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

This volume examines just why and in what sense, Sir KarlPopper's view of empirical falsifiability as the distinguishingcharacteristic of science has found appeal among economists. Thelimitations of this tenet, both for a philosophy of science and asa guideline to economic inquiry, are examined, as are several ofthe proposed alternatives.

Out of the red... Do this month's bills pile up before you'repaid last month's? Do you regularly receive past-due notices? Doyou get letters threatening legal action if immediate payment isnot made? Do the total amounts on your revolving charge accountskeep steadily rising? Into the black... Whether you are currentlyin debt or fear you're falling into debt, you are not alone. Fortymillion Americans--from doctors to secretaries, from executives tothe unemployed--face the same problem and live under the same dailystress. Based on the proven techniques of the national DebtorsAnonymous program, here is the first complete, step-by-step guideto getting out of debt once and for all. You'll learn: How torecognize the warning signs of serious debt. How to negotiate withangry creditors, collection agencies, and the IRS. How to design arealistic and painless pay-back schedule. How to identify yourspending " blind spots." How to cope with the anxiety and dailypressures of owing money. Plus the three cardinal rules for s

Will the sun set on the greatest currency in the history ofthe world? For decades the dollar has been the undisputed champ. It’s not onlythe currency of America but much of the world as well, the fuel ofglobal prosperity. As the superengine of the world’s onlysuperpower, it’s accepted everywhere. When an Asian company tradeswith South America, those transactions are done in dollars, thecurrency of international business. But for how much longer? Economists fear America is digging a holewith an economy based on massive borrowing and huge deficits thatcloud the dollar’s future. Will the buck be eclipsed by the euro oreven China’s renminbi? Should Americans worry when the value of themighty U.S. dollar sinks to par with the Canadian “loonie”? Craig Karmin’s in-depth “biography” of the dollar explores theseissues. It also examines the green-back’s history, allure, andunique role as a catalyst for globalization, and how the Americanbuck became so almighty that $ became perhaps the most po

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.

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.

Free to succeed . . . Whether in troubled economic times or during years of prosperity,there is a proven way for companies to boost productivity, profits,and growth. Remarkably, it costs nothing––whether cost is measuredin terms of monetary resources or time– –and is simply based on thebelief that, if only people can be free to act in the bestinterests of their company, the results will be tremendous.Freedom, Inc. presents the evidence that this is not thePollyannaish wish of a few dreamers, but a reality built bybottom-line-focused leaders. . . . The culture of freedom works–and Freedom, Inc. reveals thesecrets of a successful business paradigm based on a trusting,nonhierarchical, liberated environment. The visionary leaders profiled here performed near-miracles indriving their companies to unheard-of levels of success, often fromunlikely or disheartening beginnings. Businesses as diverse asinsurance company USAA, winemaker Sea Smoke Cellars, Gore Associates,

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.

The author of Simple Spells for Love returns with everythingthe curious reader needs to know about the art of casting spellsand crafting charms to increase prosperity, enhance creativeprocesses, attract investors and partners, increase businessopportunities, and find the right career.

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.

In this incisive and controversial expos of the hidden effects of today's free-market capitalism, Edward Luttwak describes in powerful detail how it vastly differs from the controlled capitalism that flourished from 1945 to the 1980s. Turbo-capitalism is private enterprise liberated from government regulation, unchecked by effective trade unions, unfettered by concerns for employees or communities, and unhindered by taxation or investment restrictions. The winners in this free-for-all are getting much richer, while the losers are becoming poorer and are forced by downsizing to take the traditional jobs of the underclass. Led by the United States, closely followed by Britain, turbo-capitalism is spreading fast throughout Europe, Asia, and the rest of the world without the two great forces that check its enormous power in the United States: a powerful Legal system and the stringent rules of American calvinism. Luttwak exposes the major societal upheavals and inequities turbo-capitalism causes and the broad dis

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

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.

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

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

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.

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.

"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

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

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.