Reviews (1)

It is an excellent book for international lawyers
This book contains a concise explanationof every day problems regardingforeign transactions, together with an explanation ofthe Common lawsystem specially in United States, this book concentrates pertinent casesfor each of the subjects explained in it. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Business    2. Business & Economics    3. Business & Financial    4. Business/Economics    5. Commercial law    6. Economics - Comparative    7. Export sales contracts    8. Foreign trade regulation    9. International    10. International business enterpr    11. International business enterprises    12. Law and legislation    13. Legal Reference / Law Profession    14. Business & Economics / Economics / Comparative    15. Economics    16. Economics, Finance, Business and Industry   

Reviews (5)

Indispensable information on China's growth and impact
This book is indispensable for anyone seeking solid information about China. No country has inspired more commentary, conflict and controversy, or given rise to more disparate and confusing predictions, projections and polemics. The authors - C. Fred Bergsten, Bates Gill, Nicholas R. Lardy and Derek Mitchell - focus on economic, political and security issues, carefully assessing the range of noteworthy opinions on each issue, and offering readers the data necessary to evaluate them. The authors do not attempt to make a case one way or the other. They provide an excellent, concise survey of contemporary thinking about China, with ample evidence for and against each viewpoint. We think that if you are only going to read one book on China, this should be it. If you are going to read several, start here.

First rate think tanks, second rate authors, third rate book
This book is a major disappointment. With all the heat from two think tanks and the authors, it offers no light except something as dry and plain as chewing wax, and certainly could be written by any local journalists.
A biased description of China Development
I believe that this books does not make a sound appreciation of the interesting development china has followed since the period of Den Xiaoping which ended in a new economic and political plan after 1978. If the plan has succeded, is a consequence of the opening of china to a new form of capitalism.The authors of the book seem to be making a biased judgement based upon facts that can also be applied to the U.S government in its intervention all around the third world. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 1976-    2. 2000-    3. Business / Economics / Finance    4. China    5. Economic Conditions    6. Economic policy    7. Economics - Comparative    8. National security    9. Political Science    10. Politics and government    11. Politics/International Relations    12. Public Policy - Economic Policy    13. International economics    14. International relations   

Editorial Review

Ever feel like you just can't get ahead with the bills? You're not alone. More than half of Americans believe the American dream has become impossible for most people to achieve. And two-thirds think this goal will be even harder for the next generation. (One reason for the gloominess--average full-time income has fallen 15 percent since 1975.) All this has Benjamin Friedman worried. In his hefty, 549-page tome, Read more

Reviews (8)

Interesting Thesis, but overlooking some important points
Mr. Friedman's book begins with an interesting thesis, defining morality and its definition within a context of economic growth.The idea that economic growth or stagnation effects the mindsets of the people living in that time period is a logical argument that Friedman often well supports with historical facts.However, the exceptions to his argument make me wonder if he really believes in his own thesis, or if he just felt the need to write a book.Furthermore, for every chapter in the book, there seem to be at least one or more flawed arguments or points that, with a little thorough thought or research, don't make sense or can easily be disproven.With these things being the case, I find Friedman's argument a little hard to buy.The entire book seems to build up to the final chapter, which Friedman uses to make policy recommendations that would aid in economic growth; this final chapter could have stood alone from the book entirely, however, because the evidence in the book an his arguments elsewhere in the book (ie. the importance of education) do not add or support his final policy recommendations.His policy recommendations could have easily been listed by students in an economics class as responses to the question "What should the government do to promote economic growth?"They don't push the argument forward or indicate anything that hasn't already been suggested in the past, nor do they give suggestions as to how to go about implementing his policies.

