Understanding American Economic Decline

Book Description

The public has been painfully aware of the economy's stagnation for a long time. In this major new volume, leading thinkers in the social sciences directly confront the various economic difficulties facing the United States today. Underlying each essay is the premise that these problems can be understood only in a broad historical context--that such difficulties arise not from cyclical phenomena, but from structural distortions in the economy. These essays furnish more than hard-hitting criticisms of the various received economic wisdoms: they offer hope as they formulate new economic approaches and policies for the present and the future.

Book Description

For millions of people, a pet is more than just an animal that shares a living space. These millions will do anything they can to recover a four-legged member of the family when it goes missing: unfortunately, most people just don't know where to look. Kat Albrecht is the person they call. Disillusioned by a police career where her brilliant search dogs and own dog-tracking techniques rarely got a chance to shine, Kat started training her retired weimaraner Rachel to search for lost animals-and found a whole new arena opening up. To the amusement of her skeptical colleagues, Kat decided to transform her newfound avocation into a business, becoming the only law-enforcement-based pet detective in the United States.

Using investigative techniques such as probability theory, behavioral profiling, and physical searches by trained dogs, Kat Albrecht has helped more than eighteen hundred pet owners locate their lost dogs, cats, snakes, turtles, parrots, and horses. Along the way, she has faced one-of-a-kind challenges in her work: technical issues like teaching her trained search dogs to pursue missing pets, unexpected roadblocks (how do you convince a forensics lab to conduct a DNA test on a cat's whisker?), and the surprising difficulties associated with living in the shadow of Ace Ventura. But these challenges are balanced by unique joys each time Kat helps reunite a missing pet with its owners.

The Lost Pet Chronicles tells the fascinating story of Kat's unlikely career path-and of how, along the way, doing the work she loved transformed her from a dissatisfied, disaffected cop into a woman who has found her true calling.

Customer Reviews:

Good book but not whats expected.......2007-01-04

I enjoyed reading this book very much. Kathy Albrecht stories were nice to read-I read it front to back in 3 days, however i originally ordered this book to help in finding my lost cat and expected it to be a large reference on ideas on how to find a lost cat. But that wasnt the case there is only 5 pages out of the whole book on this topic. The rest is kathy's adventures in police work, canines, the loss of her pets and how she become a lost pet detective. She does speak of her searches for a few lost pets.

If you want a good read this is a good book. But if you are looking for a lost pet better to go to her website and read the information there.

Wonderful book.......2006-04-22

I was at the library searching for something to read, and the beautiful dog on the cover caught my eye. I had no idea that this book would help me deal with the loss of my cat Ruffles, who had been my companion and friend for 14 years. This book speaks to all pet lovers. A great read.

Jeri
Ashburn, VA

Book Review.......2006-03-09

The Lost Chronicles by Kat Albrecht is a great book for dog lovers or people that love mysteries. I absolutely love this book! I don't really like to read but I have eleven dogs and this book is definetly my type of book. I especially like how Kat did a wonderful job writing this book using imagery; it makes the book seem as if I was there watching it. It has so many great stories about her dogs, life, adventures, and mysteries. One of the things I like alot about this book is the pictures of her and her dogs. After seeing the pictures, You can picture all the things she's talking about so easily. Another great quality about this book is the supsense and different emotions. While she is telling a story the details she uses makes you have to know whats going happen: you'll find that this isn't a book you can put down. She describes her emotions and dog's emotions very well.This non-fictin book is great for all ages and you'll never have to worry about getting bored while reading. I reccomend this book to anyone especially if your a animal or mystery fan.

Must Read!.......2006-01-01

Everyone who owns a pet owes it to themselves to read this book! Kat's knowledge and experience with tracking dogs is extraordinary, and the valuable information she provides in this book could very well mean the difference in finding your lost pet, or losing it forever.
Kat shares the ups and downs of her interesting life journey, sometimes joyful, sometimes sad, with a charm, dignity, wit, and grace rarely seen.

I thouroughly enjoyed this book, learned much from it, and do not hesitate to recommend it highly!

Great book, moving story, remarkable woman!.......2005-07-16

This book is interesting, informative, engaging, sometimes sad and sometimes happy. The author, a former cop turned pet detective, is remarkable for her determination and inner strength and foresight into a needed service. She takes on a calling by herself and does incredible things (establishing a field) through her own inner reserve and motivation. I was sad that she was still alone (single) at the end and had had some hard knocks, but she is an amazing person.

