Gang Leader for a Day: A Rogue Sociologist Takes to the Streets Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Are you looking to buy Gang Leader for a Day: A Rogue Sociologist Takes to the Streets? Here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on Gang Leader for a Day: A Rogue Sociologist Takes to the Streets. Check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

Gang Leader for a Day: A Rogue Sociologist Takes to the Streets ReviewThus Reggie, a Chicago gang member, warned the author of this book. Thank goodness, Venkatesh wasn't frightened away, and the consequence is this narrative about a Chicago crack-dealing gang.
I first learned something about life in a Chicago housing project when I read David Isay's heartbreaking Our America: Life and Death on the South Side of Chicago (1999), and something about the street drug trade in David Simons and Edward Burns' grueling The Corner: A Year in the Life of an Inner-City Neighborhood (1998). Both have become classics. Sudhir Venkatesh's Gang Leader for a Day is, I believe, destined to join them as an on-the-spot narrative of gang culture of Chicago. Some of the people whose lives he tracks--J.T., Clarisse, Mama and Pops Patton, Reggie, Millie, T-Bone--grow on you until you feel as if you actually know them.
While a graduate student at the University of Chicago, weary of cold statistical analysis, Venkatesh began hanging out with the Black Kings, a crack-selling gang who headquartered in the Robert Taylor Homes projects. He wanted to get in touch with the gang subculture through direct observation. He entered into the project pretty naive and just a bit too full of himself. Seven years later, after following the Black Kings and establishing a relationship with their leader, one J.T., the things he'd seen and heard made him a lot more streetwise and a little less cocky.
During his seven-year study, "Mr. Professor," as J.T.'s mother initially called Venkatesh, learned that Chicago gangs, or at least J.T.'s outfit, lived in a culture of violence and machismo, but also functioned in an unexpected way as police in their own territory. From the perspective of society, they were lawbreakers. But at Robert Taylor Homes, they were also lawmakers, keeping a tight rein on adventitious violence and, through acts of "philanthropy," keeping the local economy fueled with drug money.
He discovered about halfway through his research with the Black Kings that he'd witnessed or heard about so many gang and drug deal activities that he'd do well to seek legal advice. When he did, he discovered (to his discomfort) that there was no such thing under the law as "researcher-client confidentiality," and that he was in a vulnerable legal position. At one point during his project, he actually worried that "he was falling into a hole [of criminality] I could never dig myself out of" (p. 250)
He realized that getting wounded in gang violence nine times out of ten meant either that nobody would call an ambulance for you, or if they did, that no ambulance would make a run into the inner city war zone to pick you up.
He learned that there's a city-wide organization and hierarchy when it comes to many Chicago gangs, including the Black Kings.
And from spending all this time with pushers, junkies, gangsters, civilians, hookers, and cops, and learning firsthand about their lives, he learned that it's risky to make holier-than-thou comparisons. When he bade J.T. farewell, for example, Venkatesh mentioned to the gangleader that he wasn't sure he was ready to jump into another longterm research project. J.T. cannily observed that there was little else Venkatesh was qualified to do. "You can't fix nothing, you never worked a day in your life. The only think you know how to do is hang out with n-----s like us" (p. 281).
An excellent, fascinating book, sometimes frightening, at other times unspeakably sad, and at still others funny: but always with the feel of authenticity and never sentimental. Highly recommended, as is his American Project: The Rise and Fall of a Modern Ghetto (2002) and especially his recent (2006) Off the Books: The Underground Economy of the Urban Poor. In fact, the latter book could easily be read as a companion volume to Gang Leader for a Day.
Gang Leader for a Day: A Rogue Sociologist Takes to the Streets Overview

Want to learn more information about Gang Leader for a Day: A Rogue Sociologist Takes to the Streets?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...

