Healthcare staff need to handle both difficult customers and dificult patients. The structure of Handling Difficult People is many short suggestions and principles followed immediately by interactive questions and applications.
A new luxury fever has America in its grip. Independent of stock prices, recessions, and inflation rates, the past two decades have witnessed a spectacular and uninterrupted rise in luxury consumption. Ordinary, functional goods are no longer acceptable. Our cars have gotten larger, heavier, and far more expensive. Mansions larger than 30,000 square feet no longer seem extravagant. Wristwatches for the super-rich cost tens of thousands of dollars. We are living in an era of excess.
Total U.S. spending on luxury goods increased 21 percent between 1995 and 1996 (typical of recent years), while overall merchandise sales increased only 5 percent.
Robert Frank caused a national debate in 1995 when he and co-author Philip Cook described the poisonous spread of "winner-take-all" markets. Now he takes a thought-provoking look at the flip side of spreading inequality: as the super-rich set the pace, everyone else spends furiously in a competitive echo of wastefulness. The costs are enormous: We spend more time at work, leaving less time for family and friends, less time for exercise. Most of us have been forced to save less and spend and borrow much more. The annual rate at which American families file for personal bankruptcy has grown to one in seventy. Budgetary pressures have reduced our willingness to fund even essential public services: Our food and water are increasingly contaminated. Potholes proliferate, and traffic delays double every ten years.
Frank offers the first comprehensive and accessible summary of scientific evidence that our spending choices are not making us as happy and healthy as they could. Furthermore, he argues that human frailty is not at fault. The good news is that we can do something about it. We can make it harder for the super-rich to overspend, and capture our own competitive energy for the public good. Luxury Fever boldly offers a way to curb the excess and restore the true value of money.
Download Description
Why, against all good reason, do we continue to accelerate our spending to the limits of our bank accounts? Our savings rates are lower than those of any other major industrial nation, personal bankruptcy filings are at an all-time high, and yet our treadmill chase after the "biggest and latest" continues to escalate. In this thought-provoking analysis of the economics of our personal decisions, Robert Frank chronicles the new boom of conspicuous consumption and exposes the hidden prices we pay for evermore-elaborate houses, cars, and lifestyles. In Luxury Fever, Frank argues that our current profligacy is not because we are foolish, undisciplined, greedy, or manipulated. Rather, how we feel about our material goods is entirely dependent on everyone else's spending. By acting together, we can choose to invest more in the sleep, exercise, family time, and less conspicuous consumption that makes life worthwhile. This book will make all readers reconsider their spending habits, and will inspire wide debate about the quality of life.
Customer Reviews:
Doesn't answer questions.......2006-07-21
Mostly, I enjoyed the book; however, it doesn't explain how money is available for meat inspections, pot hole repair, health care for the poor etc. if I simply refrain from buying an expensive car or grill. Unless he is advocating confiscatory taxes, I fail to understand how my saved money becomes money for these purposes, especially considering in his discussion of consumption taxes, he specifically exempts taxes on savings. My college major was not economics, but I do have a decent understanding of the economy but perhaps I'm too conservative in the area of taxation (I am a former IRS employee)to understand how my savings translates into government expenditures for the benefit of all.
An interesting book.......2006-05-11
Certainly interesting and worthwhile, but if you want to read much of the same themes, with a broader biological perspective and without the preachiness and impractical political solutions, I recommend instead Happiness by Daniel Nettles.
Keeping up with the Joneses, Smiths, Wangs, Bushes, Kennedys, Gates..........2006-01-25
An expansive view of 20th century literature in American economic thought finds two similar bookends. The beginning of the 20th century saw Veblein's classic "Theory of the Leisure Class". After a century of the largest economic growth ever undertaken by one country in the history of the world, the end of the 20th century is marked by a similar, yet different vein of literature; condemnations of overspending by the masses on luxury items. In other words: everyone is now spending like they are part of the leisure class. Many authors have taken a stab at this, and this work by Robert Frank is one of the better ones.
