Essays on Saving, Bequests, Altruism, and Life-cycle Planning

Book Description

This collection of essays, coauthored with other distinguished economists, offers new perspectives on saving, intergenerational economic ties, retirement planning, and the distribution of wealth. The book links life-cycle microeconomic behavior to important macroeconomic outcomes, including the roughly 50 percent postwar decline in America's rate of saving and its increasing wealth inequality. The book traces these outcomes to the government's five-decade-long policy of transferring, in the form of annuities, ever larger sums from young savers to old spenders. The book presents new theoretical and empirical analyses of altruism that rule out the possibility that private intergenerational transfers have offset those by the government.

While rational life-cycle behavior can explain broad economic outcomes, the book also shows that a significant minority of households fail to make coherent life-cycle saving and insurance decisions. These mistakes are compounded by reliance on conventional financial planning tools, which the book compares with Economic Security Planner (ESPlanner), a new life-cycle financial planning software program. The application of ESPlanner to U.S. data indicates that most Americans approaching retirement age are saving at much lower rates than they should be, given potential major cuts in Social Security benefits.

Essays on Saving, Bequests, Altruism, and Life-cycle Planning

Average customer rating:

Essays on Saving, Bequests, Altruism, and Life-cycle Planning
Laurence J. Kotlikoff
Manufacturer: The MIT Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OQXFPC

Book Description

Imagine a company where staff have been taught to use their brainpower to the full - and are encouraged to do so whatever work they perform. In Creating a Thinking Organization, successful entrepreneur Rikki Hunt joins forces with renowned Mind expert Tony Buzan to provide a blueprint for individual and corporate transformation. Together they demonstrate how you can:

* unlock your own and your employees' potential;
* turbocharge your management and leadership practices, and
* motivate a diverse group of people.

Part I of the book explains how to apply Rikki Hunt's unique 'groundrules' to create a culture in which thinking will flourish. Part II looks at the nature of the human brain and describes a number of techniques to improve the thinking process. Part III, using Rikki's distinctive 'powerbase' and 'circles of knowledge' models, deals with leadership and examines the implications of the authors' approach both for the individual and the organization. Finally, Part IV contains practical guidance on implementation and summarizes the benefits. The text is enriched throughout by examples, stories, action point summaries, case studies and anecdotes from Rikki Hunt's own colourful life. In addition there are reviews of the material by Tony Buzan and a step-by-step development programme.

For business leaders seeking a way to harness the power of the brain, Creating a Thinking Organization will be an inspiration.

Customer Reviews:

lacks depth, but still useful for first-time managers!.......2001-03-22

I was attracted by the book's cover title, and also by the fact that Tony Buzan had a part in it.

Although it was refreshing to follow the author's career path and some of his strategic decision-making processes, using a host of tools including mind-mapping and de Bono's stuff, I end up quite disappointed with the book. In fairness to the author, there are some small parts I really enjoyed.

Let me start with the good points:

The use of a "natural landscape" by the author to put de Bono's Six Thinking Hats in a total perspective is a very innovative and visually appealing approach. For example, this is how he illustrates de Bono's concept:

Sun, to represent 'Yellow Hat' - for positives; Open Field to represent 'Green Hat' - for creative ideas; Blue Sky, to represent 'Blue Hat" - for overview; White Clouds, to represent 'White Hat" - for facts; Black Clouds, to represent 'Black Hat' - for negatives; Earth Fire, to represent 'Red Hat' - for fee!lings & emotions;

This reinforces the argument that man has a natural proclivity towards visual metaphors. Kudos to the author!

On page 115 of the book, the author shows a flow chart of how to use a combination of his own favourite thinking tools - mind-mapping, forced field analysis, cluster, brainstorming, 6 Thinking Hats - to solve a problem. The surrounding pages describe the step-by-step process in detail. Another kudos!

Now, the not-so-good points:

The 'leadership and change management' part in the book lacks strategic depth. The author was too perfunctory in these important aspects. A bit more research by the author would have made it more palatable for serious readers.