What We See: Advancing the Observations of Jane Jacobs Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Are you looking to buy What We See: Advancing the Observations of Jane Jacobs? Here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on What We See: Advancing the Observations of Jane Jacobs. Check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

What We See: Advancing the Observations of Jane Jacobs ReviewThis book is a collection of essays based loosely on the work of Jane Jacobs (most known for her book The Death and Life of Great American Cities, although she wrote numerous other books). Many of the essays are quite unimpressive, stringing together clichés or telling me what I already knew.
However, a few are noteworthy. I was engaged by:
*Ray Suarez's overview of suburban sprawl. Suarez points out that parents often move to suburbia for the benefit of children, but in some ways this experiment has failed, as suburbs "required more adult oversight, not less ... scrubbing the environment of outsiders heightened stranger anxiety rather than alleviating it." (But I question the causal relationship Suarez draws; perhaps stranger anxiety has risen in city adn suburb alike).
*Robert Sirman's essay is one of the better examples of how Jacobs' views can be applied in unfamiliar contexts. Sirman helped expand a ballet school in Toronto; rather than turning the school inward, away from the street, Sirman sought to revitalize the street- for example by supporting a nearby restaurant's attempt to open an outdoor patio, on the grounds that it would provide "eyes on the street" and thus make it seem less deserted.
*Hillary Brown's discussion of how "mixed use" can be applied to unfamiliar contexts- not just putting apartments above shops, but also adding various types of infrastructure together (for example, a Dutch bridge that accommodates not only pedestrian and vehicle traffic, but tramlines and utilities).
*Clare Cooper Marcus's discussion of attempts to combine the advantages of cul-de-sacs with the advantages of grids. (This essay was, however, far too pro-cul-de-sac for my taste, downplaying the reduced walkability of cul-de-sacs by seemingly taking it for granted that children would have no place to walk to outside their own block).
*Saskia Sassen's discussion of regional economic diversity, in which she suggests that cities' economic specializations are deeply rooted in their early 20th-century history, and thus tries to explain why (for example) New York is more dependent on finance than Chicago. (This essay, I thought, could have benefited from more data).
What We See: Advancing the Observations of Jane Jacobs Overview

Want to learn more information about What We See: Advancing the Observations of Jane Jacobs?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...

Crossing the Energy Divide: Moving from Fossil Fuel Dependence to a Clean-Energy Future Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Are you looking to buy Crossing the Energy Divide: Moving from Fossil Fuel Dependence to a Clean-Energy Future? Here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on Crossing the Energy Divide: Moving from Fossil Fuel Dependence to a Clean-Energy Future. Check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

Crossing the Energy Divide: Moving from Fossil Fuel Dependence to a Clean-Energy Future ReviewEnergy is critical to the functioning of any economy, but it is particularly important to an economy as large as that of the United States. For decades, Americans have relied on imported energy to satisfy our needs and many leaders have come forward, advocating a move toward cleaner energy and greater self- sufficiency. Crossing the Energy Divide is here to help make this transition as smooth as possible, covering topics such as renewable power, energy recycling, alternative modes of transportation, and more.
Crossing the Energy Divide takes a decidedly pro- efficiency, pro- change stand that encourages businesses and governments to work together, embrace technology, make sacrifices where necessary, and solve the energy crisis. The book places blame on both sides: Businesses are criticized for not recognizing the importance of energy in the formation of official policy and government is criticized for not eliminating some of the mindless regulations that stifle energy competition and prop up prices. Regulation of utilities is well known, but few people are aware of the extent of these regulations and how they are often detrimental in the long run- both to businesses and to individuals. This book talks at length about these needless regulations and how they hinder the move toward energy independence. The authors do not recommend eliminating all regulation of utilities. Rather, they recommend a reexamination of the regulations, the phasing out of those that are harmful to business and households, and the establishment of new regulations if they have efficiency and independence as their bottom- line goal.
One fact about this book that may surprise some readers is that it doesn't devote time or space to individual energy conservation. Instead, it spends its time talking about energy issues from a macroeconomic and government perspective because it is here where the greatest changes need to take place. Like the authors point out, individual energy conservation is already well- publicized and the green movement has a large following. To make a real dent in the problem for the nation as a whole will require cooperation from businesses and governments and these are the areas where the book focuses almost all of its energy.
As for the writing, Crossing the Energy Divide is very academic. It is written like an official research paper and thus is it will not earn many points among those who enjoy creative non- fiction. It is the type of book that would make a good reading choice for students of environmental engineering, geology, political science, or similar disciplines. The lack of creativity or entertainment value could lead some to label the book as a tad boring, but one must realize that the authors intend this as an educational volume. Their concerns are serious, and they dedicate the book to information and learning about energy production and use.
Energy is an important topic of political discussion and, in spite of the coverage it has already received, it isn't going to go away. Yes, energy prices have fallen in the past year or two but it is only a matter of time until finite resources become low in supply and prices rise once again. Crossing the Energy Divide is a very good book about the topic of energy and how we must embrace change for the betterment of all Americans. The book could use a little more length and deeper discussion of its key point, but it is still very good nonetheless; offering advice, presenting anecdotes, and summarizing its positions well. The authors feel that a change in energy policy and attitude is long overdue and the book presents many compelling reasons and good energy alternatives that will help stave off future shortages and pave the way to a more energy efficient tomorrow.
Crossing the Energy Divide: Moving from Fossil Fuel Dependence to a Clean-Energy Future Overview

