A Not-so-dismal Science: A Broader View of Economies and Societies

Book Description

Modern economics is like a metropolitan area. Economists' ideas about business and markets are like the magnificent buildings of the city centre. Yet most growth and prosperity is in the suburbs -- lately many of economics' greatest successes have been outside the traditional boundaries of the discipline. In the study of law, economic ideas have been the intellectual focus and `law and economics' has become a major field. In the study of politics, economists and political scientists using economics-type methods are uniquely influential. In sociology and history, economics has had a smaller but growing influence through `rational choice sociology' and `cliometrics'. The influence of the economists type thinking in other social sciences is bringing about a theoretical integration of all the social sciences under one overarching paradigm. The chapters of the book illustrate the intellectual advances that account for this unified view of economies and societies.

Customer Reviews:

Not So Dismal.......2001-03-22

Reviewer: Bill Roach (Bill@BillRoach.net)

`Traditional' economics, which focuses on overpopulation and shortages of capital and other resources, tends to offer a dismal outlook for underdeveloped countries. The title of the book stems from the premise that, if the scope of investigation is expanded to include institutions and economic policy, the outlook is less dismal. That is, changes in institutions and policies can have a very favorable impact on prospects for development in poor countries.

The book is a collection of papers by scholars in Economics, Law, Business, History and Social Sciences, on the effects of policies and institutions on development. From the preface, by Olson and Kakhonen:

"The chapters in this book illustrate the intellectual advances that are broadening economics and integrating the social sciences. They illustrate these advances in almost all of the fields in which they are occurring. This book was inspired in part by the belief that just such a book on the broader economics or integrated social sciences was needed - and that it would take a number of experts in different fields to illustrate the wide range of work being done. ... It is the shortcomings of the economic policies and institutions of the capital-short countries of the world that keep investors ... from putting much capital there. ... These shortcomings also blight the productivity of the indigenous resources of the poor countries. ... governance is a decisive determinant of economic performance, and ... with the right economic policies and institutions, countries as poor as India could grow at very rapid rates and become developed nations far sooner than is usually supposed."

From Chapter 10, by Pranab Bardhan:

"The New Institutional Economics points to some very important features of institutional failures that cause or prolong underdevelopment, particularly the legal and contractual structures and rules of third-party enforcement which are necessary for most arms-length market transactions. ... In Western societies, over time, complex institutional structures have been devised ... [which include] property rights, formal contracts and guarantees, trademarks, limited liability, bankruptcy laws, and large corporate organization with governance structures to limit problems of agency and ... of incomplete contracting and ex-post opportunism."

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Journal of Economic Issues, published by Association for Evolutionary Economics on December 1, 2000. The length of the article is 1172 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: A NOT-SO-DISMAL SCIENCE: A BROADER VIEW OF ECONOMIES AND SOCIETIES.(Review) (book review)
Author: William M. Dugger
Publication: Journal of Economic Issues (Refereed)
Date: December 1, 2000
Publisher: Association for Evolutionary Economics
Volume: 34 Issue: 4 Page: 986

Article Type: Book Review

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Book Description

Since the 1980s when the microfinance revolution began, much has been accomplished, but the field became more refined in the 1990s as a result of shifts in paradigms, strategies, and development practices. This volume addresses the three policy objectives that now occupy those who wish to use credit as a development tool: financial sustainability of microfinance institutions, outreach to the poor, and welfare impact.

Inevitable tradeoffs exist among these objectives, and the book advances an analytical framework that assists students of and experts in microfinance to identify the tradeoffs and synergies at the institutional level and in the policy environment. The book features a wealth of empirical data and innovative analytical studies, and critically discusses the role of public support for microfinance institutions (MFIs) in light of the social costs and benefits generated by such financial systems.

The book is organized into five parts. The first discusses the demand for and access to financial services by the poor, emphasizing that demand-oriented, pro-poor financial services are crucial in reaching the poor. The second is concerned with two of the criteria used to evaluate MFIs -- outreach and financial sustainability. The third features innovative econometric studies seeking to evaluate the impact of MFIs at the household level. The fourth looks at the role of both public- and private-sector institutions in developing sustainable financial systems. And the fifth summarizes implications for policy and research.

Given the lack of sound, empirical literature on microfinance, this volume is sure to advance knowledge and research methodology in the field.