Puzzling
Friedman begins with a few troubling statistics, particularly the fact that except for a brief period in the late 1900s, most of the fruits of the last three decades of economic growth in the U.S. have accrued to only a small slice of the population.Further, after allowing for higher prices, the average 2004 worker in an American business made 16% less each week than 30+ years earlier.With more and more two-earner households and more individuals holding two jobs, most families' income have more than held their own.But nearly all the gain in the last three decades came only in the late 1990s.Young men entering the American job force in the 1970s started off earning two-thirds more, on average, than the generation starting out in the 1950s; by the early 1990s it was one quarter less than their parents.
A monumental work with some significant lapses
Professor Friedman has provided us a remarkable historical argument in favor of economic growth. The chapters all read very well and cover an enormous range of material. However, a major deificiency in the chapter on environmental concerns is a lack of coverage in the arena of ecological economics. Indeed much of the most recent critcism of economic growth has emanated from this area of inquiry. Professor Friedman only covers EF Schumacher with relatively little analysis and completely neglects the work of Herman Daly, Robert Costanza and other ecological economists. I contacted Professor Friedman about this and he admitted not being familiar with this genre which is a telling sign of how polarized the field of economics has become. The neoclassical school has dominance and maintains the mainstream academic societies, dismissing the ecological school as a sentimental aberration. On the other hand the ecological economists are content with their own associations and journals. When shall the twain meet if we are to have a sound and balanced discussion towards sustainable development?
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Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business/Economics    4. Capitalism    5. Democracy    6. Economic Conditions    7. Economic Policy    8. Economic development    9. Economics - Comparative    10. Economics - General    11. Economics - Theory    12. Free Enterprise    13. Income distribution    14. Moral and ethical aspects    15. Political participation    16. Public Policy - Economic Policy    17. Business & Economics / Economics / General   

Reviews (55)

Starts Slow, Finishes Strong
This is a fairly ambitious book about Mr. Duncan's conviction that the dollar will soon collapse.Written to convince readers of the author's thesis, it is filled with graphs and other technical charts that provide evidence for his theories.The first two parts list graphs publicly available from the Federal Reserve website and then weave together a doomsday scenario based on the increasing debt of the world and the trade deficit.Lacking anecdotes, only a technical analyst would enjoy the first half of the book, because it is written in a textbook style.Part Three, starting with monetarism, is where the book revs up.The author explains that monetarism, i.e. pumping money into the economy to make it better during bad times, is like pouring water over a drowning child.He states, "The failure of those attempts will be the death of monetarism, which claims that any economic difficulty can be overcome simply by adjusting the money supply up or down depending on the circumstances.It will be death through drowning."For people who wonder what is going on when the Federal Reserve raises or lowers interest rates, this book provides a basic but very well-written overview of monetarism (the guiding light behind the modern-day Fed) and may also provide some tangential insight into Bernacke's academic writings (Bernacke perfers inflation targeting rather than regulating the money supply, and the book seems to validate Bernacke's ideas).Grieder's _Secrets of the Temple_ is a much more detailed and fun to read book about monetarism and the Fed, and if you are able to invest the time, it is a better read.However, it lacks Mr. Duncan's concise explanation of monetarism as well as Mr. Duncan's proposals on how to fix the problems we face.One idea, a global minimum wage for export-based industries in other countries, is very interesting.He even promulgates a possible enforcement mechanism for this, and one has to give him credit for at least trying to suggest a solution.If successful, a global minimum wage should reduce the trade deficit we have with other countries and will spread Henry Ford's philosophy about rank-and-file workers being able to afford the products they make.I wish the author had either bypassed or made more fun to read the first two parts.It appears Mr. Duncan may have approached this book as a dissertation or textbook at first and added more relevant sections later on.Indeed, the last chapter focuses on the "Bernacke put," which is difficult to understand but at least shows that the author tried to make his book as current and relevant as possible.Overall, this is a quick read that makes its points using good evidence.It would have been helpful if the author added a section suggesting what the individual investor can do to protect himself or herself in the future.I am _not_ making recommendations here, but other than gold, you may also consider investing in currency ETFs if you agree with the author.

A disturbing book
The United States is living beyond its means because the rest of the world accepts dollar denominated securities in exchange for goods and services.According to some people, the world's appetite for Amercian paper is inexhaustible.The Chinese, the Japanese, the Koreans, the Europeans, the oil exporters - they all love the dollar and want to hold many more of them.Other people - including the author of this book - believe that the huge US current account deficit is unsustainable and will destroy the dollar's position as the world's reserve currency.Who is right?Paul Volcker, Warren Buffet and several other prominent investors have taken the pessimistic view.Even the Fed admits that the "imbalances" will eventually correct themselves, albeit"in an orderly fashion."But how can this happen without a large fall in the value of the dollar?.As Richard Duncan explains, this problem has been caused by free trade between high wage and low wage countries.The low wage countries have accumulated enormous dollar reserves while our net investment position with the rest of the world has gone into the red by some $3 trillion.Some one once said that losing Saudi Arabia would be like losing the Federal Reserve.When and if the dollar ceases to be the world's reserve currency, it will be like losing Saudi Arabia and much more besides.