Want to learn more information about Crossing the Energy Divide: Moving from Fossil Fuel Dependence to a Clean-Energy Future?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...

Twenty Minutes in Manhattan Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Are you looking to buy Twenty Minutes in Manhattan? Here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on Twenty Minutes in Manhattan. Check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

Twenty Minutes in Manhattan ReviewMichael Sorkin has written the best book on architecture and cities I have read in thirty years.
The groaning tables of books on architecture and its vulgar opposite, real estate, have been near collapse from useless piles of theories, career promotions, trashing old houses, freezing relics, flipping toxic properties, making tidy fortunes by deceiving yearning home buyers, and most of all boosting the pathetic dreams of new urbanists out to out-do Disneyesque fantasists.
Sorkin shows that cities are far better than they have been made out to be by defilers of the landscape who want to ruin them in order to sell new, improved cleansing soapsuds.
By walking daily from his home to studio along a small chunk of lower Manhattan, historicized Greenwich Village to tonified Tribeca, Sorkin has gestated thousands of eye-widening insights about what works in cities and what doesn't.
He gives little credit to aggressive professional planners in thrall to rich developers, instead he bestows awards on street entrepreneurs and neighborhood believers. He wonderfully and informatively describes details of large failures and small successes in New York City, the United States, Europe, Asia and elsewhere he has traveled to lecture and study -- many sure to start as headshaking before erupting as in belly-laughs.
Incivil discourse -- urban warfare -- gets special attention, the worst and the best, the enduring homicidal threat of infernal vehicles against pedestrians fighting for their lives. The cellphone yakkers, the widebody baby strollers, the second-hand smokers, the Formula 1 jerks in from Jersey, the national security bollards, the the homeland security aggressors, the corporate haters of trees, the venal, cruel, landlords at home and work, the fancy architects without scruple, what else have you always wanted somebody to challenge, ridicule and perfectly plan for extinction.
Sorkin handily provides tips for winning exclusive use of an elevator, what to enjoy in cities no tour guide knows, who to be forever angry at for damaging our habitats, what each of us can do to contribute to -- demand of our elected representatives, designers and educators -- places to live and thrive under our own guidance, free of orchestrated interference by exploiters of cities and their covert lobbyists and financiers.
Get this heart-warming, mind-stretching book, take a hike with Sorkin, dodge insane traffic, dump garbage in front of your landlord's office, pray for rent control to spread around the world.
Twenty Minutes in Manhattan Overview

Want to learn more information about Twenty Minutes in Manhattan?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...

Going Broke: Why Americans Can't Hold On To Their Money Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Are you looking to buy Going Broke: Why Americans Can't Hold On To Their Money? Here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on Going Broke: Why Americans Can't Hold On To Their Money. Check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

Going Broke: Why Americans Can't Hold On To Their Money ReviewThere are many things this book does well. (In fact, everything this book does, it does well.) First, and most remarkably, it tells stories. Not only is the author brave enough to reveal his own financial foibles, he includes interviews with individuals who have suffered financial ruin and lived to tell the tale. The stories are striking in their variety and poignancy, and they are made all the more salient by Vyse's beautifully written prose. The author paints a clear picture of his subjects' various crises, so that each story--no matter how different it may be from our own--has a sense of familiarity. We understand that these are fellow Americans who for the most part have worked hard and played by the rules, and we can't help recognizing their humanity and vulnerability as our own.
Moving beyond the stories that open each chapter, Vyse looks not only at the internal, "psychological" processes associated with financial difficulty--such as the seemingly inexplicable tendency to overpay for items on eBay--but he also uses a broad lens to examine the social and political forces that conspire against our best efforts to stay ahead in the financial game. Rather than simply attributing the bankruptcy epidemic to "shopaholism" or endemic self-indulgence (as many others blithely do), Vyse weaves together hard science, cultural criticism, and macroeconomic analysis to create a disturbing image of our personal--and national--economic landscape.
Finally, the majority of Vyse's suggestions for not going broke are practical, common-sense solutions that almost every American can employ. But even in presenting his suggestions, Vyse acknowledges that there are larger forces which need to be addressed before a majority of Americans can enjoy financial security. Far from being a panacea, Vyse presents his suggestions as something of a self-defense strategy in a world where our senses and sensibilities are constantly bombarded, and our financial futures are bought and sold by corporations without hesitation or regulation.
I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in human behavior, American culture, economics, politics, or public policy--and to anyone who just wants a good, thought-provoking read.
Going Broke: Why Americans Can't Hold On To Their Money Overview

