Western Europe: 1979-2009: A View from the United States

Book Description

As the start of the European Monetary Union (EMU) approaches, Western Europe may be heading for troubles that could extend to the United States. The problem lies in the West European political economy.

Book Description

The single most important topic in finance today is the art and science of credit risk management. Growing dissatisfaction with traditional credit risk measurement methods has combined with regulations imposed by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) in 1993 to send numerous financial institutions in search of alternative "internal model" approaches to measuring the credit risk of a loan or portfolio of loans. This has led to a raging debate over whether internal models can replace regulatory models, and which areas of credit risk measurement and management are most amenable to internal models. Much of this highly technical debate, however, has been inaccessible to the interested practitioner, student, economist, or regulator-until now.

In Credit Risk Measurement: New Approaches to Value at Risk and Other Paradigms, Anthony Saunders invites a wider audience into the debate. Simplifying many of the technical details and analytics surrounding internal models, he concentrates on their underlying economics and economic intuition. Professor Saunders examines the approaches of these new models to the evaluation of individual borrower credit risk, portfolio credit risk, and derivative contracts. The alternative models explored include:
* Loans as options and the KMV model
* The VAR approach: J. P. Morgan's CreditMetrics and other models
* The macro simulation approach: the McKinsey and other models
* The risk-neutral valuation approach: KPMG's Loan Analysis System (LAS) and other models
* The insurance approach: mortality models and CSFP credit risk plus model
* Back testing and stress testing credit risk models
* RAROC models

With its comprehensive coverage, summary, and comparison of new internal model approaches along with clear explanations of often complex material, Credit Risk Measurement is an indispensable resource for bankers, academics and students, economists, and regulators.

Customer Reviews:

Don't waste your time.......2002-12-08

Working in the banking industry I was turned on to this book by a colleague and what a colossal waste of time reading this was. The vast majority of this book's models are outdated and if Mr. Saunders was trying to write a historical piece he has accomplished that in spades. Nothing in this book is relevant and it is obvious the esteemed Mr. Saunders lent his name to a very poor book that he probably should have glanced through if not read. Linda Allen should probably get some real world experience because she is wasting people's time with her research.

Good intro, but not enough details.......2000-06-21

I have a copy of this book. It covers popular credit risk models and things like RAROC, etc. These concepts have been discussed extensively in the industry but I assume this is the first in the book form. The book does a good job in presenting basic ideas. However, if you are looking for technical details, you best bets are still the original technical documentations (CreditMetrics, CreditRisk+, KMV, etc). Nevertheless this book is a useful survey of the current stable of models. Besides, it is not very expensive.

Good intro, but not enough details.......2000-06-21

RAROC.......1999-12-27

I like the part on RAROC and KMV, interesting boo

Book Description

The book covers the federal, state and local regulations imposed on small businesses. Concise, friendly and up-to-the-minute, the book details each critical step.

Customer Reviews:

A wonderful primer on starting a business with contact information for locating startup funds if necessary........2006-10-20

This is a valuable book (resource) for budding entrepreneurs. It seems to try to cover all the bases for starting a small business, but it can't do them all well in the space available between its covers. The book is only 288 pages long. If you are in the planning stages of starting a small business, then I highly recommend you get a copy of this book. Read it, study it, and outline it. There are helpful checklists to help you grasp the subjects. You will come up with a plethora of keywords and terms that you will want to google to find Web pages giving more detailed (and maybe more current) information.

I am a SCORE counselor (Senior Corps of Retired Executives) who typically does face-to-face counseling sessions three nights a month. It would really be neat if my clients would read this book BEFORE they came to their session with me because they would pretty much be "educated customers" ready to ask educated questions. Our sessions would be so much more beneficial.

My favorite chapters were:

1. Initial business concerns
2. Your business' structure
3. Business start-up details
5. Sources of business assistance (SCORE is mentioned here)
7. Your smart business plan (and a good sample plan is included)
8. Obtaining the financing you need

The book is weak when it comes to how the Internet can be used in corresponding, hiring, and marketing. But this is just one example of how googling keywords and concepts found in the book will make the book more complete. Don't treat the book as authoritative on the law. It isn't. Nor was it ever intended to be. It is light on tax information as it relates to small business.

I was particularly impressed with the material presented in Chapter 2: Choice of Legal Entity. That subject is sorely ignored in most small business books, and it is critically important. It is a subject I regularly must spend a great deal of time discussing at my SCORE sessions. This book does a pretty good job on the topic.

Chapters 4 and 9 through 12 are easy to find fault with. The topic of each could fill a book. But having these topics covered definitely will help a budding entrepreneur know some of the issues they raise.

