Plunder and Blunder

Plunder and Blunder

Author: Dean Baker

Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers

Published: 2009-01-20

Total Pages: 183

ISBN-13: 160994478X

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

For the second time this decade, the U.S. economy id sinking into a recession due to the collapse of a financial bubble. The most recent calamity will lead to a downturn deeper and longer than the stock market crash of 2001. Dean Baker's Plunder and Blunder chronicles the growth and collapse of the stock and housing bubbles and explains how policy blunders and greed led to the catastrophic --but completely predictable --market meltdowns. An expert guide to recent economic history, Baker offers policy prescriptions to help prevent similar financial disasters.


Book Synopsis Plunder and Blunder by : Dean Baker

Download or read book Plunder and Blunder written by Dean Baker and published by Berrett-Koehler Publishers. This book was released on 2009-01-20 with total page 183 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For the second time this decade, the U.S. economy id sinking into a recession due to the collapse of a financial bubble. The most recent calamity will lead to a downturn deeper and longer than the stock market crash of 2001. Dean Baker's Plunder and Blunder chronicles the growth and collapse of the stock and housing bubbles and explains how policy blunders and greed led to the catastrophic --but completely predictable --market meltdowns. An expert guide to recent economic history, Baker offers policy prescriptions to help prevent similar financial disasters.


Plunder and Blunder

Plunder and Blunder

Author: Dean Baker

Publisher:

Published: 2011-08-18

Total Pages: 240

ISBN-13: 9780369371096

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Plunder and Blunder chronicles the growth and collapse of the stock and housing bubbles, explains how policy changes since 1980 laid the groundwork for catastrophic - but completely predictable - market meltdowns, and offers prescriptions for avoiding these disasters in the future. Dean Baker argues not only that competent economists should have recognized the developing housing bubble, but also that policy makers and the media cheerfully neglected those economists who did predict danger. Baker doesn't engage in 20 - 20 hindsight, but thoroughly documents how fundamental policy shifts destabilized the economy and eroded the broad prosperity of the post - war period. His expert analysis explains the outcomes clearly so we can prevent similar financial disasters. ''Dean Baker warned us what was coming. Now we can read why Dean got it right when so many experts were blind. The story is intriguing - and deeply disturbing.'' - William Greider, national affairs correspondent, The Nation, and author of Come Home, America


Book Synopsis Plunder and Blunder by : Dean Baker

Download or read book Plunder and Blunder written by Dean Baker and published by . This book was released on 2011-08-18 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Plunder and Blunder chronicles the growth and collapse of the stock and housing bubbles, explains how policy changes since 1980 laid the groundwork for catastrophic - but completely predictable - market meltdowns, and offers prescriptions for avoiding these disasters in the future. Dean Baker argues not only that competent economists should have recognized the developing housing bubble, but also that policy makers and the media cheerfully neglected those economists who did predict danger. Baker doesn't engage in 20 - 20 hindsight, but thoroughly documents how fundamental policy shifts destabilized the economy and eroded the broad prosperity of the post - war period. His expert analysis explains the outcomes clearly so we can prevent similar financial disasters. ''Dean Baker warned us what was coming. Now we can read why Dean got it right when so many experts were blind. The story is intriguing - and deeply disturbing.'' - William Greider, national affairs correspondent, The Nation, and author of Come Home, America


Spidey and His Amazing Friends: Pirate Plunder Blunder

Spidey and His Amazing Friends: Pirate Plunder Blunder

Author: Steve Behling

Publisher: Disney Electronic Content

Published: 2023-12-12

Total Pages: 30

ISBN-13: 1368106943

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

From mates to Green Goblin’s ‘mateys’! Green Goblin turns Peter’s beloved Aunt May and others into his own Pirate Army in this fun and exciting story. It’s up to Spidey and his friends to stop—and save—their family and friends. Only together can they send Gobby Pirate ‘walking the plank.’ Audio narration brings the story to life in this enhanced eBook, while word-for-word highlighting text makes it easy for the reader to follow along. Pirate Plunder Blunder is sure to thrill young Spidey fans as they immerse themselves in the excitement of Team Spidey's latest heroic adventure! Read about more of Team Spidey's amazing adventures in these books! Spidey and His Amazing Friends: Construction DestructionSpidey and His Amazing Friends: Team Spidey Does it All! Comic ReaderSpidey and His Amazing Friends: Panther PatienceSpidey and His Amazing Friends: Meet Team SpideyWorld of Reading: Spidey Saves the DayWorld of Reading: Super Hero Hiccups