Want to learn more information about Going Broke: Why Americans Can't Hold On To Their Money?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...

Factor Five: Transforming the Global Economy through 80% Improvements in Resource Productivity Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Are you looking to buy Factor Five: Transforming the Global Economy through 80% Improvements in Resource Productivity? Here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on Factor Five: Transforming the Global Economy through 80% Improvements in Resource Productivity. Check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

Factor Five: Transforming the Global Economy through 80% Improvements in Resource Productivity ReviewA deeply researched report on the increasing worldwide potentials of energy and water productivity. The authors are renowned experts in this vital field and show in this ook where the greatest improvements are to be found. Essential reading!
Hazel Henderson, author of Ethical Markets: Growing the Green Economy and The Politics of the Solar Age: Alternatives to EconomicsFactor Five: Transforming the Global Economy through 80% Improvements in Resource Productivity Overview

Want to learn more information about Factor Five: Transforming the Global Economy through 80% Improvements in Resource Productivity?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...

Thriving in the New Economy: Lessons from Today's Top Business Minds Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Are you looking to buy Thriving in the New Economy: Lessons from Today's Top Business Minds? Here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on Thriving in the New Economy: Lessons from Today's Top Business Minds. Check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

Thriving in the New Economy: Lessons from Today's Top Business Minds ReviewImagine you're friends with some of the most intellectually stimulating and financially successful people in the world and you invited them all to dinner one night. Imagine they came and took turns sharing their greatest insights into the sources of the financial crisis, where we are today and what the best opportunities are going forward. And finally imagine someone could write it all down and get this salon published as a guide for the rest of us. That's pretty much what you've got in Lori Ann LaRocco's new book, "Thriving in the New Economy." The guests in this salon are definitely the "A List" including Larry Lindsey, Wilbur Ross, Rudy Giuliani, Wayne Huizenga, Bob Doll and many others. And the conversation is lively thanks to LaRocco's guest selection, personal relationships and conversational prompts. Larry Lindey tell us that IQ points and academic achievements are not enough to provide good economic stewardship; you need real world market experience and a feel for what markets are actually telling you. He warns against the dangers of cognitive bias and gives us tips for maintaining an objective, analytic approach free of ideological baggage. The contribution of Wilbur Ross is fascinating. We all know the chronology of the meltdown too well from Bear to Lehman to AIG. Ross goes over this ground not just as a simple chronology but by retracing his mental processes as he first minimized dangers in his own portfolio and then maximized opportunities in seeking gems amid the financial wreckage. We each remember what we thought when we heard about AIG but actually getting inside Ross's head for a play-by-play account of how he alerted the CEO's in his existing portfolio companies to cuts costs, cut investments and lower projections and then pivoted to look at the most beaten down sectors - mortgages, monoline insurance and banks - and systematically pulled diamonds out of the dirt is fascinating. It shows how the smart money got that way and how it stays that way. Paul McCulley of PIMCO takes us inside the "new normal". We've all heard about it but McCulley outlines the dynamic tension between capitalism (which he calls efficient but non-democratic) and democracy (which he says is fair but messy) and shows how government is swinging the pendulum toward the latter in ways that have huge implications for investors. The book does not just focus on finance but moves through real estate, retail and manufacturing with the same panache and insight so that we get an overview of the new economy emerging from the crisis of 2007-2009. And Rudy Giuliani reminds us how beaten down New York was by the late 1980's and how leadership and vision can turn around even a seemingly hopeless situation; something to bear in mind as we face hard times ahead. Bravo to Lori Ann LaRocco for using her vision, contacts and savvy to put together this top notch salon in book form which we can all enjoy and learn from. It's as if we're at the table with the smartest and most seasoned operators, but better, because we can turn to this book as a valuable guide time and time again.Thriving in the New Economy: Lessons from Today's Top Business Minds Overview

Want to learn more information about Thriving in the New Economy: Lessons from Today's Top Business Minds?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...