Her dogs, too, are phenomenal in their abilities and accomplishments. Kat relates her finding her dogs, her early days with them, almost accidentally stumbling into looking for lost pets, and how she developed a training method and collected data on lost animals.

Great stories of rescues, and also some heart-breakers. Kat also includes some practical (and in my experience, accurate) advice on searching for lost pets.

It's definitely worth a read!

Book Description

This book is invaluable for students and researchers studying the economies of Japan and other east Asian countries as well as all those interested in patterns of boom and recession worldwide.

Book Description

Recorded history is a finely-woven magic fabric of intricate lies about events predating the sixteenth century. There is not a single piece of evidence that can be reliably and independently traced back earlier than the eleventh century. This book details events that are substantiated by hard facts and logic, and validated by new astronomical research and statistical analysis of ancient sources.

Customer Reviews:

Calculations are only as good as your numbers.......2007-08-03

Yes, we can all agree that mainstream history is nearly 100% BS due to politics, economics, ego, problems with dating techniques, and various conspiracies. Agreed. But, I've been researching the distinct possibility that human history (in terms of civilizations) are much more ancient than we've been told, so coming across this book was very interesting to me. I wondered how Fomenko could be wrong (if at all) because he is very persuasive in his presentations. Then it dawned on me. If at previous times in prehistory, due to the various catastrophies that are well documented (comets, asteroids, planetary disruptions, plasma discharge, pole reversals, etc) the Earth was in a different position in relation to the sun, different tilt on its axis, different orbit, different rotation (in terms of velocity and DIRECTION), and the continents were in different positions, then would this not cause the ancients to see the sky (constellations) differently? In other words, is Fomenko making erronious assumptions about the physics of the Earth in pre-history, which then corrupt his data with regards to dating the relevant astrology? The last event to seriously disrupt our planet occured roughly 3500 years ago, according to other good researchers, so is it possible Fomenko has been confused by this? The vastly different physics of our planet in the not so distant past may explain this confusion, which is not to say the "mainstream" version of history is correct; on the contrary. I am not an expert in these fields, but wanted to see if this idea could spark discussion.

Pants on fire?.......2007-07-19

Will people ever read before spamming? Yes, Jesuits could not rewrite world history alone, they had help. Anyway, Dr Prof Acad A.Fomenko does not point to jesuits as the driving force of world wide history manipulation in published volumes 1,2,3;, actually he barely mentions the poor devils. Check it with 'Search inside' feature, please. China is rarely mentioned either, in fact, Dr Fomenko is completely eurocentric. Right, his theory contradicts all mainstream schools of history, because in their actual state they are all built on blatantly erroneus chronology. You don't need a mysterious cabal (conspiracy) to falsify history, the falsification is its modus operandi. It is inherent to history(ians) to falsify (distort) events, as it is inherent to humans to boast as it is inherent to power (authority) to legimize itself by referrring to glorious past made to its own order. Dr Prof Fomenko and team have identified scores of instances of such manipulation in Russian, European, etc.. history, and delivered valid statistical proof thereof. His own 'reconstruction' is completely another story. Forget c14 as a valid method of dating. W.Libby has initially discovered a brilliant method of INDEPENDENT dating. Too bad, c14 method has become a joke after a forced marrige with dendrochronology with consensual chronological scale inbuilt. Radiocarbon method can't stand blind tests, but is so very productive as a rubberstamp.

Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed. .......2007-04-09

There is no doubt that history as most know it is a sham, & institution's version of History both University & Church is fradulent & inaccurate. Everything was established with an agenda, The real "Dark Ages" are now when we have access to incredible amounts of information past authorities & more important 'common folk' didn't have but our institutions & educators are slow to evolve because of what has ignorantly & arrogantly been taught for too long. This is on many subjects not just Chronology.

For anyone to question "Why would a Mathematician have anything credible to say of History?" The answer is from Dr. Fomenko's preface in the book: "It would be worthwhile to remind the reader that in the XVI-XVII century Chronology was considered to be a subdivision of Mathematics." These volumes could possibly be some of the most important works to date & should be read by everyone with an interest in History, especially professors & educators who have a duty to the public. I have read both books & must say that 'Chronology 1' has some very eye opening & revolutionary information. Even if these volumes are part true the implications are profound & opens the doors to further investigations & questions which must be done. I speak several different lanquages & must say the logic Dr. Fomenko uses with "inflection" of words & words being read from left to right in one region & right to left in another then written backwards, the removal of vowels & get down to basics of words, or different cities & locations having the same name etc. is correct. Vowel usage has always been optional & varied, actually complicating linquistics & study. The first thing one has to understand is that words never had a fixed spelling in history like we do now, the spelling of words was mutable & regional, as well as names & titles of people were vast, varied & changed, NOTHING WAS FIXED or understood linear. Matters of Life & Death as well as financial profiteering yesterday & today were & are made with ignorant, illogical & conspiratorial views of history & reality, it's time people get closer to the Truth & society collectively grow up.