Book Synopsis Spidey and His Amazing Friends: Pirate Plunder Blunder by : Steve Behling

Download or read book Spidey and His Amazing Friends: Pirate Plunder Blunder written by Steve Behling and published by Disney Electronic Content. This book was released on 2023-12-12 with total page 30 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From mates to Green Goblin’s ‘mateys’! Green Goblin turns Peter’s beloved Aunt May and others into his own Pirate Army in this fun and exciting story. It’s up to Spidey and his friends to stop—and save—their family and friends. Only together can they send Gobby Pirate ‘walking the plank.’ Audio narration brings the story to life in this enhanced eBook, while word-for-word highlighting text makes it easy for the reader to follow along. Pirate Plunder Blunder is sure to thrill young Spidey fans as they immerse themselves in the excitement of Team Spidey's latest heroic adventure! Read about more of Team Spidey's amazing adventures in these books! Spidey and His Amazing Friends: Construction DestructionSpidey and His Amazing Friends: Team Spidey Does it All! Comic ReaderSpidey and His Amazing Friends: Panther PatienceSpidey and His Amazing Friends: Meet Team SpideyWorld of Reading: Spidey Saves the DayWorld of Reading: Super Hero Hiccups


Paradise Plundered

Paradise Plundered

Author: Steven P. Erie

Publisher: Stanford University Press

Published: 2011-08-15

Total Pages: 360

ISBN-13: 0804782180

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The early 21st century has not been kind to California's reputation for good government. But the Golden State's governance flaws reflect worrisome national trends with origins in the 1970s and 1980s. Growing voter distrust with government, a demand for services but not taxes to pay for them, a sharp decline in enlightened leadership and effective civic watchdogs, and dysfunctional political institutions have all contributed to the current governance malaise. Until recently, San Diego, California—America's 8th largest city—seemed immune to such systematic governance disorders. This sunny beach town entered the 1990s proclaiming to be "America's Finest City," but in a few short years its reputation went from "Futureville" to "Enron-by-the-Sea." In this eye-opening and telling narrative, Steven P. Erie, Vladimir Kogan, and Scott A. MacKenzie mix policy analysis, political theory, and history to explore and explain the unintended but largely predictable failures of governance in San Diego. Using untapped primary sources—interviews with key decision makers and public documents—and benchmarking San Diego with other leading California cities, Paradise Plundered examines critical dimensions of San Diego's governance failure: a multi-billion dollar pension deficit; a chronic budget deficit; inadequate city services and infrastructure; grandiose planning initiatives divorced from dire fiscal realities; an insulated downtown redevelopment program plagued by poorly-crafted public-private partnerships; and, for the metropolitan region, inadequate airport and port facilities, a severe underinvestment in firefighting capacity despite destructive wildfires, and heightened Mexican border security concerns. Far from a sunny story of paradise and prosperity, this account takes stock of an important but understudied city, its failed civic leadership, and poorly performing institutions, policymaking, and planning. Though the extent of these failures may place San Diego in a league of its own, other cities are experiencing similar challenges and political changes. As such, this tale of civic woe offers valuable lessons for urban scholars, practitioners, and general readers concerned about the future of their own cities.