I would have liked the book more if Chapter 6 (marketing) had been less superficial. When I read it I got the impression that the author was more a public relations expert than a marketing expert. I generally categorize public relations as a subset of marketing. Marketing includes advertising, public relations, and a whole host of other promotion techniques. I did not get this message when I read the book. I also would have liked the book better if the Internet, email, and Web sites had been discussed more. But there are many books on those subjects. Therefore, I can't complain too much about the limited discussion of computers.

When you read this book it may feel a little like it was produced on an assembly line. Maybe it was? There are 51 versions of this book sold; one for each state and the District of Columbia. Content is king, and this book has it. 5 stars!

The American Dream: How Do You Start or Buy a Business with None of Your Own Cash.(Reaching the American Dream. (Required Reading))(Review) : An article from: Alaska Business Monthly

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The American Dream: How Do You Start or Buy a Business with None of Your Own Cash.(Reaching the American Dream. (Required Reading))(Review) : An article from: Alaska Business Monthly
Henry Holtzman
Manufacturer: Alaska Business Publishing Company, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Alaska Business Monthly, published by Alaska Business Publishing Company, Inc. on June 1, 2002. The length of the article is 1047 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 American Dream: How Do You Start or Buy a Business with None of Your Own Cash.(Reaching the American Dream. (Required Reading))(Review)
Author: Henry Holtzman
Publication: Alaska Business Monthly (Magazine/Journal)
Date: June 1, 2002
Publisher: Alaska Business Publishing Company, Inc.
Volume: 18 Issue: 6 Page: 48(2)

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Raising business capital: how do you get money to start or maintain a business? There are many ways.: An article from: Alaska Business Monthly

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Raising business capital: how do you get money to start or maintain a business? There are many ways.: An article from: Alaska Business Monthly
Stacey Saunders
Manufacturer: Alaska Business Publishing Company, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital
ASIN: B0008DBD64
Release Date: 2005-07-31

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Alaska Business Monthly, published by Alaska Business Publishing Company, Inc. on March 1, 2003. The length of the article is 2278 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: Raising business capital: how do you get money to start or maintain a business? There are many ways.
Author: Stacey Saunders
Publication: Alaska Business Monthly (Magazine/Journal)
Date: March 1, 2003
Publisher: Alaska Business Publishing Company, Inc.
Volume: 19 Issue: 3 Page: 44(5)

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Prepare for success: How to start a village business

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Prepare for success: How to start a village business
David Hoffman
Manufacturer: Village Entrepreneurship Program, Community Enterprise Development Corp
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Entrepreneurship | Small Business & Entrepreneurship | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

General | Small Business & Entrepreneurship | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B00072J9SK

Book Description

In this insightful book, twenty-three leading executive recruiters offer their invaluable insight and professional advice on choosing and changing career paths. With leading headhunters like Gerard Roche of Heidrick & Struggles and Peter Crist of Crist Associates, you’ll get the kind of inside look at the executive search process that you can’t find anywhere else. From spotting the opportunities that exist to making yourself more attractive to employers, The Career Navigation Handbook covers every vital topic in the job-search process, including:

Emerging trends in the executive world
Evaluating the career landscape in the new economy
Positioning yourself as the competition increases…and much more!

Buy your copy today!

Book Description

It's scary to think that courts and creditors have access to your hard-earned assets, but they do - unless you protect them. This book shows you the many safe, legal methods and little-known sources you can use to protect your money and property in today's lawsuit-happy world.

Customer Reviews:

One of The Best..........2003-07-05

I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of Keep What You Own, by Adam Starchild (or whatever his real name is).

Although the publishers of this book (Paladin Press) are perhaps best known for their more radical, esoteric titles, Keep What You Own is actually a fairly conservative book when it comes to asset protection advice. It shows you the pros as well as the cons of most methods it covers, which the majority of books on this subject completely fail to do.

From Nevada Corporations to Offshore Trusts, most of the well-known methods of asset protection are covered in this book, and usually in fairly good depth. Despite having already read several books on asset protection in the past, Starchild actually brings up some extremely good points that many other books fail to mention. Some of his insights on Nevada Corporations were especially eye opening.

Although not an attorney, Starchild has obviously done his homework. There are a few asset protection methods you can tell that he is obviously biased towards (Swiss Annuties for example), but for the most part he provides a very unbiased look at each method of asset protection, and clearly explains why (or why not) it might be the right vehicle for you.

On the downside, the book is obviously in need of an update (it was originally published in 1995), although the vast majority of the methods he describes have changed little since the original publication. Also, he seems to pepper the book with references to companies that you have the distinct impression he is financially linked to. Unfortunately, writing under an assumed pen name does not add to his credibility.

On the whole though, Keep What You Own is one of the better asset protection books I have read. It would be great to see an updated version of this title, but 95% of it is still applicable to today's laws. Before you buy in to any of the more questionable asset protection schemes that you see advertised, you would do well to get a copy of this book. It reveals the good, the bad, and the ugly, when it comes to asset protection strategies.