It was good that the author lists out a good number of other thinking tools under the Appendix to Chapter 7. Unfortunately, I feel he does not do justice to those tools by adding sweeping personal statements of one or two-liners to each tool. Worst of all, he even a!dds that mind-mapping does it better, without a proper explanation (or compare & contrast). This to me reflects the author's vague understanding of the tools. e.g. cognitive mapping, flow chart and rich pictures. Even his one or two-liner description of 'scenario planning' is somewhat faulty.

A quick browse of the author's scanty bibliography tells me that the author has not done enough homework and research.

There were a lot of glaring mistakes in the book, Let me highlight a few.

On page 80, under 'Some Facts about the brain' which reads 'The brain contains approx. 1 billion cells i.e. equivalent to 150 times the population of the planet.'

Any 7-year-old internet-savvy kid can easily tell you that the numbers don't match!!!

Also, on page 207 to 208, under 'Final review by Tony Buzan:

'Leif Edmunsen' is a wrong name. The correct name is 'Leif Edvinsson,' who at one time was the Chief Intellectual Officer of Skandia, mentioned in t!he paragraph.

The Prime Minister of Singapore is not Mr Ton. He is Mr Goh Chok Tong.

Such silly mistakes reflect very poor editing work on the part of the author and the publishers.

On the whole, I can only sum up that this book is still useful to any first-time manager, looking for a systematic approach to organisational decision making, with a hands-on feel.

This book reminds me of another book, John O'Keeffe's Business Beyond the Box: Applying Your Mind for Breakthrough Results, from which I can draw a parallel here. In quite a similar vein, the author had built a successful career path through Procter & Gamble in Europe when he wrote the book. Likewise, the book offers a field-proven set of 8 thinking strategies, including mind-mapping.

For serious readers, looking for solid leadership and change management strategies with an entrepreneurial perspective, it will be worthwhile for them to pursue 'The Individualised Corporation' by Sumantra! Ghosal & Chris Bartlett as well as 'First, Break All the Rules' by Marcus Buckingham & Curt Coffman.

Book Description

For generations, scientists have taught us about the 'fight or flight' response to stress. But is this instinct universal? Renowned psychologist Shelley E. Taylor explains that 'fight or flight' may only be half the story. Humans-particularly females-are hardwired to respond to stress differently. As Taylor deftly points out in this eye-opening work, the 'tend and befriend' response is among the most vital ingredient of human social life. Ranging widely over biology, evolutionary psychology, physiology, and neuroscience, Taylor examines the biological imperative that drives women to seek each other's company, and to tend to the young and the infirm, bestowing great benefits to the group but often at great cost to themselves. This tending process begins virtually at the moment of conception, and literally crafts the biology of offspring through genes that rely on caregiving for their expression. In the tradition of groundbreaking books about the science of human nature such as Daniel Goleman's Emotional Intelligence and Steven Pinker's The Language Instinct, Taylor's book will change forever the way we talk and think about ourselves.

Customer Reviews:

extremely useful.......2003-10-16

The book is an amazing compilation of basic up to the minute neuroendocrinology and social psychology.

Combined with work on gender development, e.g., "The Two Sexes: Growing Apart, Coming Together," by Stanford psychologist Eleanor Maccoby, this book provides deep background for two of the most salient issues confronting the reproduction of American culture: collaborative parenting and collaborative conflict resolution.

It is extremely unfortunate that this book is not ranked higher on the Amazon sales chart It's a must read as a nuts and bolts book about the elementary conditions necessary for true "family values."

But it is even more valuable as a subtle debunking of the fictious version of "human nature" espoused by the likes of Steven Pinker. Pinker is at his best describing the power of human language. For solid looks at the ways in which men and women develop emotionally, look at Taylor and Maccoby

Book Description

How do bats catch insects in the dark? How do bees learn which flowers to visit? How do food-storing birds remember where their hoards are? Questions like these are addressed by neuroethology, the branch of behavioral neuroscience concerned with analyzing the neural bases of naturally occuring behaviors.