The Triangle of Microfinance: Financial Sustainability, Outreach, and Impact.(Book Review): An article from: Journal of the American Planning Association

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The Triangle of Microfinance: Financial Sustainability, Outreach, and Impact.(Book Review): An article from: Journal of the American Planning Association
Michael Schubert
Manufacturer: American Planning Association
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital
ASIN: B00082DK70
Release Date: 2005-07-31

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Journal of the American Planning Association, published by American Planning Association on March 22, 2004. The length of the article is 1459 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: The Triangle of Microfinance: Financial Sustainability, Outreach, and Impact.(Book Review)
Author: Michael Schubert
Publication: Journal of the American Planning Association (Refereed)
Date: March 22, 2004
Publisher: American Planning Association
Volume: 70 Issue: 2 Page: 230(2)

Article Type: Book Review

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Book Description

Second Lives is a series written for people who are considering starting a second career in their thirties, forties, or fifties--whether out of necessity (as a result of downsizing), or because they are entering the work force for the first time (after their children have left home), or simply because they want to find more interesting, satisfying work, and want to work for themselves instead of for a company.

Unlike other career advice books, the Second Lives series is written for people who already know what their interests are, people who have already developed certain skills and a base knowledge in their first career. Each book shows how you can take what you already know and turn it into a successful second career.

Each book is practical and very realistic. Starting with a description of the job and how you get into the field, it provides a questionnaire to determine whether you will really be happy working on your own and whether a particular field is right for you. Second Lives shows you how to take a personal inventory of your assets and liabilities, experience, finances, and personality, and shows how to find your niche in your new field. It outlines the concrete steps you need to take to get started and raises the basic questions any self-employed person needs to answer: Will I need a lawyer? An accountant? Should I incorporate? What about health insurance? Second Livesdescribes a typical day in this new life and shows how you should evaluate your new business.

Becoming a Consultant is for people who have gathered expertise in their field-- usually working for a corporation--and now want to, or are forced to, go out on their own. Remember all those corporations that downsized? Today most are hiring independent consultants to fill the void.

At a time when most of us will not remain in the same job for forty years, these books offer a handy guide for starting a second, more satisfying career in midlife.

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Second Lives - Becoming a Consultant
Bill Harris
Manufacturer: St Martins
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000O6G5JU

Book Description

This microcomputer-based systems text emphasizes practical problem-solving tools and strategies, making it relevant to the real world without diluting the basic theoretical content.

Book Description

Understand the online trends of four distinct B-to-B market segments: retailers that cater to businesses, business services that provide support online businesses, manufacturers that create new products, and wholesalers/ distributors engaged in keeping supply chains open and fluid. This report contains culled information from the original field research conducted among the managers of online businesses in ActivMedia's 6th annual wave of E-commerce research. Through overviews on each of the four business segments, each followed by two case studies exemplifying unique marketing approaches, this report focuses on several key aspects of the business relationship online: revenue, growth, proportion of 'Net business in each segment, and explores relevant issues that arise across the board.

Book Description

If your dreams of career success include jobs in Prague or Munich, if you want to learn Mandarin while living in China, or if your travel plans always require a passport, then THE GLOBAL CITIZEN is for you. Written by Monster.com's former international career mentor, Elizabeth Kruempelmann, THE GLOBAL CITIZEN is an international life and career planner that walks you through the ins and outs of working, studying, volunteering, or living in a foreign country. Thought-provoking assessments will get you started on your global path, the interactive planner will keep you on track, and extensive resources will widen your possibilities. With tips for researching and funding your adventure, secrets to adjusting to life abroad, and hints for making the most of your experiences when (or if!) you return, THE GLOBAL CITIZEN presents a new approach to life planning no citizen of the world should be without.

Customer Reviews:

Outstanding Resource.......2006-01-30

"The Global Citizen" is a MUST READ for anyone seeking to establish an international lifestyle. I especially liked the sections that allowed real people who've moved abroad the opportunity to write about their experiences. These "journal entries" gave me a lot of inspiration. The book is loaded with program information for study, voluteering and work abroad. There is a chapter on financing your journeys which offers information about scholarships and grants that I didn't even know existed! I highly recommend "The Global Citizen" for anyone serious about going abroad short-term or long-term.

Good introductory value, poor on details.......2004-09-11

If you are under 20, not sure what to do with your life and contemplating about how cool it is to travel to Europe and save the rain forests - this book is perfect for you (even better if you want to save rain forests in Europe). Then, if you are not from US, don't have kickass amount of money to spend or know exactly what you want - bypass this title.