Book Synopsis Paradise Plundered by : Steven P. Erie

Download or read book Paradise Plundered written by Steven P. Erie and published by Stanford University Press. This book was released on 2011-08-15 with total page 360 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The early 21st century has not been kind to California's reputation for good government. But the Golden State's governance flaws reflect worrisome national trends with origins in the 1970s and 1980s. Growing voter distrust with government, a demand for services but not taxes to pay for them, a sharp decline in enlightened leadership and effective civic watchdogs, and dysfunctional political institutions have all contributed to the current governance malaise. Until recently, San Diego, California—America's 8th largest city—seemed immune to such systematic governance disorders. This sunny beach town entered the 1990s proclaiming to be "America's Finest City," but in a few short years its reputation went from "Futureville" to "Enron-by-the-Sea." In this eye-opening and telling narrative, Steven P. Erie, Vladimir Kogan, and Scott A. MacKenzie mix policy analysis, political theory, and history to explore and explain the unintended but largely predictable failures of governance in San Diego. Using untapped primary sources—interviews with key decision makers and public documents—and benchmarking San Diego with other leading California cities, Paradise Plundered examines critical dimensions of San Diego's governance failure: a multi-billion dollar pension deficit; a chronic budget deficit; inadequate city services and infrastructure; grandiose planning initiatives divorced from dire fiscal realities; an insulated downtown redevelopment program plagued by poorly-crafted public-private partnerships; and, for the metropolitan region, inadequate airport and port facilities, a severe underinvestment in firefighting capacity despite destructive wildfires, and heightened Mexican border security concerns. Far from a sunny story of paradise and prosperity, this account takes stock of an important but understudied city, its failed civic leadership, and poorly performing institutions, policymaking, and planning. Though the extent of these failures may place San Diego in a league of its own, other cities are experiencing similar challenges and political changes. As such, this tale of civic woe offers valuable lessons for urban scholars, practitioners, and general readers concerned about the future of their own cities.


Taking Economics Seriously

Taking Economics Seriously

Author: Dean Baker

Publisher: MIT Press

Published: 2010-04-02

Total Pages: 48

ISBN-13: 0262291533

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

A leading economist's exploration of what our economic arrangements might look like if we applied basic principles without ideological blinders. There is nothing wrong with economics, Dean Baker contends, but economists routinely ignore their own principles when it comes to economic policy. What would policy look like if we took basic principles of mainstream economics seriously and applied them consistently? In the debate over regulation, for example, Baker—one of the few economists who predicted the meltdown of fall 2008—points out that ideological blinders have obscured the fact there is no “free market” to protect. Modern markets are highly regulated, although intrusive regulations such as copyright and patents are rarely viewed as regulatory devices. If we admit the extent to which the economy is and will be regulated, we have many more options in designing policy and deciding who benefits from it. On health care reform, Baker complains that economists ignore another basic idea: marginal cost pricing. Unlike all other industries, medical services are priced extraordinarily high, far above the cost of production, yet that discrepancy is rarely addressed in the debate about health care reform. What if we applied marginal cost pricing—making doctors' wages competitive and charging less for prescription drugs and tests such as MRIs? Taking Economics Seriously offers an alternative Econ 101. It introduces economic principles and thinks through what we might gain if we free ourselves from ideological blinders and get back to basics in the most troubled parts of our economy.


Book Synopsis Taking Economics Seriously by : Dean Baker

Download or read book Taking Economics Seriously written by Dean Baker and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2010-04-02 with total page 48 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A leading economist's exploration of what our economic arrangements might look like if we applied basic principles without ideological blinders. There is nothing wrong with economics, Dean Baker contends, but economists routinely ignore their own principles when it comes to economic policy. What would policy look like if we took basic principles of mainstream economics seriously and applied them consistently? In the debate over regulation, for example, Baker—one of the few economists who predicted the meltdown of fall 2008—points out that ideological blinders have obscured the fact there is no “free market” to protect. Modern markets are highly regulated, although intrusive regulations such as copyright and patents are rarely viewed as regulatory devices. If we admit the extent to which the economy is and will be regulated, we have many more options in designing policy and deciding who benefits from it. On health care reform, Baker complains that economists ignore another basic idea: marginal cost pricing. Unlike all other industries, medical services are priced extraordinarily high, far above the cost of production, yet that discrepancy is rarely addressed in the debate about health care reform. What if we applied marginal cost pricing—making doctors' wages competitive and charging less for prescription drugs and tests such as MRIs? Taking Economics Seriously offers an alternative Econ 101. It introduces economic principles and thinks through what we might gain if we free ourselves from ideological blinders and get back to basics in the most troubled parts of our economy.


Dik Browne's Hägar the Horrible

Dik Browne's Hägar the Horrible

Author: Chris Browne

Publisher: Jove Publications

Published: 1992

Total Pages: 128

ISBN-13: 9780515108842

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

He might have a rough exterior, but Hagar's got a heart of gold--the 14-carat kind. With his merry bunch of Vikings, Hagar continues his blundering, plundering ways--racking up sales with each voyage.