Through the selective use of statistical data, this book shows how Americans are falling into debt in living like kings by buying unnecessary stuff that often and quickly gets outdated and uncool. Facts and figures from various sectors of the US economy (auto, home construction, restaurants, entertainment, etc...) are brought forth, chapter by chapter, to back up this point. The author attributes this spending to a "Keeping up with the Joneses" attitude, decries the results, and proposes several government changes to remedy this problem. The latter include a savings deduction, and a progressive consumption tax. By reading this book, most readers will notice a slight liberal - progressive stance on the part of the author.
The essential points of the book are true to all but the most obdurate observer of modern American culture. Unfortunately, the author should have suggested some other changes to remedy America's overspending besides the savings deduction and the progressive consumption tax. First, how about increasing the amount of minimum vacation time employers must give their employees. This in itself will give employees (all of us) more time to spend doing things like spending time with family, exercising, taking vacations, etc... that do not require purchasing goods. Studies have shown that the less time people have to recreate, the more money they will spend in doing the recreation, if only to make themselves feel that they used their free time fully. Second, eliminate the various deductions businesses and individuals can obtain thru the purchasing of goods and services. Third, eliminate complete public-funding of schools. If every family in America had to pay for some percentage of their children's K-12 education, parents would quickly and willingly instill the principles of sound finances in their children from an early age.
Overall, a good book to read, but not the best of its genre. I do recommend it as a solid commentary on American society at the turn of the 20th century.
An Important Message to all Americans.......2005-11-09
I really did enjoy reading this book on a number of levels. I think Frank does a wonderful job of mixing research from a number of academic fields including economics, psychology, sociology, biology, and public policy. The result is a refreshing and multifaceted look at America's spending habits.
Contrary to other reviews, I did not find Frank's tone to be at all condescending. First and foremost, Frank is an economist, and he eloquently explains how we are all acting independently to maximize our own utility. However, borrowing from the other social sciences, Frank is able to show how these efforts can sometimes go astray. It is not that we are irrational, selfish, or stupid. The problem is that as a society we have not yet learned how to utilize the benefits of both individual freedom AND group cooperation.
I give this book 4 stars because I do agree with other reviewers that it does get a bit repetitive. Also, I believe that the first chapter, which highlighted many gross extravagances in spending by the ultra rich, was a poor introduction to the rest of the book.
The consumption patterns Frank addresses in this work apply to all Americans, as do the consequences in terms of our schools, health, roads, environment, etc. Frank's arguments are logically sound and backed by a large body of research. His solutions for change may appear unpopular, but upon further research, I could not find any strong arguments against them. Overall, I believe this is an important and thought provoking book.
An Interesting Diagnosis.......2005-07-05
Frank's point is essentially that Americans spend too much on luxury goods that don't bring them satisfaction, and too little on things they really could make them happier. He makes a good case for using a consumption tax to remedy the situation. I really enjoyed the analysis of homo economicus versus homo realisticus. Frank argues that homo economicus (as used in mainstream economics) is concerned with rational betterment of his situation, while real people are concerned as much or even more with doing better than those around them. When I studied economics I realized that something was wrong with the standard homo economicus model, but Frank lays out the differences very clearly, in ways I hadn't thought of.
Frank has some great commentary on the human condition here, too. My favorite is his analysis of why it helps to get up in the morning if you put your alarm clock out of reach of the bed. If you don't see what this has to do with economics--read the book!
Frank makes some proposals that I think are bluntly naive. For example, he proposes curing unemployment by a program of public works. This simply cannot work. It has, of course, been tried, including the attempt by the Washington DC municipal government in recent decades. Inevitably it leads to dependency and corruption, and a multiplication of the number of people needing public jobs. Frank needs to think more about where the incentives are in such a situation. In my opinion, if the streets are littered with garbage that isn't being picked up, you have to look at where the garbage is coming from and who is benefitting from creating it. It should be sellers of plastic bottles, paper cups, and the like who should be paying for picking up litter from the streets, not general tax funds. Frank also needs to pay more attention to population issues. No public works program can support a continually increasing number of people. I think Frank also overlooks the large role in overconsumption of having no limits on the interest rates which credit card and mortgage companies are allowed to charge. Unlimited rates means that such companies have a vested interest in keeping the maximum possible number of Americans on the edge of bankruptcy, and not much of an interest in making sure they lend money only to people who are likely to be able to pay it back.
