How to Defend Yourself from an Abusive Boss: The Formal Complaint Process

Book Description

In many parts of the world, lower levels of government are taking over responsibilities from national authorities. This often leads to difficulty in maintaining fiscal discipline. So-called soft budget constraints allow these subnational governments to expand expenditures without facing the full cost. Until now, however, there has been little understanding of how decentralization leads to large fiscal deficits and macroeconomic instability.

This book, based on a research project at the World Bank, develops an analytical framework for considering the issues related to soft budget constraints, including the institutions, history, and policies that drive expectations for bailouts among subnational governments. It examines fiscal, financial, political, and land market mechanisms for subnational discipline in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, China, Germany, Hungary, India, Norway, South Africa, Ukraine, and the United States.

The book concludes that the dichotomy between market and hierarchical mechanisms is false. Most countries--and virtually all developing countries--must rely on market mechanisms as well as hierarchical constraints to maintain fiscal discipline. When bailouts cannot be avoided, they present important opportunities to reform underlying institutions. Successful market discipline--where voluntary lenders perform important monitoring functions--is most likely to emerge from a gradual process that begins with carefully crafted rules and oversight.

Fiscal Decentralization and the Challenge of Hard Budget Constraints.(Book review): An article from: National Tax Journal

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Fiscal Decentralization and the Challenge of Hard Budget Constraints.(Book review): An article from: National Tax Journal
Wallace E. Oates
Manufacturer: Thomson Gale
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Book Description

This digital document is an article from National Tax Journal, published by Thomson Gale on June 1, 2006. The length of the article is 4150 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Fiscal Decentralization and the Challenge of Hard Budget Constraints.(Book review)
Author: Wallace E. Oates
Publication: National Tax Journal (Magazine/Journal)
Date: June 1, 2006
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 59 Issue: 2 Page: 389(8)

Article Type: Book review

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Book Description

Affirmative action remains a hotly contested issue on our political landscape, yet the institutionalized systems of privilege which uphold the status quo remain unchallenged. Many Americans who advocate a merit-based, race-free worldview do not acknowledge the systems of privilege which benefit them. For example, many Americans rely on a social and sometimes even financial inheritance from previous generations. This inheritance, unlikely to be forthcoming if one's ancestors were slaves, privileges whiteness, maleness, and heterosexuality.

In this important volume, scholars positioned differently with respect to white privilege examine how privilege of all forms manifests itself and how we can, and must, be aware of invisible privilege in our daily lives. Individual chapters focus on language, the workplace, the implications of comparing racism and sexism, race-based housing privilege, the dream of diversity and the cycle of exclusion, the rule of law and invisible systems of privilege, and the power of law to transform society.

Customer Reviews:

Provocative and eminently readable.......2000-12-16

In a series of lively and thought-provoking essays, Wildman and her colleagues shed light on the issue of privilege in America. Though the writers are law professors, the book is very accessible to all readers. I enjoyed it!

.......provocative and insightful.......1999-04-25

This is a book that keeps on giving long after you put it down. Many of us know we abhor discrimination and intolerance, yet fail to understand our lofty ideals are perched on a wide ledge of privilege. Why do people in the ghettos burn their domains? Why haven't more cases of equal opportunities for African-Americans been realized? What is a concerned white person supposed to do? Which is heterosexuality - a default or a choice? Why does the work of individuals in the caring professions become devalued as they strive to meet society's most prominent altruistic goals? This collection of provocative suggestions has the potential to reframe our debates about current issues in the American experience.

Customer Reviews:

Haven't read it yet, but after taking his class, I will!.......2001-11-22

I'm an anthropology student at Hunter College in New York. Professor Creed teaches here, and this semester I took his "Families and Households in Anthropology" Class. He's an amazing professor, and I look forward to reading this book. If his class reflects anything in the book, I am sure it will be great!

Great insight into Bulgarian village social/economic life.......1999-11-05

Once you get by some of the academic gobbledygook, this book delivers great insight into the challenges of a Bulgarian village making the economic transition. Creed has obviously 'lived the life' there, as opposed to just parachuting in for a couple weeks. I lived there too and can attest to the veracity of his observations. This is about the best book I can think of for anyone who wants to really know about the people and lifestyle of Bulgaria over the last 40 years.