The McDonaldization of Society 5 Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Are you looking to buy The McDonaldization of Society 5? Here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on The McDonaldization of Society 5. Check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

The McDonaldization of Society 5 ReviewSo often we hear those words, "I wish there were more time." More time for minding the kids, more time for doing our work with the quality that we somehow know can be attained, more time for creative pursuits. Why this pervasive "time deficit" malaise? Sociologist George Ritzer has some answers, and they are unsettling.
In "The McDonaldization of Society," Ritzer takes the fast-food industry and its principles of business as an organizational template for emerging postmodern society. He points out that the book in not a criticism of McDonald's, nor even the fast-food business, but an analysis of how fast-food organizational practices have permeated into myriad aspects of our social lives. His marshalling of evidience for this trend is compelling. Using many examples from such disparate social institutions as family life, higher education, the funeral business, health care, and entertainment, Ritzer illuminates the broader trends within the "taken for granted" daily routines of life. He does so with a keen sociological eye, but also with a very wry sense of irreverence that adds a sardonic touch of humor to the expose.
The fast-food model, according to Ritzer, has a manner of pushing us towards ever greater reliance on the fostering of quantity over quality, attainment of efficiency, creation of predictability, and reducing much of our life experience to a coldly calculated "value." As one reads further and takes in the diverse landscape of specific illustrations for these trends, one begins to see the "McDonalized" influence everywhere. Then too, one will also grasp why so many of us are bemoaning the demise of free time in our lives, and how we have become unwitting captives of the mindless inertia of "I want it fast, I want it now, I want what's next" mentalities.
Fortunately, Ritzer includes a chapter on what to do about living in a "McDonalized" world. He points out that we do have choices, and responsibilities, shoud we choose to accept them. One can learn to march to a less frantic pace of social organization, and recognize that many of the promised "rewards" of such an accelerated lifestyle are simply false and hollow.
After reading a book like this, one feels compelled to begin thinking through the relationship between personal life and institutional pressures for faster living. That alone is a solid reason to have a copy of this book. It will uncover some unpleasant realities, but at the same time challenge one to get beyond the defeatist attitude of "well, what you gonna' do?"
"McDonaldization of Society" is indeed a wake-up call, but also a consciousness altering work that underscores the important truth: just because the rest of society seems to be running faster and without real purpose, it doesn't mean that one must fall in line. My advice: Purchase this insightful book, take time to read and think about it... read it, in fact, at a favorite "Ma and Pa" type diner, where they won't encourage you to rush out the door and will ask you to wait awhile while the cook fusses over that blue-plate special. A choice, you see.The McDonaldization of Society 5 Overview

Want to learn more information about The McDonaldization of Society 5?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...

Why Your World Is About to Get a Whole Lot Smaller: Oil and the End of Globalization Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Are you looking to buy Why Your World Is About to Get a Whole Lot Smaller: Oil and the End of Globalization? Here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on Why Your World Is About to Get a Whole Lot Smaller: Oil and the End of Globalization. Check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

Why Your World Is About to Get a Whole Lot Smaller: Oil and the End of Globalization ReviewI read Jeff Rubin's book because I invest in energy stocks and like to know the broad societal implications of energy issues. I was fascinated by his major premise that high energy costs will end the global marketplace. It is the opposite of Tom Friedman's World is Flat premise. Rubin's basic argument is that high energy prices will trump low labor costs of developing countries. That will mean we will re-industrialize and start making things again in America. That may make us look more like 1950's America. Most economists say globalization is irreversible but Rubin disagrees. Globalization is only possible when cheap energy allows shipping anything at low cost.
There are two other books that have the same end of cheap energy theme. One is Stephen Leeb's Game Over and the other is $20 a Gallon by Chris Steiner. Leeb's book is more of an investment survival guide while Steiner's $20 a Gallon is more of a sociological portrait of America in the age of prohibitive gas prices. Leeb is rather depressing in positing the end of cheap energy and commodities in general. Leeb sees global insecurity as countries fight for resources.
Steiner sees high energy as an opportunity to re-urbanize America with close in dense communities without cars. Steiner does a great job of predicting how escalating gas prices will change our lives. He says we may be happier living a simpler less consumption oriented lifestyle.
Rubin's book is the best all round book for it covers both economics and sociology. If you want to know how to make money from energy shortages, Leeb has some valuable and practical advice. Steiner will leave you hopeful for a simpler, more community minded America. I recommend all three books without hesitation as helpful guides to an America facing a dearth of resources in the next 20 years. They certainly reinforce the need for a national energy policy now while we may be able to extend resources.Why Your World Is About to Get a Whole Lot Smaller: Oil and the End of Globalization Overview