The book just gets more relevant with each passing year.......2001-08-22

The fundamentals haven't changed, and news events just make this book more relevant each year. Until the insane lawsuit trend stops, it is ordinary honest people who are at risk of losing their assets. Starchild's book addresses a number of safe, conservative techniques to gain some degree of protection - protection that is not always available through insurance

One of the best experts on offshore topics........2001-02-11

An offshore haven is simply a country other than your own. To an American, it's anywhere you bank outside of the U.S. Why invest in offshore havens? Because when you invest outside your own country, you are no longer tied to its restrictive financial laws, and can protect your assets, save taxes and build your wealth easier.

Most of us have been hoodwinked into thinking that offshore havens are illegal, too risky, or otherwise unworthy of consideration. Don't believe it. Financial expert Adam Starchild will dispel myths and misconceptions about offshore banking and reveal how you can:

Achieve total secrecy and and financial privacy
Transfer your money offshore, and keep it safe from lawsuits, creditors, the IRS, etc.
Use offshore havens to legally avoid, defer or minimize taxes
Invest globally and build your wealth
Pick the offshore haven that best meets your objectives
Choose the right offshore bank and maintain an account -- easily and safely
Do business offshore -- and reap extraordinary benefits
And more!

The Reasons for Asset Protection.......2000-10-30

Many people who elect to become structured offshore do so because they feel persecuted by government, claim-minded litigants, and even investigative journalists. Often it is less an election than a matter of simple survival. In spite of assurances of fair trials and opportunities to be heard, assets are at risk if they remain in your home country or if you remain within the range of the agencies or individuals that would attack you. The natural law of envy provides that the greater your success, the greater the likelihood that you will become a target for several character types, each with a different agenda but all proximately motivated by the natural law. That is, the means and immediate goals of attackers may take different forms but at root, each is driven by the natural law of envy.

Unfortunately, it is impossible for anyone, including us, to live in this world without confronting such ugliness in some form or another. Cloaked in a thousand forms of self-righteous crusading and victim restitution, all efforts share a common goal of taking away your assets. For example, armies of IRS bureaucrats, working 40 hours a week in positions with little hope of advancement, are paid to audit you and simply cannot help but enjoy the prospect of acquainting you with financial adversity. They may not personally realize economic benefit from their work, but their gratification derives from knowing that at least you will not enjoy your former wealth.

The Worldwide Assault on Wealth.......1998-11-02

Today your wealth and ability to do with it as you please are in great danger. Not only is there a proliferation of thieves and parasites armed with sophisticated electronic weapons that can steal our money, but the government itself -- the very institution we should rely on to guard our rights -- is after our wealth more persistently and maliciously than any thief in the world.

All over the world, governments are becoming more and more predatory. They reach for more and more power, and they squeeze more and more money out of their citizens... by any means they can. There is almost nowhere on earth your money is safe anymore.

Powers to confiscate money, under the guise of "drug laws," are growing in Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, and many other countries around the world.

Historically, appropriation of wealth has taken many forms -- and it's gone on for centuries. For instance, in East Germany alone, 9,870 industrial and commercial enterprises and about one-third of the entire land area capable of agricultural or forestry use were confiscated between 1945 and 1949. The same thing has gone on throughout South America, Africa, Asia, and Europe.

Do you do business in the U.S.? You should know that new banking regulations make it a federal crime not to report certain transactions -- of as little as $3,000. There is no requirement that the money be involved in any criminal activity -- it is a crime to simply not report the transaction. The penalty? Liability for a five-year prison sentence and a $250,000 fine. And -- the law allows the federal government to confiscate any funds they allege to be involved. Plus, bank tellers can collect huge rewards -- up to $150,000 -- for turning you in, if you are subsequently convicted of a criminal act, and subject to a civil fine or forfeiture of money or property.

Governments all over the world are trying to figure out how to crack down on the Internet and on-line communications. They're deathly afraid they'll lose their ability to tax, seize, and control their citizens' money.

The recent Bre-X scandal is a perfect example of how you can be cleverly robbed from anywhere in the world. Bre-X was one of the hot mining companies listed in Canada, but the investors who were fleeced were from all over the world. In a nutshell, fake drilling reports ran the stock of Bre-X from pennies all the way to $22.50, after a 10-1 split. When it turned out the reports were fake, some $4 billion in wealth disappeared almost overnight as the stock plunged.

As you can see, these threats are global. Governments don't protect you -- they're just part of the problem. And other threats cross borders and continents in the blink of an eye.

It doesn't matter whether you're wealthy or average, an individual or a company, or where you are in the world -- the assaults on wealth, from government and crooks, is growing, and you are at risk.