Domesticating Revolution : From Socialist Reform to Ambivalent Transition in a Bulgarian Village

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Domesticating Revolution : From Socialist Reform to Ambivalent Transition in a Bulgarian Village
No Author
Manufacturer: Pennsylvania State University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OQKZC8

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Domesticating Revolution: From Socialist Reform to Ambivalent Transition in a Bulgarian Village
Gerald W. Creed
Manufacturer: Pennsylvania State University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OQL09A

Book Description

Oxford Surveys on Eukaryotic Genes was established to provide a forum for authoritative reviews of particular genes or gene families. In a rapidly developing field where new findings are published in a vast range of journals, there is a need to draw information together in an accessible
format, especially for the non-specialist reader. In this, as in previous volumes, the authors have been carefully chosen to represent the forefront of research. Their chapters focus on particular genes or gene families whose structure or function is better understood as a result of recent
experimentation. The authors review findings from their own laboratories, and give an up-to-date account of the work of other groups. These reviews will be valuable reference sources for scientists and students active in molecular genetics, biochemistry, genetics, immunology, and developmental
biology.

Oxford Surveys on Eukaryotic Genes Volume 7

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Oxford Surveys on Eukaryotic Genes Volume 7
Norman Maclean
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OKUVCS

Book Description

Over the last two decades there has been increasing recognition that problems in oceanography and fisheries sciences and related marine areas are nearly all manifest in the spatio-temporal domain. Geographical Information Systems (GIS), the natural framework for spatial data handling, are being recognized as powerful tools with useful applications in marine sciences. Geographic Information Systems in Oceanography and Fisheries provides a thorough examination of marine GIS applications that include a wide variety of methods and sophisticated approaches in coastal, continental shelf, and deep ocean studies. It presents new innovative approaches of using GIS in the examination of the dynamic relations that characterize the marine world, including marine GIS macro routines for the development of oceanography and fisheries GIS tools and applications. This book is divided into four parts. The first gives an overview of marine GIS, including conceptual issues on marine spatial thinking and models of marine GIS development. The second and third parts examine the main sampling methods and online sources of spatially referenced data, and discuss application examples and innovative approaches in GIS developments for many oceanographic and fisheries tasks. The fourth part presents GIS technical issues by listing marine GIS routines for a wide array of GIS tasks. Anyone with interests in marine GIS development, physical and biological oceanography, fisheries and information based proposals for ocean and fisheries resource management will find this book useful.

Book Description

Starting from basic principles, the autor, whose own contributions to these developments have been significant, describes the rapidly growing field of modern semiconductor detectors used for energy and position measurement radiation. This development was stimulated by requirements in elementary particle physics where it has led to important scientific discoveries. It has now spread to many other fields of science and technology. The book is written in a didactic way and includes an introduction to semiconductor physics. The working principles of semiconductor radiation detectors are explained in an intuitive way, followed by formal quantitative analysis. Broad coverage is also given to electronic signal readout and to the subject of radiation damage. The book is the first to comprehensively cover the semiconductor radiation detectors currently in use. It is useful as a teaching guide and as a reference work for research and applications.

Book Description

Chinese Modern examines crucial episodes in the creation of Chinese modernity during the turbulent twentieth century. Analyzing a rich array of literary, visual, theatrical, and cinematic texts, Xiaobing Tang portrays the cultural transformation of China from the early 1900s through the founding of the People’s Republic, the installation of the socialist realist aesthetic, the collapse of the idea of utopia in the aftermath of the Cultural Revolution, and the gradual cannibalization of the socialist past by consumer culture at the century’s end. Throughout, he highlights the dynamic tension between everyday life and the heroic ideal.
Tang uncovers crucial clues to modern Chinese literary and cultural practices through readings of Wu Jianren’s 1906 novel The Sea of Regret and works by canonical writers Lu Xun, Ding Ling, and Ba Jin. For the midcentury, he broadens his investigation by considering theatrical, cinematic, and visual materials in addition to literary texts. His reading of the 1963 play The Young Generation reveals the anxiety and terror underlying the exhilarating new socialist life portrayed on the stage. This play, enormously influential when it first appeared, illustrates the utopian vision of China’s lyrical age and its underlying discontents—both of which are critical for understanding late-twentieth-century China. Tang closes with an examination of post–Cultural Revolution nostalgia for the passion of the lyrical age.
Throughout Chinese Modern Tang suggests a historical and imaginative affinity between apparently separate literatures and cultures. He thus illuminates not only Chinese modernity but also the condition of modernity as a whole, particularly in light of the postmodern recognition that the market and commodity culture are both angel and devil. This elegantly written volume will be invaluable to students of China, Asian studies, literary criticism, and cultural studies, as well as to readers who study modernity.