Want to learn more information about Why Your World Is About to Get a Whole Lot Smaller: Oil and the End of Globalization?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...

Lessons for the Young Economist Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Are you looking to buy Lessons for the Young Economist? Here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on Lessons for the Young Economist. Check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

Lessons for the Young Economist ReviewKey aspects of this book to consider when buying:
1) This is mostly the Austrian Economic theory. Understanding the material in this book WILL help you VASTLY when going through any sort of high school or college economics course, but much of this isn't taught in the Keynesian-dominated classrooms.
2) This book IS written for the younger audience -- hence the title (I only say this because there is another review of this book that... well, he apparently didn't even read the title).
3) Much of this book (if not all) CAN be found online at mises.org. I recommend buying the book - it's easier, more mobile, hurts your eyes less, and is at a fantastic price.
4) This book IS understandable to anyone who doesn't understand hardly anything about economics - this is a fantastic introduction.
5) Murphy did a great job. I only saw one typo throughout the whole 400 page book, it's humorous, and it's understandable.
6) If you already have a sound understanding of the Austrian Economic theory ("only individuals act", "comparative advantage", "trade necessarily means both parties benefit", "boom bust cycle"), then it might not be the best investment FOR YOURSELF. But, heck, at $25, you can use it easily to help people who have questions.
Buy it, you won't regret it. It delivers everything it promises. This book + "Economics in One Lesson" would make the perfect gift for anyone looking to understand Austrian economics, but has yet to indulge.Lessons for the Young Economist Overview

Want to learn more information about Lessons for the Young Economist?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...

Economics (Book Only) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Are you looking to buy Economics (Book Only)? Here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on Economics (Book Only). Check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

Economics (Book Only) ReviewAs an instructor who has used this textbook, it is easy to understand and follow. It is written in plain English. It is logical in its organization. Lots of real world examples. The students enjoy studying a difficult subject using this textbook.Economics (Book Only) Overview

Want to learn more information about Economics (Book Only)?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...

The Experience Economy: Work Is Theater & Every Business a Stage Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Are you looking to buy The Experience Economy: Work Is Theater & Every Business a Stage? Here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on The Experience Economy: Work Is Theater & Every Business a Stage. Check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

The Experience Economy: Work Is Theater & Every Business a Stage ReviewThe book takes a very logical, reasoned approach towards the theoretical next steps of economic expansion. It reasons that margins drive profits and that by constantly searching for higher margin offerings, a company will naturally improve and increase its profitability.
The logic is understandable... Commodity goods have small margins, as they are undifferentiated from each other and relativly easy to reproduce. Manufactured goods take things one step further, providing higher margins due to some level of product differentiation and brand specificity. Above that are Services, where the products don't last long enough to be copied and are customized enough to prevent easy manipulation. The higher margins should lead to higher profitability and better staying power. Fair enough.
Where the book's logic becomes strained, however, is where it strethes out towards the next generation of higher margin offerings, "Experiences."While it is true that experience companies my be able to provide higher margins than can older economy companies, experience companies tend to suffer from a fatal flaw that has infected many of the companies praised in the book. That flaw is the utter lack of repeat business generated by most experience economy companies.
Take two of the companies mentioned in the book as companies to emulate -- Planet Hollywood, the restaurant chain, and Peapod, the online grocery store. Planet Hollywood is under bankruptcy protection, because people are simply unwilling to pay through the nose repeatedly for the same experience over and over again. Peapod ran out of cash and is limping along only after being bought out by a Dutch firm. Hardly two stellar companies to emulate when searching for ever expanding profits.
Throughout the book, by expounding the virtues of ever expanding margins, rather than focusing on goods, services, and 'experiences' that people would be willing to repeatedly pay to have, the authors make the mistake of ignoring the overall forest for the sake of a single tree.
In the real world, experience companies know their limitations and create their pricing scheme to represent that fact. Amusement parks sell season passes for less than the cost of two visits -- acknowledging the fact that people may pay more for experiences, but only once, and repeat business depends heavily on making the repeat worth the cost.
Had the book focused more on successful ways for experience economy companies to thrive, rather than spending its time drolling on about the virtues of failing companies with the right plan, it would have been far more believable and enjoyable.The Experience Economy: Work Is Theater & Every Business a Stage Overview