Adam Starchild believes that your wealth should be secure -- safe from the government and safe from thieves. In Keep What You Own he shows you some specific strategies to protect your wealth.

Amazon.com

New World, New Rules looks at the sweeping changes in the American economy caused by global competition, deregulation, technology, and the rise of power on Wall Street. Author Marina Whitman demonstrates how these developments are radically reshaping the ways big companies deal with their employees and their communities. Whitman, a business professor at the University of Michigan and former chief economist for General Motors Corporation, writes that major companies can no longer be paternalistic pillars of their cities and towns. They must now be lean, global competitors--always eyeing profits, even when it comes to charitable promotions. While America has discovered the upsides of the international economy--more productive workers and more choice and better prices for consumers--the downsides aren't all that comforting: employees can't count on secure jobs and managers are often wracked by short-term thinking. But for American companies and their employees, there's no turning back. After a period of painful downsizing, U.S. corporations are now the most competitive in the world. However, Whitman argues that policymakers and business leaders can mitigate many of the ill effects of America's newfound competitiveness by making health insurance more portable and allocating more tax dollars for job training in new technologies. For students, business leaders, and policy makers. --Dan Ring

Book Description

Throughout much of the twentieth century, the American corporation was looked to as a bedrock of stability and security, a benevolent institution whose power and influence was a trusted force in business and society alike. For better or worse, this corporation no longer exists. The intensified competition produced by globalization, deregulation, and information technology, along with slowed growth and economic flux, have profoundly altered corporate America's relationship with employees, shareholders, communities, government, and society. New World, New Rules is a compelling chronicle of the American corporation's changing role, as well as a perceptive look at what these changes mean for both business and public policy. Author Marina Whitman shares both personal experiences and in-depth research from her distinguished career as a business leader, government adviser, teacher, and influential corporate strategist. One of the first women appointed to a major corporate board, a former vice president at General Motors, and a former member of the President's Council of Economic Advisers, Whitman is currently a director of five major multinational corporations and a renowned scholar of economics and public policy. Here is the remarkable account of what she has observed during a period of unprecedented business upheaval. As it surveys the uncertain new relationship between American business and American society, New World, New Rules challenges our companies and our government to consider new practices and policies that will contribute to corporate viability as well as to the health of American society.

Download Description

New World, New Rules is a compelling chronicle of the American corporation?s changing role, as well as a perceptive look at what these changes mean for both business and public policy. Throughout much of the twentieth century, the American corporation was looked to as a bedrock of stability and security, a benevolent institution whose power and influence was a trusted force in business and society alike. For better or worse, this corporation no longer exists. Competition, globalization, and economic flux have all profoundly altered corporate America?s relationship with employees, shareholders, communities, government, and society. Author Marina Whitman, one of the first women appointed to a major corporate board and a former vice president at General Motors, shares both the personal experiences and in-depth research from her distinguished career as a business leader, government advisor, teacher, and influential corporate strategist. Here is the remarkable account of what she has observed during a period of unprecedented business upheaval. As it surveys the uncertain new relationship between American business and American society, New World, New Rules challenges our companies and our government to consider new practices and policies that will contribute to both corporate viability as well as the health of American society.

Customer Reviews:

Thanks, we know the illness -- how about the cure?.......2005-01-06

I don't want to sound critical, but it looks like this book is written for a blue-collar Michael Moore-style person who cannot understand why in the world his town is in shambles, and, well, I don't think this book would convince Michael Moore that this is how it is supposed to be. Marina first tells the evident -- that corporations are not that benevolent now as they used to be (well, if you consider their old state as 'benevolence', which is a completely separate discussion, of course) and then tries to prove that this is how it is supposed to be. Well, let see, if somebody has an illness and it is not cured, the person dies. That's natural. But you can try to cure it, right? Not just state that dying is natural? So, where is the cure? Marina does not have it. Suggestions of portable life insurance and more tax dollars for retraining may be a pain killer at some time -- albeit not very powerful -- but hardly a cure.

New World, New Rules: The Changing role of the American Corporation.(Review) (book reviews) : An article from: Journal of Economic Issues

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New World, New Rules: The Changing role of the American Corporation.(Review) (book reviews) : An article from: Journal of Economic Issues
Christopher Brown
Manufacturer: Association for Evolutionary Economics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital
ASIN: B00098ZRTM
Release Date: 2005-07-28

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Journal of Economic Issues, published by Association for Evolutionary Economics on September 1, 1999. The length of the article is 1145 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: New World, New Rules: The Changing role of the American Corporation.(Review) (book reviews)
Author: Christopher Brown
Publication: Journal of Economic Issues (Refereed)
Date: September 1, 1999
Publisher: Association for Evolutionary Economics
Volume: 33 Issue: 3 Page: 779(3)

Article Type: Book Review

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