Are there tangible benefits in flossing? Is it wrong to fake orgasms? What does the perfect online dating ad look like? Should we bother doing the ironing? Is it really impossible to buy the perfect Christmas gift? (Other than this book, of course.) Economists might not be the first people you would think of to give you advice on such diverse areas as parenting, the intricacies of etiquette or the dark arts of seduction. But for years bestselling author Tim Harford has been doing just that: answering the most challenging questions in his brilliant column, where he uses the tools of economics to give practical advice about everyday dilemmas, conundrums and concerns. From family rows and the stock market to buying socks or speed dating, you'll find within these pages a witty - and of course rational - explanation for almost everything you ever wanted to know about life.

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.

The truth behind the causes and effects of America's economicdownturn. The Complete Idiot's Guide(r) to the Financial Crisis explainsthe root causes and connects the events and issues with theproblems that have confronted Americans over the course of morethan a year, giving readers an unvarnished, unbiased, and in-depthanalysis of the factors that lead up to the crisis, the majorevents that defined it, and the decisions and ramifications thatresulted from it. ?Interest in the financial crisis continues to build with severalhigh- profile books and an HBO movie due out in 2010, as well asthe success of Michael Moore's Capitalism: A Love Story ?Much of the financial crisis writing to date has been of thebreaking news variety-this book will be one of the first bookspublished after the smoke has cleared to offer a comprehensiveanalysis of what happened and how

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.

In early 2009, many economists, financiers, and media pundits were confidently predicting the end of the American-led capitalism that has shaped history and economics for the past 100 years. Yet the U.S. economic model, far from being discredited, may be strengthened by the financial crisis. In this provocative book, Anatole Kaletsky re-interprets the financial crisis as part of an evolutionary process inherent to the nature of democratic capitalism. Capitalism, he argues, is resilient. Its first form, Capitalism 1.0, was the classical laissez-faire capitalism that lasted from 1776 until 1930. Next was Capitalism 2.0, New Deal Keynesian social capitalism created in the 1930s and extinguished in the 1970s. Its last mutation, Reagan-Thatcher market fundamentalism, culminated in the financially-dominated globalization of the past decade and triggered the recession of 2009-10. The self-destruction of Capitalism 3.0 leaves the field open for the next phase of capitalism’s evolution. Capitalism is likely to

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.

Bread, cash, dosh, dough, loot. Call it what you like, it matters now more than ever. In "The Ascent of Money", Niall Ferguson shows that finance is the foundation of all human progress and the lifeblood of history. From the cash injection that funded the Italian Renaissance to the stock market bubble that sparked the French Revolution, from the bonds that fueled Britain's war effort to the Wall Street Crash and today's meltdown, this is the story of boom and bust as it's never been told before. Whether you're scraping by or rolling in it, there's no better time to understand the ascent of money.

Use eye-popping visual tools to energize your people! Just as social networking has reclaimed the Internet for humaninteractivity and co-creation, the visual meetings movement isreclaiming creativity, productivity, and playful exchange forserious work in groups. Visual Meetings explains how anyone can implementpowerful visual tools, and how these tools are being used inSilicon Valley and elsewhere to facilitate both face-to-face andvirtual group work. This dynamic and richly illustrated resourcegives meeting leaders, presenters, and consultants a slew ofexciting tricks and tools, including Graphic recording, visual planning, story boarding, graphictemplates, idea mapping, etc. Creative ways to energize team building, sales presentations,staff meetings, strategy sessions, brainstorming, and more Getting beyond paper and whiteboards to engage new mediaplatforms Understanding emerging visual language for leading groups Unlocking formerly untapped creative resources for businesssuccess, Visual Mee

Business 2.0 magazine publishes an annual cover story called"The 101 Dumbest Moments in Business." Featuring 101 hilariousitems about the year’s most unbelievably stupid business blunders,it’s hugely popular with its more than half a million printsubscribers—and with the two million people who read it on the Webthis year. In The Dumbest Moments in Business History, the editorsof Business 2.0 have compiled the best of their first four annualissues plus great (or not so great, if you happen to beresponsible) moments from the past. From New Coke to the Edsel, from Rosie magazine to Burger King’s"Herb the Nerd," the book’s highlights include: ? a Romanian car plant whose workers banded together to eliminatethe company’s debt by donating sperm and giving the proceeds totheir employer ? the Heidelberg Electric Belt, a sort of low-voltage jockstrapsold in 1900 to cure impotence, kidney disorders, insomnia, andmany other complaints ? the time Beech-Nut sold "100% pure apple

A collection of Peter Ferdinand Drucker's legendary essays onbusiness, management, economics and society, written between 1972and 1980. They reflect an international viewpoint and are concernedwith what Drucker called "social ecology" and especiallyinstitutions - governments, organized science, business or schools.This hardcover release is being published as part of the HarvardBusiness Press Drucker Library.

What have the invention of the wheel, Pompeii, the Wall StreetCrash, Harry Potter and the internet got in common? Why are allforecasters con-artists? What can Catherine the Great’s lovers tellus about probability? Why should you never run for a train or reada newspaper? This book is all about Black Swans: the random eventsthat underlie our lives, from bestsellers to world disasters. Theirimpact is huge; they’re impossible to predict; yet after theyhappen we always try to rationalize them. A rallying cry to ignorethe ‘experts’, The Black Swan shows us how to stop trying topredict everything – and take advantage of uncertainty.