Each of the thirteen chapters gives an up-to-date overview of a particular author's research and places it within the broader context of issues about animal perception and cognition. The book as a whole exemplifies how studying species and their particular specializations can inform general issues in psychology, ethology, and neuroscience.

Motion Offense: The Principles of the Five-Man Open Post (Art & Science of Coaching)
Average customer rating:

Solid Book

Very Thorough Book

Excellent book over motion offense

Motion Offense: The Principles of the Five-Man Open Post (Art & Science of Coaching)
Bob Huggins
Manufacturer: Coaches Choice Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Basketball | Sports | Subjects | Books
General | Basketball | Coaching | Sports | Subjects | Books
Offense | Basketball | Coaching | Sports | Subjects | Books
General | Sports | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Building a Man-To-Man Defense (The Art & Science of Coaching Series)

Coaching Fast Break and Secondary Offense

Press Breakers (Art & Science of Coaching)

Coaching the Matchup Press: Aggressive Defensive Principles for Winning Basketball

Attacking Zone Defenses (The Art and Science of Coaching Series)

ASIN: 1585183334

Book Description

Provides an overview of the motion offense used at the University of Cincinnati. Covers the basic movements of the five player open post motion offense, offense before cuts begin, cut-to-the-basket options, cut-to-the-ball options, cut-away-from-the-ball options, offense from the wings, involvement of corners in the motion offense, weakside play, drilling (individual, two-on-two, three-on-three and weakside) and much more. Contains 90 easy-to-read diagrams.

Customer Reviews:

Solid Book.......2005-09-24

This book takes you through all the facets of the motion offense from a basic few to a more complex strategy. If you have the talent to use the motion offense this book will help you utilize their talent.

Very Thorough Book.......2004-08-28

This is a great book,very well written and easy to understand. It moves from the simple to more complicated without one being overwhelmed.You can "get off" at any time you want according to your personel and the level or age group you are coaching.If you've got no big guys, this offense can stir up enough movement to keep a bigger team honest. There's a lot of options and information there, it's a matter of taking what you want.

Excellent book over motion offense.......2001-04-12

This book is the best motion book that I have read. It gives you so much informaion that you have to read the book again to go through it all. The first time I read this book I was overwhelmed, but after further readings I figured out you cannot do all the options, you just need to pick out the ones that best suit your personel. Excellent book!

Book Description

Completely redesigned for greater ease of use, this new Russian phrase book opens with an essentials section, offering the most basic vocabulary for each unit and serving as a quick point of reference. Includes over 1,200 phrases and over 2,300 words. Maps and index.

Customer Reviews:

Great for travel.......2005-12-19

The Berlitz Phrasebooks are probably the best in their class and this one for Russian doesn't disappoint. There's a small dictionary and the book is very neatly divided in to chapters relevant for travel. The book is small and very concise so there's no fluff here. I would recommend a book on culture prior to traveling to Russia but for lugging around this one's the best.

Berlitz Basic Russian (Berlitz Workbooks)

Average customer rating:

good concept, poor tapes
A good basic workbook
Not Bad
Brilliant

Berlitz Basic Russian (Berlitz Workbooks)
Natalia Walker
Manufacturer: Berlitz Guides
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Workbooks | Education | Reference | Subjects | Books

General | Foreign Languages | Reference | Subjects | Books

General | Reference | Subjects | Books

Look Inside Reference Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
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The New Penguin Russian Course: A Complete Course for Beginners (Penguin Handbooks)
Berlitz Essential Russian (Berlitz Essential)
Russian Picture Word Book: Learn Over 500 Commonly Used Russian Words Through Pictures (Foreign Language Anyone?)
Teach Yourself Russian Complete Course Package (Book + 2CDs) (Teach Yourself . . . Complete Courses)
Russian for Beginners

ASIN: 9812467009

Book Description

An invaluable study aid, the Berlitz Basic Russian Workbook is designed to complement independent language study with 24 units of entertaining activities. Multiple-choice and write-in sections test and improve general grammar and vocabulary knowledge. Basic Russian Workbook includes a special grammar section for quick and easy reference when practicing; a complete answer key to all exercises allowing students to evaluate their own language skills and to focus their efforts; and a final test section to increase proficiency and confidence. 128 pages.