The Global Citizen offers a lot of ways for an American to go abroad; if you live elsewhere, only 20% of all the suggestions are relevant to you. Of these 20%, most require significant investment. What's more important, neither of these ways is described in detail.

Large sections of this book are dedicated to the fine art of proving that 2 and 2 equals 4. For example, the author dedicates 2 or 3 pages to explanation why it pays to know languages others than English.

On the other hand, little to no useful tips are given on most important subjects, like convincing the foreign employer to hire you, or listing places with high expat concentrations, etc. Most of the work abroad opportunities are standard English teaching stuff - I don't need to buy a book to tell me about it, really.

The book is full of howlers. Page 199: 450 - 2550 British pounds are translated as 310 - 1767 US dollars (neat, huh?). Page 88: Arctic Odysseys provides high quality travel experiences in the Arctic regions of Canada, Greenland, Siberia and China (someone please find Arctic China for me). Page 213: the author discovers a new country: Moldova-Ukraine. And this is just a small part.

Again, good enough as introduction, many ideas, very low on details.

Inspirational Book!.......2004-05-17

This book is wonderful and I would recommend it to anyone! The author writes on a personal level like she is talking to you and it is also written from a emotional level so it is easy to understand. This book gets you excited about all the possibilities and the author explains any fears you may have and how you can get over them and overall she gets the word across to never give up! She also gives e-mail adresses from other people who have experience travel. This is a great book, everyone can benefit from this.

Excellent Book!.......2004-02-25

The Global Citizen is an excellent book for anyone thinking of doing anything abroad! It covers a wide range of topics, from studying to volunteering abroad. The author provides practical information on how to identify your goal, approach it and then directs the reader on where to find more information on each individual topic. This book is very stimulating and most certainly motivating! A great buy!

the ONLY career guide for adventure seekers.......2003-05-06

The "Global Citizen" is an excellent resource for anyone who wants to travel or work abroad. Most importantly for me, this book has a wealth of information on careers abroad that I had not thought of before. Most career guides are so narrow in scope that I rarely find much use in them because they are so "8-5" in nature.
The other cool thing about this book is that it's full of websites with info. on every aspect of living, working, or volunteering abroad.
I love the personal stories in the section "A Global Citizen's Perspective" because, as a traveler, you can really connect to the experience of the author and other people who have done what you want to do.
If you are looking for a a life changing adventure, then travel abroad. If you want to stay abroad, then get this book!!

Average customer rating:

Disappointing

An Absolute Must for Anyone Looking for Happiness!

A Must Read: Offers a great perspective with a humorous bent

At least the crash left me enough money to buy this book ...

LIVING LIFE WITH GUSTO AND JOY

Taking Stock: A Spiritual Guide to Rising Above Life's Financial Ups and Downs
Benjamin Blech
Manufacturer: AMACOM/American Management Association
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Personal Finance | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
General | Self-Help | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
Spiritual | Self-Help | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
General | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
General | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0814407870

Book Description

Foreword by Monsignor James P. Lisante

What is it about money that not only makes us feel secure but also drives us to measure our true worth by our financial standing? Whether we've experienced unmet monetary goals, job loss, or outright financial crisis, too many of us have let the stress of financial issues obscure our higher priorities. Taking Stock is a revelatory book filled with the wisdom and practical tools to move toward a lifeview in which success is defined by spiritual clarity, not by the promises money seldom delivers.

The author has been through his own rags-to-riches-and-back-to-rags saga, through which he learned money's true place and value. Examples from his own experience and from community and business life are sprinkled with teachings from the world's religions -- not to mention a healthy dose of common sense. To the religious and nonobservant alike, Taking Stock reveals:

* the role money plays in our lives * why we envy others for things we don't need * the difference between failure and failing * and how to "start over" using new definitions of success and happiness

The book closes with Prescriptions for Each Day of the Week, each one an inspiring and beautiful story with a gentle, clear moral. With compassion, humor, and profound wisdom, Taking Stock gives readers not only a way to cope, but also a deep appreciation for what they have -- not what they're missing.

Customer Reviews:

Disappointing.......2004-06-15

Nothing new here (as per the NY Times article)...but coming from an individual who lost $7 million (probably much more)the advice rings a little hollow.
We can all be Monday morning quarterbacks which is exactly what this book is.
Did certainly not stand up to the billing.