Book Synopsis Dik Browne's Hägar the Horrible by : Chris Browne

Download or read book Dik Browne's Hägar the Horrible written by Chris Browne and published by Jove Publications. This book was released on 1992 with total page 128 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: He might have a rough exterior, but Hagar's got a heart of gold--the 14-carat kind. With his merry bunch of Vikings, Hagar continues his blundering, plundering ways--racking up sales with each voyage.


Mugabe

Mugabe

Author: Martin Meredith

Publisher: PublicAffairs

Published: 2009-04-28

Total Pages: 272

ISBN-13: 0786732938

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Robert Mugabe came to power in Zimbabwe in 1980 after a long civil war in Rhodesia. The white minority government had become an international outcast in refusing to give in to the inevitability of black majority rule. Finally the defiant white prime minister Ian Smith was forced to step down and Mugabe was elected president. Initially he promised reconciliation between white and blacks, encouraged Zimbabwe's economic and social development, and was admired throughout the world as one of the leaders of the emerging nations and as a model for a transition from colonial leadership. But as Martin Meredith shows in this history of Mugabe's rule, Mugabe from the beginning was sacrificing his purported ideals—and Zimbabwe's potential—to the goal of extending and cementing his autocratic leadership. Over time, Mugabe has become ever more dictatorial, and seemingly less and less interested in the welfare of his people, treating Zimbabwe's wealth and resources as spoils of war for his inner circle. In recent years he has unleashed a reign of terror and corruption in his country. Like the Congo, Angola, Rwanda, Sierra Leone and Liberia, Zimbabwe has been on a steady slide to disaster. Now for the first time the whole story is told in detail by an expert. It is a riveting and tragic political story, a morality tale, and an essential text for understanding today's Africa.


Book Synopsis Mugabe by : Martin Meredith

Download or read book Mugabe written by Martin Meredith and published by PublicAffairs. This book was released on 2009-04-28 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Robert Mugabe came to power in Zimbabwe in 1980 after a long civil war in Rhodesia. The white minority government had become an international outcast in refusing to give in to the inevitability of black majority rule. Finally the defiant white prime minister Ian Smith was forced to step down and Mugabe was elected president. Initially he promised reconciliation between white and blacks, encouraged Zimbabwe's economic and social development, and was admired throughout the world as one of the leaders of the emerging nations and as a model for a transition from colonial leadership. But as Martin Meredith shows in this history of Mugabe's rule, Mugabe from the beginning was sacrificing his purported ideals—and Zimbabwe's potential—to the goal of extending and cementing his autocratic leadership. Over time, Mugabe has become ever more dictatorial, and seemingly less and less interested in the welfare of his people, treating Zimbabwe's wealth and resources as spoils of war for his inner circle. In recent years he has unleashed a reign of terror and corruption in his country. Like the Congo, Angola, Rwanda, Sierra Leone and Liberia, Zimbabwe has been on a steady slide to disaster. Now for the first time the whole story is told in detail by an expert. It is a riveting and tragic political story, a morality tale, and an essential text for understanding today's Africa.


False Profits

False Profits

Author: Dean Baker

Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers

Published: 2011-01-15

Total Pages: 185

ISBN-13: 1609944771

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Dean Baker, codirector of the Center for Economic and Policy Research recounts the strategies used by the country’s top economic policymakers to conceal their failure to recognize the housing bubble or take steps to rein it in before it grew to unprecedented levels, resulting in the loss of millions of jobs, homes, and the life savings of tens of millions of people. He quashes dire warnings of looming rampant inflation and spiraling debt with solid historic evidence to the contrary—evidence that supports more stimulus, not less. With a dose of optimism, Baker outlines a thoughtful progressive program for rebuilding the economy and reshaping the financial system, including new financial transaction taxes that will reduce or eliminate economic waste while providing stimulus and incentives where and when they are most needed.