Very Interesting.......2007-03-07

It is a good proposal and I believe it will mature into something even better in the future. I think it deserves to be read.

History as Science Fiction.......2007-01-10

Anatoly Fomenko has written a very intriguing book, full of pictures, charts, and computer 'proof' of his thesis: backwards of AD900 we don't really know what happened or when. Between AD900 and AD1600 there is more certainty, but there is still a lot of fuzzy ground, and things don't get reliable until we get past the 1600's where the printing press made it very difficult for the perpetrators of this timeline manipulation to change anything that had been committed to print. The Dark Ages did not happen. Books were burned for a reason. One organization has doubled the actual length of its existence by expanding the real chronology. Read why.

I had always wondered why Christ died about AD33 and yet men waited until the 11th century to form the Knights Templar, the Cathars, etc and go after the Holy Land by force. Why the 1000 year gap? Turns out there wasn't more than a 10-12 year gap and he proves it using astronomy. This also implies that the planet is not as old as we have been told, and current Christian and other creationist scientists are already championing that idea without being aware of Fomenko's book. The two groups, creationist scientists and the Russian mathematical analysts corroborate each other. Fascinating.

Of course, all this flies in the face of what we have been told traditionally is the 'proper' chronology of western civilization, and most readers will experience 'cognitive dissonance' in reading this book. It means that our history going backwards from AD1600 becomes progressively more incorrect and unreliable until it cannot be trusted at all... in the space of 700-800 years.

Naturally, the curious, open-minded reader will want to know WHO did this, WHY, and did any of the events we think of as really ancient ever happen?
Dr. Fomenko is a respected scientist/mathematician at Moscow State University who has already answered these questions to the satisfaction of his initially skeptical colleagues. Most of them are now believers, a few still refuse to believe (the usual diehards), and of course the western press has ignored Fomenko's work -- for obvious reasons when you read the book. The ones who perpetrated this chronology ruse have a lot to answer for. They are still with us. That's why this book is a well-kept secret.

I gave the book a 4-star rating because I was unable to check out some of his claims; those I checked were as he said. But if even 1/3 of his claims are true, this punches a big hole in what we think is our history, the meaning of western civilization, our educational process (for repeating the ruse as gospel), and the trustworthiness of the organization that perpetrated this ruse, well-intentioned or not.

This book relates to current research into a Young Earth paradigm, to John Keel's discoveries about our planet, and Fr Malachi Martin's insights (in his now out-of-print books). We are indeed sheep who are manipulated and kept ignorant -- for a reason. While knowing what these men have to say may be the "booby prize" (as in: 'what can you do with this knowledge?'), it will provide interesting reading. Didn't someone say: "...and the Truth will set you free."?? For you to judge if this book contains the truth.

Alternating Currents or Counter-Revolution?: Contemporary Electricity Reform in New Zealand

Average customer rating:

Alternating Currents or Counter-Revolution?: Contemporary Electricity Reform in New Zealand
Lewis T. Evans , and Richard B. Meade
Manufacturer: Victoria University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Australia | Australia & Oceania | History | Subjects | Books

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Book Description

Analyzing the interplay between technology, economics, and politics that drives the electricity supply sector in New Zealand, this study places the current institutional arrangements for the electricity sector within the context of successive waves of economic reform and compares these arrangements with developments internationally.

Australia's Economic Revolution (Frontline)

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Australia's Economic Revolution (Frontline)
John Edwards
Manufacturer: New South Wales University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Policy & Current Events | Popular Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0868405620

Australia and the first economic revolution (Research report or occasional paper)

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Australia and the first economic revolution (Research report or occasional paper)
J. R Fisher
Manufacturer: University of Newcastle
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Popular Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0725904844

Average customer rating:

Economic revolution,
Alfred Smyth
Manufacturer: Brown, Prior & Co. Pty., Ltd
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B0008CIESK

Revolution in Russia and Australia;: Describing and discussing the Soviet system, political and economic sides, the dictatorship of the proletariat, for and against, the Australian alternative,

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Revolution in Russia and Australia;: Describing and discussing the Soviet system, political and economic sides, the dictatorship of the proletariat, for and against, the Australian alternative,
R. S Ross
Manufacturer: Ross's Book Service
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B0008D1L5C