The World Is Flat has helped millions of readers to see globalization in a new way. Now Friedman brings a fresh outlook to the crises of destabilizing climate change and rising competition for energy—both of which could poison our world if we do not act quickly and collectively. His argument speaks to all who are concerned about the state of the world in the global future. Friedman proposes that an ambitious national strategy— which he calls “Geo-Greenism”—is not only what we need to save the planet from overheating; it is what we need to make us all healthier, richer, more innovative, more productive, and more secure. As in The World Is Flat, he explains a new era—the Energy-Climate era—through an illuminating account of recent events. He sets out the clean-technology breakthroughs the world will need; he shows that the ET (Energy Technology) revolution will be both transformative and disruptive; and he explains why America must lead this revolution—with the first Green President and a Green

Created in 1959, Amway has had an integralpart in shaping and improving the lives and lifestyles of millions of people around the world. Not just a business, but an opportunity for personal success and achievement, it has spread the old-fashioned American dream across the globe--from South America to the Pacific Rim. This definitive history of Amway delves deep into the heart and soul of the organization.It is an inspirational,motivational chronicle of the company as a whole—its ideology,goals,beliefs,ethics,and sense of values.With provo cative insights, into the first four decades of Amway,this valuable book shows where the company satnds at the dawn of the nes millennium——and how it will continue to move forward in the twenty-first century. In addition to the actual history of Amway,you'll read the uplifting stories of people around the world whose lives have been totally transformed by its philosophy-astonishing accounts of personal success that will motuvate you to improve your own life by

Grasp the history, principles, theories, and terminology of economics with this updated bestsellerSince the initial publication of Economics For Dummies in 2005, the U.S. has endured a number of drastic changes and events that sent its economy into a tailspin. This newly revised edition presents updated material about the recent financial crisis and the steps taken to repair it.Packed with refreshed information and relevant new examples from today′s economy, it gives you a straightforward, easy–to–grasp understanding of how the economy functions–and how it influences personal finances.New information on deciphering consumer behaviorRefresh coverage of fiscal and monetary policiesA new chapter on health care policy and the financial crisisPresenting complex theories in simple terms and helping you decode the jargon, understand the equations, and debunk the common misconceptions, Economics For Dummies tackles the topic in terms you can understand.

Twenty-five new runways would eliminate most air travel delays in America; fifty patent owners are blocking a major drug company from creating a cancer cure; 90 percent of our broadcast spectrum sits idle while American cell phone service suffers. These problems have solutions that can jump-start innovation and help save our troubled economy. So, what’s holding us back? Michael Heller, a leading authority on property, reveals that while private ownership creates wealth, too much ownership means that everyone loses. Startling and accessible, The Gridlock Economy offers insights on how we can overcome this preventable paradox.

If the idea of starting an email marketing campaignoverwhelms you, the authors of Email Marketing: An Hour aDay will introduce you to email marketing basics, demonstratehow to manage details and describe how you can track and measureresults. Case studies, step-by-step guides, checklists,quizzes and hands-on tutorials will help you execute an emailmarketing campaign in just one hour a day. When you feelcomfortable with the basics, learn how to use video and audioenabled email, implement tools like mobile devices and leveragesocial networks.

The knowledge, resources, and computing power of billions ofpeople are self-organizing into a massive new collective force.Interconnected and orchestrated through blogs, wikis, chat rooms,peer-to-peer networks, and personal broadcasting, the Web is beingreinvented to provide the first global platform for collaborationin history. Encouraging consumers, employees, suppliers, partnersand competitors alike to share information and ideas, masscollaboration marks a profound change in the way business isconducted and radically alters the future of corporatearchitecture, strategy and management. WIKINOMICS is the definitiveinvestigation into how small businesses can achieve success byusing a dynamic ecosystem of partners to co-create and peer-producevalue in this newly-emerging, networked economy.

The New York Times bestseller that introduced the business world to a future that's already here--now in paperback with a new chapter about Long Tail Marketing and a new epilogue. In the most important business book since The Tipping Point, Chris Anderson shows how the future of commerce and culture isn't in hits, the high-volume head of a traditional demand curve, but in what used to be regarded as misses--the endlessly long tail of that same curve.

Drucker's vision of a "post-capitalist society"--one in which knowledge is the basic resource and nation-states compete with transnational, regional and tribal structures--is hardly original. What is new in this invigorating essay is his far-reaching analysis of the economic crisis of militarized, wasteful "megastates" like the United States and the former Soviet Union, which have failed to bring about a meaningful redistribution of income. Improving American productivity, he writes, will require investment in human resources and infrastructure (as Japan, Germany, Korea and Taiwan have done) and a drastic restructuring of organizations, including the elimination of most management layers. The federal goverment, Drucker asserts, should contract out tasks in the social sphere, confining itself to the role of policymaker. Among his other provocative proposals: jettison military aid to other countries; create a public audit agency to eliminate pork-barrel deals and special-interest politics; and hold schools acco

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