An Absolute Must for Anyone Looking for Happiness!.......2003-11-24

People think, talk, breathe, dream, and do just about everything else - money! Money is everything to many, and a lot to everyone else. This book, with its beautiful insights, in it's absolutely magnificent tone teaches us the uttermost valuable lesson of where money SHOULD be in our lives. I have never been as happy as I am now, after being enriched with Blech's lessons; my financial fortunes (or misfortunes) are now in perspective. Anybody who questions the significance of money absolutely needs this book; and everyone else needs to affirm that they have it where it should be!
Just the way he always does, Benjamin Blech takes the most important and complicated lessons of our lives and spoon-feeds them to us, as pure honey, for the brain to digest and enjoy. He is unbelievable! And this may be his best work yet! You have no idea what you're missing out on if you do not read this book - even if you do read it purely for enjoyment's sake; and the few lessons along the way couldn't hurt either. Simply put, this is one of the greatest books I have ever read!

A Must Read: Offers a great perspective with a humorous bent.......2003-10-31

A Must-read! I'm 32 and watched stocks of mine like Lucent go to ZERO. (So much for my savvy investing and early retirement plans.) But Taking Stock helped to give me a prespective and feel better about things. It was, in parts,very empathetic (I have to say that I felt better knowing that other people lost as much as I did...) but it was also upbeat, reflective, and really funny at times. One of the most important things is that the book encouraged me to move forward, figure out what matters, and put my energy into that...I think that it is an important read that will help put things into a healthy perspective.

At least the crash left me enough money to buy this book ..........2003-10-23

I have to admit it -- I was one of those crazy people who clicked the "refresh" button every ten seconds to see how my stocks were doing. And they were doing great! And then, before I knew what had hit me, it was all . . . gone.

I had a really difficult time dealing with it. But I got over it. And nothing, *nothing*, helped me to do that, to get on with my life, more than this one book.

Blech writes with humor, with poignancy, and with insight. He's been there, and he takes us with him as he describes his own journey from despair back to having financial and spiritual perspective.

Buy this book. You'll be glad you did.

LIVING LIFE WITH GUSTO AND JOY.......2003-10-17

TAKING STOCK is one of the most enjoyable, helpful and hopeful books I have ever read! It is the true reality book. Benjamin Blech, through personal experience, wit and incredible wisdom helps us face ourselves, our desires, our weaknesses, our strengths AND brings us to the point where we not only see reality but we appreciate it and build from there with joy and alacrity and inspiration. While dealing with financial adversity, this book is truly universal in appeal. We all have our demons, our sadnesses, our struggles. He gives us the tools and perspectives we immediately recognize, like a meeting with close friends, which enable us to face deep adversity and come through it more whole, happy and ready to embrace life fully. There is also a section of stories which I found paticularly poignant. The book reads very quickly. I liked this book so much, found it so beneficial and enjoyable to read, that I am going to buy additional copies and send them to family and friends.

Amazon.com

Computer users who favor Macintosh products are truly enthralled with their machines. But after reading Apple: The Inside Story of Intrigue, Egomania, and Business Blunders, even the most zealous may be hard-pressed to defend the company that produces them. Here, Wall Street Journal technology reporter Jim Carlton chronicles the missteps that have befuddled the fallen giant of Cupertino between the initial and current regimes of cofounder Steve Jobs. Carlton combines a keen sense of observation with a slew of previously undisclosed facts to produce a damning history that will leave many wondering how the firm has managed to survive.

Book Description

This book, written by a Wall Street Journal technology reporter, is the most detailed study to date of the past decade of Apple's turbulent history. Jim Carlton walks us down company corridors, into the boardroom, and through barriers to research laboratories, and reveals a seething cauldron of petty infighting and buried secrets.

Through exhaustive interviews with more than 160 former Apple employees, industry experts, and competitors--including Bill Gates, Scully, and Amelio--Carlton discovers confidential memos, late night rendezvous, and fateful decisions that forever changed the company's path. He portrays a company very different from the glamorous technology leader that designed computers for "the rest of us" and illuminates what might have been and what really happened to this once-great icon of American business.

Customer Reviews:

Interesting to see the accumulation of "could haves".......2004-12-08

While others have noted the writing style (tolerable - I've seen far worse), the book as a whole is rather thorough and interesting. Granted, it was published before Apple's comeback, so there is (perhaps) too much emphasis upon the failures. However, the accumulated "could have" stories are interesting fare, things that may have been overlooked in the tale of a successful company's history. Here we see the flirtations with Sun, with Apollo, the AIM alliance and PowerPC, porting to x86 hardware, the Newton, and the spin-offs: webTV, Be, etc. Using hindsight 20/20, it seems that Jobs is under-represented. Yet, at the time of publication, I think that this book provided an accurate picture of how things seemed to line up.