Customer Reviews:

Zhang Xudong's book more helpful.......2002-09-05

Personally I find Zhang Xudong's book on Chinese modernism more helpful than Tang's to put together a panorama of contemporary China. Theoretically, Zhang's book is also more substantial. Tang's book is not as inspiring. But actually, both Zhang and Tang are from the prestigious literature program at Duke. They might have got similar training there at Duke under Jameson. Maybe they are different in terms of styles. Finally, I admit that I took Zhang's class at NYU and I had a good time. Maybe I should try Tang at Chicago too.

colonial expertise on Taiwan?.......2002-06-30

I did not know that Prof Tang is an expert on Taiwan. I guess nobody in Taiwan thinks so! This book, briefly mentioning a secondary writer in Taiwan, exactly shows that this book and this scholar are equipped very limited knowledge of Taiwan. It is odd to subjugate Taiwan modernity under Chinese modern. There should be another book on Taiwan modern. I find it horrible that those who do not know Taiwan well can claim any expertise on Taiwan. It sounds so colonial.

overshadowed by Fred Jameson.......2002-06-20

It seems that the author is very eager to let the reader know that he is fully influenced by Fred Jameson. Long famous for his translation of Jameson and training from Jameson, Tang might be priviledged, but I am afraid, he is also overshadowed by Jameson at the same time. In the book, the Jameson's presence is here and there. I do not know if it is a sign of the writer's piety to the guru, or if it means the writer has no other resources. Jameson is great, true. But when a scholar has had stuck to Jameson for more than one decade, it is weird. I recall that Professor Tang collaborates with Professor Liu Kang (Penn State U) from time to time. I have to say that I see Liu's hardwork and scholarship in his book, MARXISM AND AESTHETICS, but I do not see anything similar in CHINESE MODERN. It is not as theoretical as it should be (even when it is theoretical, it is from Jameson), and it does not provide interesting textual analysis. In one book, I see breakthrough, but I do not see something similar in the other book. As a lover of Lu Xun, I am not impressed at all by Tang's reading of Lu Xun. It is flat, and not inspiring. I insist that we can read Lu Xun more creatively, as long as we are still open to the intellectual input of theoretical training. I totally forget what Tang has written about Lu Xun, but I am so impressed with the highly quotable studies on Marxism and Maoism in Liu's book. TO be honest, I am disappointed with CHINESE MODERN. Fortunately, I have collected enouogh books by Jameson, and I can read them directly without any relay process.

not up to its ambition.......2002-06-16

The book, as thick as it is, looks ambitious. However, I find it is not up to its ambition. For two things: (a) this book is not theoretical enough. Sure, the academic books do not need to be theoretical. However, this book, situated in a series edited by Fred Jameson, could have been more theoretical than it is now. It is theoretical, at least for 2 reasons. (i) the book employs the idea of INTERIORITY (p. 373) generously. However, what is this interiority in question? The book fails to theorize it sufficiently. It simply treats the term as an everyday word, but it is NOT. The book fails to include consideration of, say, Merleau-Ponty, who is such a important figure on Interiority. I do not understand why Merleau-Ponty is not mentioned at all when the book is so dependent on INTERIORITY. (ii) The book relies on many shorthand words of psychoanalysis too. But again, the terminology of psychoanalysis is more like decoration than locomation in the book. What is DESIRE? What is SUBJECTIVITY? They are not everyday words, but they are not theoretically laid out in the book. The book simply assumes that they do not need to be theorized. If such is the case, WHY does the book depend on the decoration of psychoanalysis in the first place? (b) another minor question, which can be important too. Professor Tang is famous in Chicago University for his academic interest in Taiwan studies, Chinese female studies, woodcut print aesthetics etc. Now I would like to interrogate why Professor Tang will choose the Taiwanese writer Xiaoye in the book. Xiaoye is a popular writer in Taiwan, and more and more popularized. He used to write more serious literature, but currently his works tend to be catering to the wider readership. It is fine. But my questions are (i) When Xiaoye is so characterized with "Taiwaneseness," which cannnot be conflated with "Chineseness," how can Xiaoye be situated under the rubric of "The Chinese Modern"? The tension between "Taiwaneseness" and "Chineseness" has been a heated topic among acadmics, but Professor Tang bypasses the tension easily. (ii) Desite Xiaoye's fame and popularity, he is not a landmark of (literary) modernism in Taiwan at all. He is not the person to choose; every common reader on Taiwan Lit and in Taiwan knows this. There are so many other writers in Taiwan to choose, who provide much better representation of Taiwan modernity. Interested people can consult the books by Prof David Wang, who is teaching at Columbia U in New York. Professor Tang's preference of Xiaoye is totally confusing. Xiaoye is never considered a landmark of Taiwan modernity in the Taiwan literary histriography. Professor Tang seems to have randomly picked up his samples. But the randomness is in fact puzzling. A discussion of Xiaoye really does not help the reader understand the modernity of Taiwan. The emphasis on Xiaoye should have been sufficiently legitimized in the book, which is thick enough to accommodate better argumentation.

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