The time is now ripe;: Revolution without tears

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The time is now ripe;: Revolution without tears
Montague Grover
Manufacturer: Robertson
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

What Became of the Thatcher Revolution: Lessons for Australia (Critical Issues,)

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What Became of the Thatcher Revolution: Lessons for Australia (Critical Issues,)
John Burton
Manufacturer: Australian Institute for Public Policy
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Policy & Current Events | Popular Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

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Development & Growth | Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0949186090

Book Description

Marketing as we know it is disappearing, declares industry legend Regis McKenna. As marketers focus on advertising and promotion, the chief information officer is automating their core functions. As they obsess over brand, the chief strategy officer is dispersing their responsibilities throughout the organization. And as they squabble over whether marketing is an art or a science, McKenna argues that they're completely overlooking what marketing has become: a technology.

What does this displacement mean for the future of marketing and its role in today's increasingly networked organizations? Who will manage the all-important customer relationship-and how? In this bold new book, McKenna marshals over forty years of experience as a marketing innovator, investor, and industry visionary to explore an emerging-and essentially different-marketing paradigm.

In this unconventional model, says McKenna, computers and the network do most of the work, from data gathering to customer care and response. The marketing function disappears into a network of relationships and responsibilities between man and machine throughout the value chain. Total consumer access to-and interaction with-the marketplace replaces the archaic broadcast model. For marketers, the end goal changes from creating brand awareness to satisfying customers. And brand itself becomes a "persistent presence" which sustains the customer dialogue however and whenever the customer chooses.

McKenna argues that marketers must shed their marginal role as image creators and take on the brave new role of managing this new infrastructure. They must learn to operate with one foot in marketing and one foot in information systems-integrating the people and technological tools necessary to deliver value and novelty to every customer anytime, all the time. Competitive advantage will come from engaging the entire business in this total access network-making marketing a mission-critical, enterprise-wide responsibility.

A rousing manifesto by a renowned pioneer of high-tech marketing, Total Access will remake marketing and redefine success in our networked world.

AUTHORBIO: Regis McKenna is Chairman of The McKenna Group in Palo Alto, California. He has worked with more than 300 start-ups, including Apple and Intel, and is the bestselling author of Real Time (HBS Press, 1997).

Customer Reviews:

More Regis hype.......2004-02-01

Typical puffed-up, self-promoting. How did this self-described "legend" manage to pull the wool over so many eyes? Remember - this is a PR guy! His advice on anything except self-promotion should be ignored. The book is circuitous and deadly dull.

Has some great new ideas, bad news for traditional marketers.......2003-08-29

While the book tends to go round and round a bit, its central theme (the evolution of branding to include all channels of access and the need for a new marketing discipline) is very thought provoking.

McKenna argues that many of the functions traditionally performed by marketers under the auspices of "brand" such as customer service, market intelligence, etc. are being performed by IT departments. He warns marketers that their jobs are being absorbed by the CTO and CIO.

His description of a new kind of "Marketing Architecture" is very interesting. The book manages to tie channels of access together with loyalty, brand awareness, globalization, and partnerships. I found that the book required me to wrench my brain to think about marketing and technology from a very different angle.

I suspect marketers will dislike its central premise. Nobody likes to hear that their job is going to be automated by the guys in the IT department!

What was I thinking...........2002-12-12

when I bought this book. Completely worthless. First, this book seemed to be a commentary rather than a book filled with facts. No references were made about any of the facts...just the author's and his family's experiences. Kind of like the John Madden of marketing. If you score more points than the opposing team you have a good chance of winning the game....duh!

Too fluffy.......2002-10-26

The most valuable part of this book is in chapter 7 in which he provides the checkpoints for the marketing architecture. McKenna used the first six chapters to create the foundation from which he postulates the need for the marketing architecture -- which is chapter 7.

I bought into his reasons in the first chapter and as a result, I could have, should have gone directly to chapter 7.

Please Look Elsewhere.......2002-09-19

Here is a solid example of how brand equity and trust can be eroded. The HBS (Harvard Business School) Press brand, in this case, has forgotten that our time spent as readers is extremely valuable.

Total Access is repetitive and bloated, it meanders endlessly, and it is sprinkled irritatingly with tedious truisms.

The few "gems" in Total Access could have easily been condensed into a solid Harvard Business Review article. As a first step, all the non-value adding self-promotional quotations from the McKenna Group would have had to go.

As a committed learner, I suggest that time would be infinitely better invested in reading or re-reading McKenna's 1991 classic Relationship Marketing. Alternatively, look elsewhere.

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