhaps the first great school of economic theorists, and assessesthe nature of the mercantile system, particularly the colonialrelationship with America, whose achievements could have been evenmore spectacular if conditions of free trade and economic union hadexisted. Even on the eve of the Declaration of Independence, Smithfamously predicted that America "will be one of the foremostnations of the world." It is also here that he develops the casefor a limited state role in economic planning, notably to combatmarket failure and induce efficiency in areas such as education,public works, justice, and defense. His pioneering analysis stillprovides many subtle and penetrating insights into one of today'smost vital and controversial policy debates. Edited with an Introduction and Notes by Andrew Skinner

For over 20 years Hal Varian's "Intermediate Microeconomics" has given students the most current and complete coverage of intermediate microeconomics at an appropriate mathematical level. The Eighth Edition includes contemporary case studies and examples and relevant coverage of the current economic crisis - all in focused, lecture-length chapters.

A storm is coming, a turbulent new era in which the planet's supply of oil will be overtaken by demand. Fuel prices will soar and inflation will skyrocket-but with this guide, two leading financial strategists show you how to weather the worst of it, and even capture impressive returns. With the help of the author's 'all season' Oil Indicator, you'll learn how to choose the right investments for any market environment, as you discover; why oil and natural gas stocks should be core holdings in every investor's portfolio, why a cautious buy-and-hold strategy is a sure monet loser, why conventional 'safe' stocks are really the riskiest, why gold may be on the verge of a historic bull run, how the global oil wars make defense stocks a premium buy, where to find the best bets in the field of alternative energy, how to profit from real estate without actually owning any.

Unrivaled in its unique combination of analytical rigor and accessibility, Intermediate Microeconomics: A Modern Approach has garnered one of the broadest adoption lists in the market. Now appearing in its Sixth Edition, Professor Varian's hallmark text is better than ever, featuring new treatments of game theory and competitive strategy, and a variety of new illustrative examples. Modern, authoritative, and above all crafted by an outstanding teacher and scholar, Intermediate Microeconomics, Sixth Edition will expand students' analytic powers and strengthen their understanding of microeconomics.

Perhaps the hottest field in macroeconomics, economic growth is fascinating to theorists and critically important to policy makers. Charles Jones, a rising star in the field, explains the inroads economists have made in understanding how economies grow. The story begins with empirical evidence: how rich are the rich countries, how poor are the poor, and how fast do the rich and poor countries grow? Jones then presents major theories of growth, from the Nobel Prize-winning work of Robert Solow to the new growth theory that has ignited the field in recent years.

Many warn that the next stage of globalization--the offshoring of research and development to China and India--threatens the foundations of Western prosperity. But in The Venturesome Economy, acclaimed business and economics scholar Amar Bhidé shows how wrong the doomsayers are. Using extensive field studies on venture-capital-backed businesses to examine how technology really advances in modern economies, Bhidé explains why know-how developed abroad enhances--not diminishes--prosperity at home, and why trying to maintain the U.S. lead by subsidizing more research or training more scientists will do more harm than good. When breakthrough ideas have no borders, a nation's capacity to exploit cutting-edge research regardless of where it originates is crucial: "venturesome consumption"--the willingness and ability of businesses and consumers to effectively use products and technologies derived from scientific research--is far more important than having a share of such research. In fact, a ven

Over its eighty-seven-year history,American International Group,better known as AIG,has achieved unparalleled success by adjusting to changing economic trends,regulatory rules,and political situations.While founder Cornelius Vander Starr—who led this Shanghai start-up for fifty years—built an extraordinary insurance franchise,it was his hand-picked successor,Maurice "Hank" Greenberg,who would turn that franchise into one of the world's most profitable and powerful financial services companies. Now,in Fallen Giant,author Ron Shelp—who worked alongside Greenberg and within the AIG organization for more than a decade—sheds light on AIG,the company,and Hank Greenberg,the man.Through in-depth research,candid interviews,and firsthand experiences,Shelp provides a detailed look at how AIG was originally created and reveals the trouble that Greenberg and company eventually ran into when New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer turned his sights on them. Entertaining and informative,Fallen Gian

An essential guide to doing business in Central and SouthAmerica, complete with communication and etiquette tips. This is the essential guide to business etiquette and customs foranyone doing business in Latin America. It features everything thereader needs to know-from getting an appointment to securing acontract. Doing business in Latin America can pose unique,substantial challenges to a non-native, and this book demystifiesthe entire process. From the two-hour "business lunch," at which nobusiness is ever discussed, to handing out business cards the rightway, Diran covers every crucial nuance. He also addresses: ? How things move at a much slower pace than most Americanbusiness processes and deals ? How family truly comes before business, even if it meansskipping an important meeting to take care of a loved one ? The importance of connections and mutual Acquaintances ? How to work with translators and bilingual assistants to getthe job done ? Proper dress, body la

Do economics and statistics succeed in explaining human socialbehaviour? To answer this question. Leland Gerson Neuberg studiessome pioneering controlled social experiments. Starting in the late1960s, economists and statisticians sought to improve social policyformation with random assignment experiments such as those thatprovided income guarantees in the form of a negative income tax.This book explores anomalies in the conceptual basis of suchexperiments and in the foundations of statistics and economics moregenerally. Scientific inquiry always faces certain philosophicalproblems. Controlled experiments of human social behaviour,however, cannot avoid some methodological difficulties not evidentin physical science experiments. Drawing upon several examples, theauthor argues that methodological anomalies prevent microeconomicsand statistics from explaining human social behaviour as coherentlyas the physical sciences explain nature. He concludes thatcontrolled social experiments are a frequently overrate

What happens when advances in technologg allow mang things to be produced for more or less nothing? And what happens when those things are then made available to us for free? In his groundbreaking new book, The Long Tail author Chris Anderson considers a brave new world where the old economic certainties are being undermined by a growing flood of free goods - newspapers, DVDs, T-shirts, phones, even holiday flights. He explains why this has become possible - why fast-evolvingtechnologies, particularly the Internet, have caused production and distribution costs in many sectors to plummet to levels unthinkable even a decade ago. He shows how the flexibility provided by the online world allows producers to trade ever more creatively, offering items for free to make real or perceived gains elsewhere. He pinpoints the winners and losers in the Free universe. And he demonstrates the wags in which, as an increasing number of things become available for free, our decisions to make use of them will be determined by tw