I recommend this book, particularly to Apple fans and those interested in the history of computing. Additionally, this book is prime material for those interested in business blunders, particularly related to technology. For the latter group, this book makes a fine companion to the history of Xerox PARC, Dealers of Lightning. The works together provide a chilling view of how tecnhological innovation is often antithetical to business interests. I think that Carlton's work alone can make one consider the fate of technology in the hands of "big business".

Jim Carlton Was Wrong.......2002-06-03

Useful history and inside looks, but reading his 1998 back-of-the-hand dismissal of Apple's chances of survival is pretty humorous nowadays. His opinion that Apple should have licensed earlier is similarly wrong-headed and lacking in any technical appreciation of the downsides of licensing (dilution of brand,difficult QA processes, cherry-picking, loss of platform homogenieity ).

He similarly doesn't understand the silliness of Apple developing an x86 MacOS in the early 90's, and again reveals his technical ineptitude by failing to pursue the ramifications of an Apple-brand x86 offering (ie a Mac with an x86 CPU) vs a software-only offering like Windows or NeXT's Yellow Box.

He also repeatedly blows the 5300 battery issue out of proportion.

But I think the weakest theme in the book is that an alternative platform with less than 10% "marketshare" is automatically doomed to failure. While there is a strong positive network effect for the 'standard' and a negative effect for the alternatives, in his near-hagiography of Gates & Co he simply missed the bigger picture that the lamosity of the Wintel platform's inherent legacy issues is and was a countervening force.

5-10% of the total market is sufficiently large for Apple, given a) it's the top 5-10% and b) Micros~1 continues to [stink] as it always has.

It's OK . . ........2002-02-18

Jim Carlton's "Apple" is a fascinating account about the growth, the fall, the rebirth, and the slow decline of one of Silicon Valley's original PC pioneer. It provides an exhaustive account of the egos and problems within the top ranks that prevented Apple from being a great company. Again and again, Carlton shows how Apple blew opportunities to become a "standard" in the PC industry if it had licensed its technology, merged with a partner like IBM or Sun, or just had the competence to execute effectively and efficiently.

For the most part, I do agree with Carlton's account. However, one cannot help but feel after reading numerous accounts of Apple's "failures" or "lost opportunities" if Carlton is making too much out of Apple's strategy. Carlton also implicitly believes that becoming "the standard" could have been and should have been Apple's only goal. Naturally, like another reviewer, I got tired of reading Carlton's 20/20 hindsight version of history that harps on every failure as somehow contributing to the company's decline.

The book was also published around 1999, so while it does include a section on Job's return and Apple's introduction of the iMac, it naturally missed out on some of Apple's more recent accomplishments: the new TiBook, the iBook, OS X, the "digital hub" strategy, and the fact that Apple is sitting pretty these days as other Wintel box makers are seeing their companies disintegrate under brutal price wars and commoditization. Overall, Carlton's book provides a good history of the company, but its propensity to apply a 20/20 hindsight type of history that harps on every mistake the company made gets annoying after awhile.

Missed Opportunities.......2002-02-15

Carlton relates time after time after time (after time) how Apple rose to great heights of genius and creativity, and then threw opportunity away with both hands and ran the other direction. The title is descriptive of the downs (but the book also covers the ups) of this amazing company. One of the few critical and unbiased (mostly) looks at Apple. All Macintosh fans and Steve Jobsians should read this book to get the other side. I was actually going to interview with Apple until I read this story.

The biggest blunder is this book.......2001-07-27

I'm not a big Apple Computer fan, but I was very disappointed by this book. Covering the tumultuous period just before Steve Jobs returned to Apple, the book attempts to provide all the 20/20 insight necessary to explain the company's short-comings. Unfortunately, though, the book is so poorly written -- and doesn't at all hide the disdain the author feels for Jobs -- that it's nearly unreadable. Rather than tell the story in a linear timeline, the book jumps back and forth in a very confusing way. If you didn't already know the Apple story, you wouldn't know what was going on. Also, considering all the success Apple has had since then (with the iMac and Titanium PowerBook), this topic is moot now anyway.

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