Want to learn more information about The Experience Economy: Work Is Theater & Every Business a Stage?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...

What's Mine Is Yours: The Rise of Collaborative Consumption Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Are you looking to buy What's Mine Is Yours: The Rise of Collaborative Consumption? Here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on What's Mine Is Yours: The Rise of Collaborative Consumption. Check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

What's Mine Is Yours: The Rise of Collaborative Consumption ReviewOne Saturday a friend who lives on Nob Hill in S.F. drove a zipcar over to visit me in Sausalito. He was eager to tell me about his trip to Istanbul, paid for by renting out his spare bedroom. Earlier that morning, via a freecycle posting, a stranger picked up some clay pots I'd set out by my garage so he could make a deck garden. Our apparently different actions are, in fact, part of a trend that Roos Rogers and Rachel Botsman dub collaborative consumption in their book, What's Mine is Yours.
Feeling pinched for money? Hate waste? Want to get to know more of your neighbors? These are just some of the reasons that might motivate you to discover fresh methods to save and to share that can also enrich your life - with others.
From bartering to exchanging, fixing, giving away, renting or more efficiently using what you have, this book is the most complete (and lively) resource I've found. You'll not only read about the better-known businesses and organizations that are tapping into "collaborative consumption" like zipcar and Meetup but many lesser-known groups and methods that you might join or reinvent to adapt to your situation or interest.
They write, "The collaboration at the heart of Collaborative Consumption may be local and face-to-face, or it may use the Internet to connect, combine, form groups, and find something or someone to create "many to many" peer-to-peer interactions. Simply put, people are sharing again with their community - be it an office, a neighborhood, an apartment building, a school, or a Facebook network. But the sharing and collaboration are happening in ways and at a scale never before possible, creating a culture and economy of What's Mine is Yours."
Collaborative Consumption appears in three "systems" suggest the authors, product service systems, redistribution markets and collaborative lifestyles. The underlying principles that enable them are idling capacity, critical mass, belief in the commons and trust between strangers.
In keeping with a book on collaboration the authors seemingly productively co-wrote this book. You can read about the factors in our relatively recent history that caused Americans to shop as a hobby, often beyond our mean or needs and throw away or store our extra stuff (Americans average more than four credit cards per person while Europeans get by with 0.23 per person)- or you can jump to the many interesting characters, services, methods and stories in the rise of our collaborative consumption.
Some of my favorite stories are about business people who made dramatic changes on how they operated their business such as Ray Anderson who had a "conversion experience" after reading my friend Paul Hawken's book, The Ecology of Commerce The Ecology of Commerce: A Declaration of Sustainability, and transformed his firm, "the world's largest commercial carpet company" into "the first fully sustainable industrial enterprise." There are many fascinating back stories on how company founders backed into starting their business after personally seeing a need to reduce waste or save money - or others desire to share.
As someone who has had a long interest in collaboration I was delighted to learn how many more clever methods people are inventing to get along well on less, often through the use of collaborative technology. For example, I've been a longtime fan and user of freecyle, Zipcar, Netflix and Zilok (and was building up the nerve to try CouchSurfing or Airbnb) yet I'd not heard of many of the others including Snapgoods, SwapTree, SmartBike, TechShop, HearPlanet, iLetYou, SolarCity, UsedCardboardBoxes or OurGoods.
Perhaps like me, you'll finish this book convinced that sharing in all its forms is a major trend - and not just for the frugal or the greenies. Further you'll have specific ideas about why and how to share, exchange, rent, swap or ensure that the things you no longer want get into the hands of those who do. After you've read this book visit Shareable and see more stories to inspire you about how we are becoming more inventive about sharing the more we connect with each other about it. Relatedly, see Clay Shirky's Cognitive SurplusCognitive Surplus: Creativity and Generosity in a Connected Age, Kevin Kelly's What Technology WantsWhat Technology Wants, Peter Block's The Abundant CommunityThe Abundant Community: Awakening the Power of Families and Neighborhoods and Delivering Happiness Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and PurposeWhat's Mine Is Yours: The Rise of Collaborative Consumption Overview

Want to learn more information about What's Mine Is Yours: The Rise of Collaborative Consumption?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...