an educational book
This book is good if you want to understand more about global economics, (which is why I bought the book).It is rather doom and gloom, and it was published in 2002 so the info isn't as up to date as it could be, but I have still found it very informative.Not a light read--will make your brain work. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business/Economics    4. Depressions    5. Economic Conditions    6. Economics - Comparative    7. Economics - General    8. Financial crises    9. Money & Monetary Policy    10. United States    11. Business & Economics / Economics / General    12. Financial accounting    13. Monetary economics   

Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business/Economics    4. Corporate governance    5. Economic History    6. Economics - Comparative    7. History    8. International - Economics    9. Business & Economics / Economics / International    10. Management & management techniques   

Reviews (1)

Choice
Handbook of markets and economies: East Asia, Southeast Asia, Australia, New Zealand.ed. by Anthony Pecotich and Clifford J. Shultz II.M.E. Sharpe, 2006. 712p bibl index afp ISBN 0-7656-0972-X, $139.95 . Reviewed in 2006jun CHOICE.*More from M.E. Sharpe *
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Subjects:  1. Asia    2. Australia    3. Business & Economics    4. Business / Economics / Finance    5. Business/Economics    6. Economic Conditions    7. Economics - Comparative    8. Handbooks, manuals, etc    9. Marketing    10. Marketing - General    11. New Zealand    12. Economics   

Reviews (3)

Nice one
A real page turner, plenty of insight into outsourcing and globalisation, very impressive piece of work!

We Should Not Accept Second-Best Ever!
In the boom years of mass consumption after WWII, the vertically integrated companies flexed all their muscles.Giants like RCA, IBM, Levi Strauss, and Volkswagen coordinated all the functions from research and development to distribution within their own control in the company."For the first time in history, a great number of complex manufactured goods, like automobiles, refrigerators, canned foods, bicycles, and radio and television sets, became affordable for people with ordinary earnings."
They Can't See it Coming!
More than two million jobs disappeared from the U.S. between '01 and '04 - half a million in high-tech industries alone. Further, Steven Roach, chief economist at Morgan Stanley, estimates that there have been about 8 million fewer jobs in the current recovery than would have been expected from prior history, and most of the new jobs come with low wages and few benefits.
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Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business/Economics    4. Economic aspects    5. Economics (General)    6. Economics - Comparative    7. Free Enterprise    8. Globalization    9. International - General    10. International Economics (General)    11. International trade    12. Business & Economics / General   

Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business/Economics    4. Economics - General    5. International - Economics    6. Business & Economics / Economics / General    7. Economic theory & philosophy   

Reviews (5)

Provocative, Funny and Cruel
The argument hit me in stages.As I zipped through the stories, I found myself smiling, but then I started thinking more seriously about what this book was saying, and now I think it's cruel and triumphalist.This book may become a tool in the hands of people who want to neglect the poor and feel good about it.

A brilliant OVERSIGHT - This book paints an incorrect image
The conclusions drawn by the author are very logical and thorougly researched. Provides solid understanding the Global Finance system
This book outlines the working of the global financial system in a clear and concise manner.It helped me understand the global financial interconnections and provided a solid understanding of how First World nations view the rest of the world.However, I disagree with the basic principles laid out in this book.Until the wealthy first world stops sucking off the resources of the poorest nations, there will always be strife and war. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business/Economics    4. Development - Economic Development    5. Economic development    6. Economics - Comparative    7. Economics - Theory    8. Finance    9. International - General    10. International Capital Markets    11. Investment Finance    12. Investments    13. Investments & Securities - General    14. Wealth    15. Political Science / Globalization   

Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business/Economics    4. Development - Economic Development    5. Economic Conditions    6. Economic policy    7. Economics - Comparative    8. Europe, Western    9. Business & Economics / Economics / Comparative    10. Economics    11. POLITICS & GOVERNMENT   

Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business/Economics    3. Economics - Comparative    4. Ethics    5. Ethics & Moral Philosophy    6. History & Surveys - Ancient & Classical    7. Philosophy    8. Plato    9. Ancient Western philosophy to c 500    10. Philosophy / Ancient    11. Philosophy | History | Ancient   

Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business/Economics    4. Capital market    5. Developing countries    6. Economic Conditions    7. Economics - Comparative    8. Financial crises    9. Free Enterprise    10. International - Economics    11. Business & Economics / Economic Conditions    12. Economic theory & philosophy    13. Finance   

Reviews (10)

Fire & Ice..
The book is OK.The book you sent me had been constructed incorrectly.From page 128 for about 80 pages, the pages were upside down in the book.I phoned Penguin and they told me I had to get a new book through you.
Simplistic and Sanctimonious
Michael Adams' Fire and Ice examines differences between American and Canadian social values at the close of the twentieth century.Adams is a long-time pollster on social issues with the Canadian firm Environics.
Disappointing and underwhelming.
For those who were looking for a fair comparison between the two most geographically endowed nations on the planet, you will not find it here.Michael Adam�s approach suffers from a bias that paints the United States an irrational, dark and forbidding place.He uses many distortions to obtain the answers he needs to promote his view, rather than absorbing critical facts.Although my complaints are numerous, two examples will suffice.Read more

Subjects:  1. Business / Economics / Finance    2. Economics - Comparative    3. General    4. Political Science    5. Politics/International Relations    6. Political Science / International Security   

Reviews (1)

An interesting book for readers with a BA in economics
Colander and his coauthors have provided an interesting inside view on a group of economists(some examples are McCloskey,Binmore,Gintis,Rabin,Foley,and Samuelson)whose scholarly work attempts to integrate new techniques and approaches(for example,evolutionary theory,fractals,chaos theory,catastrophe theory)into the mainstream of standard neoclassical economics.Unfortunately,this is not leading to any significant change in economics.This can easily be confirmed by reading any of the current and new economics textbooks at the undergraduate or graduate level.None of these textbooks integrate any of this new material into the teaching of economics.For example,the Mas-Collel graduate microeconomics textbook makes no attempt to integrate into its chapters on decision making the extremely important work done by Ellsberg on ambiguity.Ambiguity is introduced in an exercise problem and treated as a minor anomaly that has no real theoretical importance.A better title for the book would be "Conversations with Some Cutting Edge Economists".I especially enjoyed reading the interviews conducted by the authors with McCloskey,Foley,and Samuelson.The interview with McCloskey highlights her major point about the misuse of statistical significance levels,this time in regards to mammograms.The interview with Foley touches upon the importance of the work done by Mandelbrot on power law distributions because "...skewed,self-similar,and fat tailed distributions are extremely common in economic data...".Unfortunately,the standard neoclassical approach is to model"...according to a Normal Probability Law."(2004,pp.205-206) .Samuelson'ssmall interview is excellent.Strangely,he has to state again for the nth time that he does not accept Say's law.He even commits a small miscue in bracketing Mandelbrot with Markowitz,Modigliani,Merton,Bachelier,Tobin,Sharpe,and Fama(2004,p.310)as regards modern finance theory.All of theseindividuals,except Mandelbrot,rely on the normal probability distribution. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Biography    2. Business & Economics    3. Business / Economics / Finance    4. Business/Economics    5. Economic Conditions    6. Economics    7. Economics - Comparative    8. Economics - General    9. Economists    10. Interviews    11. Economic theory & philosophy    12. Political Science / General   

Subjects:  1. Business / Economics / Finance    2. Economics - Comparative    3. Economics - Macroeconomics    4. European Union countries    5. Fiscal policy    6. International - Economics    7. Political Science    8. Politics/International Relations    9. Public Policy - General    10. Business & Economics / Economics / International    11. Europe    12. International economics    13. Macroeconomics    14. Monetary economics    15. Public finance   

Reviews (6)