Book Synopsis False Profits by : Dean Baker

Download or read book False Profits written by Dean Baker and published by Berrett-Koehler Publishers. This book was released on 2011-01-15 with total page 185 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Dean Baker, codirector of the Center for Economic and Policy Research recounts the strategies used by the country’s top economic policymakers to conceal their failure to recognize the housing bubble or take steps to rein it in before it grew to unprecedented levels, resulting in the loss of millions of jobs, homes, and the life savings of tens of millions of people. He quashes dire warnings of looming rampant inflation and spiraling debt with solid historic evidence to the contrary—evidence that supports more stimulus, not less. With a dose of optimism, Baker outlines a thoughtful progressive program for rebuilding the economy and reshaping the financial system, including new financial transaction taxes that will reduce or eliminate economic waste while providing stimulus and incentives where and when they are most needed.


Animal Spirits

Animal Spirits

Author: George A. Akerlof

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2010-02-01

Total Pages: 261

ISBN-13: 1400834724

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

From acclaimed economists George Akerlof and Robert Shiller, the case for why government is needed to restore confidence in the economy The global financial crisis has made it painfully clear that powerful psychological forces are imperiling the wealth of nations today. From blind faith in ever-rising housing prices to plummeting confidence in capital markets, "animal spirits" are driving financial events worldwide. In this book, acclaimed economists George Akerlof and Robert Shiller challenge the economic wisdom that got us into this mess, and put forward a bold new vision that will transform economics and restore prosperity. Akerlof and Shiller reassert the necessity of an active government role in economic policymaking by recovering the idea of animal spirits, a term John Maynard Keynes used to describe the gloom and despondence that led to the Great Depression and the changing psychology that accompanied recovery. Like Keynes, Akerlof and Shiller know that managing these animal spirits requires the steady hand of government—simply allowing markets to work won't do it. In rebuilding the case for a more robust, behaviorally informed Keynesianism, they detail the most pervasive effects of animal spirits in contemporary economic life—such as confidence, fear, bad faith, corruption, a concern for fairness, and the stories we tell ourselves about our economic fortunes—and show how Reaganomics, Thatcherism, and the rational expectations revolution failed to account for them. Animal Spirits offers a road map for reversing the financial misfortunes besetting us today. Read it and learn how leaders can channel animal spirits—the powerful forces of human psychology that are afoot in the world economy today. In a new preface, they describe why our economic troubles may linger for some time—unless we are prepared to take further, decisive action.


Book Synopsis Animal Spirits by : George A. Akerlof

Download or read book Animal Spirits written by George A. Akerlof and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2010-02-01 with total page 261 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From acclaimed economists George Akerlof and Robert Shiller, the case for why government is needed to restore confidence in the economy The global financial crisis has made it painfully clear that powerful psychological forces are imperiling the wealth of nations today. From blind faith in ever-rising housing prices to plummeting confidence in capital markets, "animal spirits" are driving financial events worldwide. In this book, acclaimed economists George Akerlof and Robert Shiller challenge the economic wisdom that got us into this mess, and put forward a bold new vision that will transform economics and restore prosperity. Akerlof and Shiller reassert the necessity of an active government role in economic policymaking by recovering the idea of animal spirits, a term John Maynard Keynes used to describe the gloom and despondence that led to the Great Depression and the changing psychology that accompanied recovery. Like Keynes, Akerlof and Shiller know that managing these animal spirits requires the steady hand of government—simply allowing markets to work won't do it. In rebuilding the case for a more robust, behaviorally informed Keynesianism, they detail the most pervasive effects of animal spirits in contemporary economic life—such as confidence, fear, bad faith, corruption, a concern for fairness, and the stories we tell ourselves about our economic fortunes—and show how Reaganomics, Thatcherism, and the rational expectations revolution failed to account for them. Animal Spirits offers a road map for reversing the financial misfortunes besetting us today. Read it and learn how leaders can channel animal spirits—the powerful forces of human psychology that are afoot in the world economy today. In a new preface, they describe why our economic troubles may linger for some time—unless we are prepared to take further, decisive action.


Rhyming English couplets

Rhyming English couplets

Author: Mulki Radhakrishna Shetty

Publisher: Pentagon Press

Published: 2009

Total Pages: 626

ISBN-13: 9788182743618

DOWNLOAD EBOOK


Book Synopsis Rhyming English couplets by : Mulki Radhakrishna Shetty

Download or read book Rhyming English couplets written by Mulki Radhakrishna Shetty and published by Pentagon Press. This book was released on 2009 with total page 626 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: