This book helps you discover the secrets behind hundreds of everyday enigmas. Why is there a light in your fridge but not in your freezer? Why do 24-hour shops bother having locks on their doors? Why did Kamikaze pilots wear helmets? The answer is simple: economics. Economics doesn't just happen in classrooms or international banks. It is everywhere and influences everything we do and see, from the cinema screen to the streets. It can even explain some of life's most intriguing enigmas. For years, economist Robert Frank has been encouraging his students to use economics to explain the strange situations they encounter in everyday life, from peculiar product design to the vagaries of sex appeal. Now he shares the most intriguing - and bizarre - questions and the economic principles that answer them to reveal why many of the most puzzling parts of everyday life actually make perfect (economic) sense.'Can be returned to again and again like one of those all-you-can-eat buffets' - "New York Times". Robert H. Fran

Which is more dangerous, a gun or a swimming pool? What do schoolteachers and sumo wrestlers have in coommon? Why do drug dealers still live with their mums? How much do parents really matter? These may not sound like typical questions for an economist to ask. But Steven D. Levitt is not a typical economist. He is a much-heralded scholar who studies the stuff and riddles of everyday life - from cheating and crime to sports and child rearing - and whose conclusions regularly turn the conventional wisdom on its head. He usually begins with a mountain of data and a simple, unasked question. Some of these questions concern life-and-death issues; others have an admittedly freakish quality. Thus the new field of study contained in this book:Freakonomics 作者简介 Steveb D. Levitt teaches economics at the University of Chicago. He recently received the John Bates Clark Medal, awarded every two years to the best American economist under forty. Stephen J. Dubner live

Old Europe’s new crisis. Europe, the charming continent of windmills and gondolas. Butlately, Europe has become the continent of endless strikes anddemonstrations, bombs on the trains and subways, radical Islamiccells in every city, and ghettos so hopeless and violent even thepolice won’t enter them. In Spain, a terrorist attack promptsinstant capitulation to the terrorists’ demands. In France, thesuburbs go up in flames every night. In Holland, politicians andartists are murdered for speaking frankly about Islamicimmigration. This isn’t the Europe we thought we knew. What’s going on overthere? Traveling overland from London to Istanbul, journalist ClaireBerlinski shows why the Continent has lately appeared sobewildering—and often so thoroughly obnoxious—to Americans.Speaking to Muslim immigrants, German rock stars, French cops, andItalian women who have better things to do than have children, shefinds that Europe is still, despite everything, in the grip of thesame old

More than a thousand individuals of high net worth rose up toprotest the repeal of the estate tax-Newsweek tagged them the"billionaire backlash." The primary visionaries of that group, BillGates Sr. and Chuck Collins, argue here that individual wealth is aproduct not only of hard work and smart choices but of the societythat provides the fertile soil for succes. Weaving personalnarratives, history, and plenty of solid economic sense, Gates andCollins make a sound and compelling case for estate tax reform, notrepeal.

Malcolm Gladwell is the master of playful yet profound insight. His ability to see underneath the surface of the seemingly mundane taps into a fundamental human impulse: curiosity. From criminology to ketchup, job interviews to dog training, Malcolm Gladwell takes everyday subjects and shows us surprising new ways of looking at them, and the world around us.Are smart people overrated? What can pit bulls teach us about crime? Why are problems like homelessness easier to solve than to manage? How do we hire when we can't tell who's right for the job? Gladwell explores the minor geniuses, the underdogs and the overlooked, and reveals how everyone and rything contains an intriguing story. What the Dog Saw is Gladwell at his very best - asking questions and seeking answers in his inimitable style.

“Excellent. . . . A funny and moving memoir, it is one of thefrankest accounts of race relations in America in recent years.”–The New York Times Book Review“With clarity, courage, and a deepfamiliarity with his literary predecessors–from James Joyce toJames Baldwin–Clemens has written a book as riven, wounded, and yetsurprisingly durable as its subject.” –Jeffrey Eugenides, author ofMiddlesex“Compelling. . . . his relationship to Detroit is rich andcomplex, brimming with experiences both hurtful and redemptive.”–The Los Angeles Times“Marvelous. . . . Passionate, intelligent.”–Entertainment Weekly

“I think they’re absolutely right... what’s happening to themis reflective of what’s happening across this economy.”--PresidentBarack Obama on the workers at Republic Windows Doors December 5, 2008: It wasn’t supposed to work like this. Daysafter getting a $45 billion bailout from the U.S. government, Bankof America shut down a line of credit that kept Chicago’s RepublicWindows Doors factory operating. The bosses, who knew whatwas coming, had been sneaking machinery out in the middle of thenight. They closed the factory and sent the workers home. Thensomething surprising happened: Republic’s workers occupied thefactory and refused to leave. Kari Lydersen, an award-winning Washington Post reporter, tellsthe story of the factory takeover, elegantly transforming theworkers’ story into a parable of labor activism for the 21stcentury, one that concludes with a surprising and little-reportedvictory.

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

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

In this practical book, Richard A. Swanson offers a comprehensive approach to forecasting and analyzing the financial implications of any HRD initiative. Packed with step-by-step tools and worksheets, illustrated through a variety of case studies, and featuring the author's state-of-the-art insights, this book offers HRD professionals an essential resource for planning and budgeting, presenting recommendations to executives and department leaders, and keeping their organizations on the cutting edge.