Change is Constant
Tyler Cowen very adeptly reminds the reader that the world's regional cultures have never been static.What we think of as "native" art is really a product of global influence on a local population.So of course it seems silly to decry globalization as homogenizing cultures, when we understand that cultures have always interacted with each other.Indeed, what we are seeing with globalization is the increasing heterogenizing of cultures.Sure you see McDonalds almost everywhere, but you also see indigenous art from Central America, music from the Congo, movies from France, and food from India.
Camouflage for Corporatism
What happens when an economist steps outside of his field to don the hat of an armchair cultural anthropologist?Tyler Cowen's "Creative Destruction" is the result - a book that ignores global corporatism and the roles that states and their creations - i.e. corporations have played in corrupting free enterprise and free markets not only by attacking, usurping, and infiltrating the cultural programming centers of target nations: sport; entertainment including music, cinema, and televison; books and magazines; fashion including cosmetics, clothes and accessories; schooland university textbooks, but by attacking, usurping, and infiltrating the cultural programming avenues of America itself.
Better than Hoan Chau's review
If you're at all interested in this book, ignore Hoan Chau's review.How does Cowen know Mexicans enjoy the choices available at Wal-Mart?Simple, they shop there and keep it in business.You don't have to like Wal-Mart (I sure don't) to recognize that it doesn't coerce anyone into its store.In an impoverished country like Mexico, it brings in more goods at lower prices than were previously available, thus improving people's standard of living. Read more

Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business/Economics    4. Economics - Comparative    5. Economics - Theory    6. Business & Economics / Economics / Theory    7. Cultural studies    8. Economics    9. Globalization    10. Political Science and International Relations    11. Sociology   

Subjects:  1. Anthropology - General    2. Archaeology / Anthropology    3. Congresses    4. Convenience foods    5. Cookery    6. Economics - Comparative    7. Food industry and trade    8. Industries - General    9. Social Science    10. Social aspects    11. Sociology    12. Social & cultural anthropology   

Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business/Economics    4. Development - Economic Development    5. Distributive justice    6. Economic development    7. Economics - Comparative    8. Globalization    9. International - Economics    10. International economic relations    11. Moral and ethical aspects    12. Business & Economics / Economic Development    13. Development economics    14. Economics    15. International economics    16. Political Science and International Relations    17. Poverty    18. Sociology   

Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business/Economics    4. Development - Economic Development    5. Economics - Comparative    6. International - Accounting    7. International Relations - Trade & Tariffs    8. Investments & Securities - General    9. Business & Economics / Finance    10. Caribbean islands    11. China    12. India    13. International economics    14. Investment & securities   

Reviews (4)

The best most comprehensive guide to medical tourism!
Jeff Schult's new book Beauty from Afar is the best most comprehensive guide book on medical tourism I've ever seen. I love the layout of the book. Very easy to read, and to find information. Mr. Schult has a wonderful way of writing that holds your interest while offering invaluable information about medical tourism. He's not biased toward or against one country or doctor over another. He takes a neutral position and simply shares the knowledge he has garnered over several years of intense research. I've recommended this book to all my friends and family members, particularly the ones who I happen to know, are seriously considering going out of the United States for plastic surgery or dental work. I give this book BOTH of my thumbs way way up!

Detailed and informative
I was pleased to read "Beauty from Afar". I was at a conference where the author spoke before the book came out and I was eagerly waiting for it. I have been to Brazil twice for plastic surgery and think the book has a lot of good information for those who are considering surgery out of the country. Medical tourism will keep being more popular as people realize that we are not the only country in the world to provide excellent medical care, and that the only way to afford what you need to have done may be to go abroad. Jeff Shult's book tells you what to look for, what to watch out for, and how to choose where to go. He gives a lot of information from people he's personally talked to or visited, so you can trust the information. Some books and articles on the subject are just rehashing what someone found on the Internet. This book actually gives you REAl information from someone who's been there (Costa Rica for dentistry). I highly recommend it as the best one out there of its type.

Medical Tourism Simplified
Very informative and thorough book.Much better than some of the others I have read.Highly recommend it. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Beauty & Grooming - General    2. Cosmetic Surgery    3. Economic aspects    4. Economics - Comparative    5. Fashion & Grooming    6. Health & Fitness    7. Health/Fitness    8. Medical care, Cost of    9. Medical tourism    10. Personal Health    11. Surgery - Plastic & Cosmetic    12. Surgery, Plastic    13. Health & Fitness / Beauty & Grooming    14. Health & Fitness / General    15. Personal appearance & beauty care    16. Popular medicine    17. Reference works