SuperFreakonomics, Illustrated edition: Global Cooling, Patriotic Prostitutes, and Why Suicide Bombers Should Buy Life Insurance Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Are you looking to buy SuperFreakonomics, Illustrated edition: Global Cooling, Patriotic Prostitutes, and Why Suicide Bombers Should Buy Life Insurance? Here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on SuperFreakonomics, Illustrated edition: Global Cooling, Patriotic Prostitutes, and Why Suicide Bombers Should Buy Life Insurance. Check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

SuperFreakonomics, Illustrated edition: Global Cooling, Patriotic Prostitutes, and Why Suicide Bombers Should Buy Life Insurance ReviewI love this book. It is a fascinating look at real data that often tells us a very different story than we are quick to believe. No, it is not a foundational bastion of absolute certainties, but it was never intended to be. This book offers a different way of looking at common everyday issues and poses the idea of "maybe it's not like you always thought it was." It is funny, poignant, quirky, curious, odd and in some cases quite practical (e.g. the Realtor chapter). It's also a quick read, keeps the readers attention throughout.
I loved it.
I particularly like this edition better than the first (Freakonomics) because it saves each punchline for just the right place. The first book, gave you all of the really exciting and interesting punchlines right up front, then gave you chapters detailing each example further into the book. The result was that by the time you got half way through, it became somewhat boring. You already knew what the answer was, so you lost the thrill of surprise and the joy of wondering and speculating and trying to figure it out along the way. This book plays it just right, with a fascinating punchline punctuating each chapter.SuperFreakonomics, Illustrated edition: Global Cooling, Patriotic Prostitutes, and Why Suicide Bombers Should Buy Life Insurance Overview

Want to learn more information about SuperFreakonomics, Illustrated edition: Global Cooling, Patriotic Prostitutes, and Why Suicide Bombers Should Buy Life Insurance?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...

A Savage Factory: An Eyewitness Account of the Auto Industry's Self-Destruction Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Are you looking to buy A Savage Factory: An Eyewitness Account of the Auto Industry's Self-Destruction? Here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on A Savage Factory: An Eyewitness Account of the Auto Industry's Self-Destruction. Check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

A Savage Factory: An Eyewitness Account of the Auto Industry's Self-Destruction ReviewRobert Dewar captures the essence of an American auto plant in his compelling book "A Savage Factory." It's "Dilbert" meets "Lord of the Flies."
Dewar's true life, eyewitness account walks you through from his dis-orientation to his self-termination. The stories are both hilarious and harrowing, showing the greasy underside of Ford Motor Company that will forever stain your impression of the auto industry because of the managers and union workers whose battle for control puts Ford on a collision course for self-destruction.
Dewar's raw, front row seat writing offers no sugar coating because the hardened characters who threatened his life with a loaded gun, intimidate him with operational sabotage, break him psycholoigcally that sent him to recoup and re-group with a shrink, and confound him with petty managerial games are not conjourned from his imagination but are people who lived and breathed down his neck every day he walked the factory floor of Ford.
If you think you have a bad day at the office or a boss who is intolerable, think again. Reading this account of how the Detroit Mafia plays God with people's careers while jeopardizing their health and family life will certainly make you grateful that you don't have to don a Foreman's jacket that doubled as a bulls-eye for unimaginable abuse and one unbeievable story.
"A Savage Factory" will grip you with disbelief from start to finish and make you appreciate that you never had to live the experiences that Robert Dewar endured in order to take home a paycheck.
A Savage Factory: An Eyewitness Account of the Auto Industry's Self-Destruction Overview

Want to learn more information about A Savage Factory: An Eyewitness Account of the Auto Industry's Self-Destruction?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...