Overall, though, this is a book with some useful and interesting ideas.
Customer Reviews:
Teach to TEST OR Teach to LEARN.......2007-04-28
My mother is a Ph.D. in mathematics and taught Jr. and Sr. High math for several years before moving up to teach college math. She has been pretty vocal that the only math text that will result in imparting a poor understanding of mathematical concepts--a false sense of mastery while using it, but poor retention after--is Saxon. She says that every time she has a home schooled student who is really struggling at the college level and they say "But I did so well in math before!" and they are traumatized at the level of tutoring help they need to make it in college, they all have in common the fact that they learned math using Saxon texts in high school.
After she impressed this on me, I was really leery about choosing jr. & sr. high school curriculum a couple years ago and asked her to go to me with convention to help me pick something out. She said, "You are good at math and a good teacher. Just pick something you like that is NOT SAXON!" I'm not exaggerating. It's the spiral learning method that they use. It doesn't give enough thorough practice of all the variations of a particular concept before moving on and too heavily relies on review throughout. That seems to impedes long-term retention. She thinks the fact that it is so dull and methodical is also ridiculous in this day and age of fabulous graphics and the trend to make math more interesting and multi-modal for the average student who doesn't love math.
I find it interesting that on their website, of the 6 research studies of their curriculum, only one includes high school; the other five utilized k-8 or 6-8 curriculum. Maybe all that dry rote learning makes a student test better. But the sad part is when it comes to taking that learning and building on it, they don't really understand the concepts behind it and can't apply future learning to what they simply practiced over and over but don't really know. Kind of like cramming for a test by going over everything you've learned right beforehand and blocking everything else out until you take the test and then POOF! everything you repeated over and over in your head beforehand just seems "gone" once you go back to normal habits of thinking/doing and you stop all that repetition.
Saxon Excellent Math Books.......2007-03-26
I used the Saxon Math books for my two sons.
Saxon 3 through Advanced Math. As a gifted learner, my son sometimes worked only odd or even problems. He was able to retain the information he learned. Now he is a Math Major in college.
A chaotic way to (not) learn math.......2006-10-14
Algebra 1/2 is deeply flawed in its approach to learning. I don't recommend it for anyone. While it claims to take an "incremental" approach, it doesn't introduce and build on new concepts in an orderly fashion, as you might expect, given the title. Instead, it takes a "shotgun" approach, with the student getting hit with new BB-sized factoids almost at random.
For example, from Lessons 70 - 75, the student is introduced to:
(70) Rules for Addition of Signed Numbers
(71) Powers of Fractions / Roots of Fractions
(72) Graphing Inequalities
(73) Right Circular Cylinders
(74) Inserting Parentheses / Order of Addition
(75) Implied Ratios
Do you see any method to this madness?
Another problem with this book is that it is extremely dry and boring. There is really no attempt to engage the student's interest, to help him understand why algebra is so important, or to show him how it can even be exciting.
Instead, we get lessons that read like this, literally:
"Lesson 75 Implied Ratios
Remember that a ratio is a comparison of two numbers. Ratios are often written in the form of fractions. Remember also that a proportion is a statement that two ratios are equal. These are equal ratios: 3/4 = 9/12. The equation is called a proportion. Many ratio word problems do not actually use the word ratio. When we read the problem, we must recognize that the problem is a ratio problem. We must also be able to pick out the implied ratio."
That's the entire lesson. Two short examples follow that briefly elaborate on the concept, but there is very little teaching going on here, just a bare recitation of the rules of ratios.
To cap it off, the student must now do 30 problems, only 2 of which concern implied ratios. The student can't possibly master the concept of ratios before he is introduced in the very next lesson to "Multiplication with Scientific Notation." Talk about a non sequitur!
Incremental learning doesn't have to be this way, and in my opinion, it shouldn't.
And you thought you hated math before..........2006-03-22
Wow, what can I say? Except that this is the worst math book ever written. Now I bet you're thinking come on, the worst math book ever written? It can't be that bad. Well, take it from someone who actually used this book, not some parent who told their kid to use it and think it's just awesome. I'm not to well rounded when it comes to math, and this book didn't help at all. It made it worse.