Customer Reviews:

good concept, poor tapes.......2004-06-20

I used the cassette version and was disappointed. With the tape version I the sound quality was so low that I had a hard time understanding what was being spoken. A native speaker verified the accents to be accurate, so it wasn't the quality of the language, just the shortcomings of the cassette tape. However, I did enjoy the book and found it to be very useful.

A good basic workbook.......2004-05-31

This is a good book of excercises for the beginner and is meant to be used with a basic textbook. Berlitz has their own language course, but this can be used with any beginners text, and I happen to like the Penguin Russian Course, so I used it with that.

I like it because it's reasonably priced and not eye-crossingly difficult. There's a good mix of vocabulary, grammar and word usage excercises. This book requires you to use Cyrillic cursive, but you should be learning that from your textbook. This workbook will give you good practice and a break from the excercises from your main text.

Not Bad.......2000-06-19

I purchased this book as my first introduction to the Russian Language. I spend a lot of time rewinding the tape in order to try and understand what is being said. About 75% of the phrases on the cassette are written in the book in Russian along with the English translation. I wish 100% of the sentences on the cassette were written in the book. The book is good because you get a combination of grammar and conversational skills.

I did some further research and for developing conversational skills possibly the Pimsleur approach is the best. I have ordered the Pimsleur introduction course which is audio only.

Brilliant.......1999-04-24

I am a 15 year old student and I wan't to learn russian. This is brilliant for someone like me who has a little bit of extra time, etc. It doesn't bore you with grammar but there is some still there. all around this is a great program

Passport to Russian (Berlitz Travel Companions)

Average customer rating:

Berlitz Passport to Russian
Great tool!
A very helpful book.

Passport to Russian (Berlitz Travel Companions)
Charles Berlitz
Manufacturer: Signet
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Russian Picture Word Book: Learn Over 500 Commonly Used Russian Words Through Pictures (Foreign Language Anyone?)
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Langenscheidt's Pocket Russian Dictionary: Russian - English / English - Russian (Langenscheidt Pocket Dictionary)

ASIN: 0451172000

Customer Reviews:

Berlitz Passport to Russian.......2005-08-02

I do Mission work in the Country of Belarus. This was the book most of my Team members felt helped them the most. My Belarussian Daughter wants me to obtain the russian to english version of this book to help her learn English; although we did very well with this one.

Great tool!.......2005-03-11

We adopted 3 children from Russia six years ago. The book was exellent both when we went over to Russia to pick up our children and also after we came home and everyone was learning to speak to each other. We are going back again to spend a month there and I couldn't find my old copies. This was a must have for me so I bought it again. I also bought the "Travel Pack" and really like what I see.

A very helpful book........1999-04-25

Although not comprehensive, this book is very helpful to those of us who have not learned the Cyrillic alphabet. The book is structured in such a way as to make communication with non-English speaking Russians possible, with both the phonetic pronunciation given for various words using the English alphabet, as well as the Cyrillic spelling given. I lent my copy, and have ordered another to have on hand.

Berlitz Essential Russian (Berlitz Essential)

Average customer rating:

A Russian Refresher
BYOG (Bring Your Own Grammar)
Great, but not for beginners.

Berlitz Essential Russian (Berlitz Essential)
Keith Rawson-Jones , and Alla Leonidovna Nazarenko
Manufacturer: Berlitz Guides
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Foreign Languages | Reference | Subjects | Books

General | Reference | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Berlitz Basic Russian (Berlitz Workbooks)
Berlitz Russian Phrase Book (Berlitz Phrase Book)
The New Penguin Russian Course: A Complete Course for Beginners (Penguin Handbooks)
Berlitz Self-Teacher: Russian
Easy Russian Phrase Book: Over 690 Basic Phrases for Everyday Use (Dover Easy Phrase Books)

ASIN: 9812465324

Book Description

Berlitz Essential Russian features interesting dialogs and entertaining illustrations that provide a thorough introduction to the language within its cultural context. Grammar basics are taught through phrases and illustrations, with no complicated rules to memorize. Extensive practice exercises, self-tests, a pronunciation guide, and a helpful bilingual glossary make this lively guide perfect for anyone looking to tackle the basics.