You would think this book was written to run you down to were you can't stand anything anymore. You get to do thirty problems every single lesson in what hast to be some of the worst explanation I've ever seen. I have teachers who dislike this book, and call it pitiful, but we just keep marching on with basically the same thing every lesson with four problems of the new stuff. Yep, nothing like tedious math. But is there such a thing as tedious math? Nah.
Bottom line, if you want to keep the sanity of your kid, please I beg you try something else.
Simply The Best Math Book Ever Written.......2006-01-28
As my 11 year old son begins his second semester of Calculus at our local college, he tends to take exception with parents that look down on the Saxon series of math books, with them often calling the books "boring" or "repetitive", as if math is intended to be loaded with excitement from day 1. Getting good at something, whether it's cutting lawns or learning pre-algebra, take practice. I just feel so bad for the kids with these parents, as the kids will never amount to anything, given that environment. Simply put, the Saxon series of books, if completed per their instructions (i.e., doing every problem), assures that your kid will NEVER have trouble in math.
This book, Algebra 1/2, is simply phenomenal. The problems and the design of this book assures that your kid will glide right into Algebra 1, and never look back (to this day, I wish that I could have been prepared to this level when I took Algebra 1). Of all the Saxon math books, I've always looked at this one as the best of a superb series. It is just amazing.
So I recommend to anyone that wants to listen, get the Saxon books and teach your kid yourself, otherwise you're at the mercy of programs and books that are almost designed to fail.
Average customer rating:
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Algebra One & One-Half: An Incremental Development
John H., Jr. Saxon
Manufacturer: Saxon Publishers
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Test answers and problem set answers
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- 1,419 Copyright-Free Illustrations of Mammals, Birds, Fish, Insects, etc.
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Animals: 1,419 Copyright-Free Illustrations of Mammals, Birds, Fish, Insects, etc. (Dover Pictorial Archives)
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Plants: 2,400 Copyright-Free Illustrations of Flowers, Trees, Fruits and Vegetables (Dover Pictorial Archive Series)
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Women: A Pictorial Archive from Nineteenth-Century Sources (Dover Pictorial Archives)
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1300 Real and Fanciful Animals: From Seventeenth-Century Engravings (Dover Pictorial Archive Series)
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Men: A Pictorial Archive from Nineteenth-Century Sources (Dover Pictorial Archive Series)
ASIN: 0486237664 |
Book Description
Clear wood engravings present, in extremely lifelike poses, over 1,000 species of animals.
Customer Reviews:
Enjoyed the broad range of life illustrated for this volume.......2007-10-12
Wow - the enormous numbers of animal life is astounding and the book clearly shows this. Unfortunately the images are quite dark and the book is very thick (you get your money's worth - image-wise), so scanning them for use in various artistic media is difficult. Therefore, I bought two of the books and plan to cut one of them up (that hurts to say for I treasure books of all types). This way I can control the scanning and modification using software to bring out details and highlight an image to my satisfaction. And finally, the classic images are impressive and I applaud the author for his selection of animals from all realms of life on earth.
Well worth it........2007-09-16
Used several of these drawings in projects. Books like this are great for those of us designers who aren't the best freehand drawers.
Very Nice.......2007-05-12
This is just packed full of brilliant illustrations of birds frogs fish girafee spiders butterflies you name it , throughly recommended for any one who loves botanical illustrations or engravings , really good source material for artists or designers.very nice book but rember it is a paper back not that that matters to me.
One of the BEST books of its type.......2006-11-04
I was first introduced to the beautiful book a few months ago when I was looking for an illustration of an insect for a class. I knew the moment I saw it that I had to have this book for future projects. If you're looking for illustrations that will make the person looking at your work take a second look or remember what you turned in for your project... this is the book for you!
1,419 Copyright-Free Illustrations of Mammals, Birds, Fish, Insects, etc........2006-03-24
This book is great! I teach Middle School Art, and my students use this book as a reference for drawings, paintings and sculptures.
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