Customer Reviews:

A Russian Refresher.......2000-02-06

If you studied Russian 25 years ago, traveled to Russia, enjoyed the culture, but haven't spoken Russian for over 2 decades, this is your book.

Seriously speaking, if you have ever studied Russian and need a refresher course, buy this book.

I was happy to discover that this book was NOT for novices but for past students of Russian. It's worth the money, and then some.

BYOG (Bring Your Own Grammar).......1999-08-06

I have to agree with the reviewer from Iceland. When I began learning Russian, this was one of the first books I purchased. Unfortunately, I had to abandon it as soon as I reached chapter 4 or 5, because I realized that I didn't understand the noun endings well enough to correctly answer the excercises. There are charts and examples of these endings, but I didn't feel that they were explained sufficiently for the absolute beginner. Aside from the authors' explanation of certain points of grammar, however, I thought that this was a great book. I enjoyed it, and had no further problems after purchasing a separate Russian grammar reference.

Great, but not for beginners........1999-06-25

I enjoyed reading the book. I felt it was useful in helping to reinforce what I learned in my basic Russian class and a good refresher before my second Russian. I felt that the book is good for someone who understands the basics, not someone trying to learn the basics.

Average customer rating:

Great, but no audio
Best Book I've ever seen on foreign language

Berlitz Self-Teacher: Russian

Manufacturer: Grosset & Dunlap
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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Berlitz Essential Russian (Berlitz Essential)

ASIN: 0448014262

Customer Reviews:

Great, but no audio.......2005-12-11

The Berlitz Self-Teacher series was one of the great language learning concepts. The lessons are interesting and relevant and have a different feel than the usual language books. While the imitated pronunciation is a great idea, with Russian I would suggest that you must get a book with an accompanying cassette or cd. The language is too different from English to rely on the book alone. Since no audio is offered for this book, I would think using it as the basis for lessons with a Russian speaking friend or tutor would be ideal.

Best Book I've ever seen on foreign language.......2001-02-11

I used this book about 7 years ago, and I must say it makes it very easy to learn not only how to tranlate russian, but how to actually speak it, write it, read it, understand it. I definitely recommend this book to everybody who wants to speak russian. There is NO better book out there.

Average customer rating:

Berlitz Russian Phrase Book
Berlitz Publishing Company
Manufacturer: Hungry Minds Inc,U.S.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Encyclopedias | Reference | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 2831507553

Russian: Russian - English English - Russian (Berlitz Compact Dictionary S.)

Average customer rating:

Russian: Russian - English English - Russian (Berlitz Compact Dictionary S.)

Manufacturer: Berlitz Guides
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

English (All) | Dictionaries & Thesauruses | Reference | Subjects | Books

General | Dictionaries & Thesauruses | Reference | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 9812469508

Berlitz Russian (Berlitz Concise Dictionaries)

Average customer rating:

Berlitz Russian (Berlitz Concise Dictionaries)

Manufacturer: Berlitz Guides
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

English (All) | Dictionaries & Thesauruses | Reference | Subjects | Books

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General | Reference | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 9812680586

Average customer rating:

BERLITZ RUSSIAN PHRASE BOOK
BERLITZ
Manufacturer: Grosset and Dunlap
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000VIKTS4

Berlitz Russian Phrase Book & Dictionary (Berlitz Phrase Books)

Average customer rating:

Great for travel

Berlitz Russian Phrase Book & Dictionary (Berlitz Phrase Books)
Berlitz Publishing Company
Manufacturer: Berlitz
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Russia : A Concise History
Russian: Lonely Planet Phrasebook

ASIN: 2831509106

Customer Reviews:

Great for travel.......2005-12-19

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